Extant Aerospace - Leadership

	Jim Gerwien-Moreta is the Executive Director for Extant Aerospace. Jim has more than 29 years of aerospace industry experience in a wide variety of businesses and executive leadership roles. Prior to founding Extant, he was President of BBA Aviation's Legacy Support Division with responsibility for the company's Ontic Engineering and Manufacturing business unit, where he had previously served as President from 2002 to 2008. He began his aerospace career with General Electric in 1982 and held a number of executive leadership positions within the company. He later served as Business Unit Manager for Vickers Fluid Power, a division of Eaton Aerospace in Jackson, Mississippi. Jim holds a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BSME from the University of Connecticut.
	Eric Hilliard is the President for Extant Aerospace. Eric has over 25 years of experience in management of diverse industries in both domestic and international markets, as well as the private and public sectors. He has held management positions in Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations, and Distribution. He enlisted in the United States Navy after high school, serving from 1985-1989 in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean fleets. He received various recognitions and medals for his service during his enlistment prior to being honorably discharged. He began his civilian career with HJ Heinz Company in the Star-Kist Division. Eric later held progressive positions at BFGoodrich Aerospace, and multi-national Saint-Gobain, and Energy Focus Inc, before joining TransDigm at their AeroControlex facility in Cleveland, Ohio. There he served as Business Unit Manager, VP of Operations and VP of Sales before transitioning to Extant. Eric received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
	David Souders is the Vice President of Business Development for Extant Aerospace. He previously held roles as Program Manager and Business Unit Manager for the Mechanical, Displays and Accessories business unit at Extant. Prior to Extant, David was employed at Rockwell Collins beginning in design and development as an Electrical Engineer and moving into Operations as a Program Manager associated with New Product Introduction. David has a breadth of industry experience in Engineering, Operations, and Business Management, and also holds 3 Master’s degrees from the University of Florida in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Industrial and Systems’ Engineering and an MBA.
	Thomas Deasy is the Vice President of Sales for Extant Aerospace, leading the Sales/Program Management and Customer Support functions. Before joining Extant, Mr. Deasy was the Principal Operations Manager at Rockwell Collins, where he exhibited a strong focus on development and execution of Lean Six Sigma continuous improvement strategies, to include mentoring and project leader roles for significant improvement in business processes related to customer quality, margin expansion, and internal cost improvements/controls. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Flagler College, and is also a graduate from Villanova University, Master’s, Lean Six Sigma; and Breakthrough Management Group, Master Black Belt Development Program, Lean Six Sigma.
	Nick Eskew is the Vice President of Operations for Extant Aerospace. Prior to joining Extant in 2019, he spent more than 12 years in Aerospace and Defense in a wide variety of roles including Business Development, Sales, Operations, and Engineering. Nick began his career in Aerospace with United Space Alliance at the Kennedy Space Center supporting the Space Shuttle Program. Later, he transitioned to Lockheed Martin where he held progressive positions in manufacturing, supporting multiple Defense programs over an 8-year period. Prior to his current role within Extant, Mr. Eskew served as the Business Unit Manager for the Communication and Navigation Business Unit. Nick received his undergraduate degree from Colorado Technical University and his MBA from The Florida Institute of Technology. He is certified in Lean Six Sigma and holds a PMP® Certification from the Project Management Institute.
	Mark Phillips is the Director of Human Resources for Extant Aerospace. After working more than 30 years in a variety of high tech industries to include aerospace, semiconductor and telecommunications, Mark brought a wealth of human resources experience to Extant. Before joining Extant, he completed a short term consulting role with a.i. solutions at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where he worked to help build their executive leadership team. Prior to that he spent 10 years with TriQuint Semiconductor as Human Resources Director helping grow the business through a tremendous expansion cycle. He holds a Master’s Degree in Management from The University of Florida and also a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Development from Webster University, and a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from The University of Central Florida.
	John Russell is the Director of Engineering for Extant Aerospace, leading obsolescence redesign, manufacturing methods, component engineering, configuration management, and the sustainment engineers. Prior to joining Extant, John was the Electronics Systems Segment Test Engineering Manager at Harris Corporation. His experience encompasses the whole product lifecycle from prototype, EMD, to NPI, Production and sustainment. After joining Extant Aerospace, he developed the Product Transition Center and managed the transition engineering team in support of acquisitions. He has served as an engineering manager and an acquisitions program manger prior to his current role. He served in the United States Airforce Special Operations Command from 1995-1999 assigned to C-130 Gunships working on targeting systems. John has a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida and is lean six sigma trained. He was born and raised in Honduras, and fluent in Spanish.
	George Faris is the Director of Quality for Extant Aerospace. George has been in manufacturing quality for over 35 years. Before joining Extant Aerospace, he was the Head of Quality for Collins Aerospace, Jacksonville Florida, Busch facility. Prior to Collins, he was the Quality Manager for Gulfstream Aerospace’s interiors build group in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for their AMT program, and he also obtained his FAA Airframe and Powerplant License while there. George is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt, CQE, and ISO-9000 Lead Auditor.