Thomas Reed

Background

About Thomas Reed

In 2002, Thomas began working with TMR Engineering as a machinist, where he acquired professional level skills on milling machines, lathes, surface grinders and welders. Thomas worked there for 8 years, during which time he built many different projects for various companies and labs located on and off the University of Florida campus. In 2011, Thomas and two other UF grads started Altavian Inc. Altavian started as a commercially centered unmanned systems company location in Gainesville, FL focused on providing sub-centimeter geospatial data to scientists and project managers with UAS technology. Thomas was not only a founder of Altavian Inc, but also served as the Chief Production Officer of the company through the initial years. In 2013 as the company grew to 20+ employees Thomas directed both the Engineering and Production teams for all product efforts. In 2012 the company also became one of the five IDIQ providers to the PMSUAS office for the US Army and executed over a dozen contracts from the Army. Over nine years, Altavian pursued engineering and production projects such as the SRR platform, US Army Frequency Reallocation Effort, NOVA platform and the TOGA Handset production during which time the company grew to 40+employees. Over the years Thomas led the maturity of the company and implemented a wide range of policies and procedures such product development, project reporting, quality assurance systems, inventory control, engineering changes orders, task management and HR processes. In December of 2019 Altavian had 50 employees and was acquired by TeledyneFLIR Inc. where Thomas remained on to lead the integration effort and continue directing the engineering and production teams for the Gainesville site until January 2022.