Avionics News May 2016 - 33

You've had incredible
success building the
business in a short time.
Often engineers don't
make good salespeople.
Even though Steve and I are
both engineers, we're at the
opposite ends of the spectrum.
Steve is much more of a detailed,
can-design-and-make-anything guy.
We overlap in systems engineering.
My end of the spectrum goes
more into the business side. It's
been a real transition, but we
have a consultant to help us do
what we're supposed to do from a
business point of view.
Previously, did you have
any interest in aviation?
I have an interest in getting my
pilot's license, but I haven't yet.
Like many, my family has come
first, and I will get to it eventually.
The aviation market was unknown
to me. Audio is the way I got into
aviation.
What's a typical day
for you?
We have our managers' meeting
in the morning. I consider the big
things that are happening, what
issues I need to deal with. We're
growing quite a bit, so there are
future projects to work on and
think about. This year, we moved
to a new location, growing from
12,000 to 38,000 square feet for
our main building. We are taking
sheet metal fabrication and

machining in-house. We're trying
to get better control of our internal
scheduling for parts and making
our reaction time better.

ask about their favorite music, what
kind of music they like so we can
gear it to them, and sometimes
the customer will say, "That's my
favorite song."

What are the
challenges of a sound
system in an airplane?

How big is ALTO now?
We employ about 30 people,
spread out in six places: Sterling,
Massachusetts; Jupiter, Florida;
Little Rock, Arkansas; Seattle,
Washington; and in New Hampshire
and Germany.

At home, you're sitting
in your living room in front
of the TV with speakers all
around you and you're in
the middle. In a Gulfstream,
you're off to one side with
nothing in the middle.
Seats are facing forward,
backward, sideways with
multiple monitors. You can
quickly see it's different.
Again in a Gulfstream, it's
a long tube, so as those
subwoofers get spaced out,
it's easy to get them to
cancel in some seats and add
in some seats. You have to
be careful that the sound is
even in all the seats.

What's the best part
of your job?
When I get to do it, I enjoy
demonstrations of a system to a
customer and seeing their first
reaction. Sometimes we select
music to suit the customer. We'll

And what do you see
for the future?
We have a good OEM base, but
we're always trying to get more.
OEMs provide a steady foundation,
and then we have our aftermarket
sales and are on everything from
King Airs to a privately owned
777. We are trying to broaden our
product offering with a complete
IFE system. We're trying to create
self-contained systems without
having to be hooked to the cabin
control system.
If I asked Steve to
describe you as a partner,
what would he say?
Hopefully, he will say we make
a nice complement and I do well
with the business side of things. We
disagree on things; we have heated
conversations, but we eventually
agree. We've done well, and I hope
he thinks that, too.
Continued on following page
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