FTI Announces Key Hires

Frontier Technology Inc. (FTI), a leading provider of deep data expertise and mission-tailored services and solutions to the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community, ​today announced it ​has hired seven new executives. FTI’s newest leaders Lincoln Hudson, Jennifer Nix, Dr. Jonathan “Jody” Avooske, Rudy Fernandez, Ronald C. Merritt, Pamela Way, and Jason Wentz further strengthen the company’s proven technology and service offerings across its Space, Navy, and Cyber Security Operating Groups.

​​​“FTI’s mission is to provide tailored technology and expertise that enhance the ability of the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community to integrate and fully exploit their data to make the best decisions possible,” said Jose Hidalgo, president, FTI.  “​O​ur ​seven ​newest ​executives have deep skill sets and broad experience that will​ enable ​FTI​ to bring greater information advantage to our customers​.​”  

New FTI hires

Lincoln Hudson joined in 2023 as chief operations officer, bringing over 25 years of experience supporting the DoD. Lincoln has a proven track record of applying technologies to create sustainable and affordable solutions that benefit customers on all levels. Previously, Lincoln held the position of senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, guiding a team of 850 employees, and managing the growth and transition of a $300 million business. Lincoln also spent 15 years at Northrop Grumman in roles from chief engineer to strategy director, and several years at General Dynamics early in his career. Lincoln holds a Master of Science degree in System Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Jennifer Nix join​ed in 2023 as ​​v​ice ​p​resident of air and space operations. She brings more than 25 years of experience​ in the defense and space industries​, most recently as senior ​d​irector of ​s​pace ​s​ystems at L3Harris​ ​and member of the operational ​l​eadership team at DigitalGlobe​ (​now Maxar​)​.  Nix holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Colorado State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Geography from Wright State University.

Dr. Jonathan “Jody” Avooske join​ed​ in 2023 as ​vice president of i​nformation ​a​dvantage. Previously, Avooske completed 20 years of active duty in the U​.​S​.​ Navy Submarine Force followed by 20 years of civilian experience in ​c​yber, ​a​dvanced analytics, ​i​ntelligence, and ​​electronic ​w​arfare.  ​He ​holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree, specializing in the Management of Engineering and Technology, from Northcentral University; a Master of Science degree in Strategic Management from Indiana University; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Integrated Supply Chain Management from the University of Phoenix.  

Rudy Fernandez joins as ​v​ice ​p​resident of Navy ​o​perations and brings ​more than​ 35 years of experience ​​with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Navy. Fernandez previously served as ​s​enior ​d​irector in the Maritime Systems and Integration Operating Unit, and as Charlottesville ​s​​ite l​ead at Northrop Grumman. ​He also​​ ​held various management positions over 10 years at Advanced Acoustic Concepts (AAC), a Joint Venture between DRS and Thales, and served as a submarine officer in the Navy for 22 years. Fernandez holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Chaminade University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics from Jacksonville University.

Pamela Way (formerly Pamela Ireland) joined FTI in 2023 as director of business development, focusing on tech-enabled solutions for the Navy and USMC. Her 32-year career within the aerospace and defense sectors spans senior leadership roles in business intel, government relations, program management, strategy, and business development at Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Lone Star Analysis. Way holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the M.J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University, and a B.A. in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University.  

Ronald C. Merritt join​s ​as ​d​irector of ​n​aval ​o​perations. Previously, Merritt served as ​d​irector of ​information​​ op​erations for KBR, where he led diverse teams delivering technical solutions to government and commercial customers in intelligence, military space technology, C4ISR, and systems integration. Prior to KBR, he served as the ​c​hief of force management for the Initiatives Group under the U.S. ​U​ndersecretary of ​D​efense for ​I​ntelligence. ​Before joining the private sector, ​he served as a surface warfare officer on multiple warships during his 21-year career in the U.S. Navy. Merritt has a B.S. in Computer Science from The Citadel and a Master’s degree in National Security & Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.

Jason Wentz joins​ ​as strategic account executive. Wentz previously served as ​vice president ​with Scientific Research Corporation, managing contracts with the U.S. Space Force, Navy, and Marines. Before that, he was senior ​p​rogram ​m​anager at Omitron, Inc. where he managed all aspects of contractual support to NAVWAR, led a team of highly technical SMEs in support of classified programs for the Navy and Air Force, and operationally administered SSA for human space flight safety, providing collision avoidance data to NASA and other DoD customers. Wentz holds a Master’s in Business Administration degree from La Verne University.​     ​

FTI’s Core Capabilities  

​​​FTI’s offerings include data integration, analytics, modeling, software test automation, and defensive/resilient cyber technology and services to enhance the ability of the U.S. DoD, Intelligence Community, and the Federal Government to make the best decisions possible for their missions.

FTI’s integration platform provides seamless integration of disparate data sources and data, data normalization and standardization, complex orchestration of analytics and algorithms, and custom workflow creation. It simplifies the analysis process, reduces the time from data collection to insight, and removes barriers to getting to the right data to make the best decision.  

FTI's data analytics solutions and services leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to deliver a wide range of analytic and visualization capabilities for acquisition and operational decision support across DevSecOps, enterprise architecture analysis, enhanced data visualizations, model-based systems engineering, digital transformation, and system performance analysis.  

FTI's modeling solutions and services help customers better track, visualize, simulate, and analyze trends and underlying mission drivers across wargaming, logistics analysis and visualization, system performance modeling, synthetic systems, data generation and software development, testing and deployment.

FTI's defensive/resilient cyber solutions offer a portfolio of advanced technologies and services to help maintain and optimize cyber defense, including mission cyber risk analysis, supply chain Illumination, blue and gray space analysis, penetration testing, RF analysis, and cyber-enhanced threat intelligence analysis.  

About FTI  

FTI provides deep data expertise, technology and services that enhance the ability of the DoD, Intelligence Community, and other agencies of the Federal Government to make the best decisions possible. Drawing on nearly four decades of innovation, FTI’s extensive portfolio of intellectual property and operational technologies has been augmented by more than $200 million of U.S. government investment, and solutions can often be mission-ready in a matter of weeks. Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, FTI operates in 34 states and offers seven facilities of varying clearance levels nationwide.

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Read the press release here.