Mechanical Technical Leader-Systems Engineering

Chris Schwartzbauer is an ‘ideapreneur’, engineer, and strategic innovator with over two decades of leadership experience driving technology companies to new heights. He currently serves as President and CEO of Quest Defense, combining his entrepreneurial spirit and engineering expertise to bring novel mission-critical solutions to the most exacting OEMs. His unique ability to scale businesses, as demonstrated by his leadership at EXB Solutions, where he over-tripled the company’s revenue and expanded its workforce, showcases his business foresight, drive, and deep understanding of market needs.

Chris’s leadership journey has been marked by his success in transforming companies, launching startups, and guiding high-stakes mergers and acquisitions. His P&L expertise allows him to steer organizations with precision, maximizing profits and minimizing losses, all while delivering cutting-edge, cost-effective engineering solutions.

Beyond his corporate accomplishments, Chris is deeply committed to his community. He serves on the executive boards of Lead the Way Foundation and Folds of Honor, making a meaningful impact on families and individuals in Minnesota. His commendable career as an Army Officer and his service in the Gulf War earned him the prestigious Bronze Star for his exemplary contributions.

Chris believes in and embodies the “1+1 = 3 mentality” and continues to shape and lead successful ventures, leaving an indelible mark on the technology industry.

Chris Hardgrave joined Quest Defense in April 2024 as Vice President for Strategic Accounts. He is responsible for sales, growth, and development of strategic relationships for new business development efforts in the Aerospace and Defense sector. Chris works in the Washington, D.C. office.

Prior to joining Quest Defense, Chris served as Vice President at EXB Solutions (a Quest Defense subsidiary as of Aug 2022). He was responsible for strategic growth efforts and strategic OEM relationships for major USG contracts. Prior to EXB Solutions, Chris was Director of Business Development for Textron Systems Weapon and Sensor business unit responsible for the growth of both domestic and international markets for both production and developmental weapons. Chris gained tremendous experience with Other Transaction Authority (OTA) at Textron and brought that work to both Quest Defense and EXB Solutions where he was instrumental in setting up the EXB Innovation Lab for prototyping innovative solutions for the USG and OEM’s to rapidly get to market to assist warfighters.

Chris spent nearly 25 years in the United States Air Force (USAF) where he achieved the rank of Colonel. Chris’ last position was as the Continental NORAD Region interagency liaison in Washington, DC where he actively coordinated defense activities between the FAA, DHS, TSA, US Secret Service, US Capitol Police, OSD Policy, and Joint Staff on issues affecting Operation NOBLE EAGLE and Homeland Defense. He also spent several years on the Air Staff working as a Country Director at the Deputy Undersecretary for the Air Force, International Affairs. He was responsible for building partnership capacity at 7 Southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam.

Chris Hardgrave was commissioned through the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps program in 1991. He served as a fighter pilot and has over 2500 hours in the F-15C and F-16C including nearly 200 combat hours in Operation SOUTHERN WATCH and IRAQI FREEDOM. Chris also served in a variety of leadership positions from fighter squadron to the Headquarters Air Force staff levels and was stationed overseas for 7 years in Japan, Republic of Korea (ROK), and the United Kingdom (UK).

Chris has a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Florida State University and a Master’s of Science in International Relations from Troy University. Chris is married and has one daughter.

Steve Gerber is President and CEO of QuEST Defense Systems and Solutions business and is responsible for providing the leadership and growth of this venture.

Steve is a 40 year veteran of the Aerospace, Power Generation and Oil and Gas industries and brings a diverse background of executive leadership in areas of business development, sales, program management, operations management and engineering. Prior to joining QuEST, Steve’s most recent assignment was leading the sales efforts for TechnoSoft, Inc., a Cincinnati based engineering software technology concern. Steve had a 21 year career with Pratt & Whitney in various roles including: JSF Concept Demonstrator Program Manager, Turbine Module Center Product Director and Aftermarket Repair Engineering Director. After leaving Pratt & Whitney, Steve led the UTC corporate account for the Belcan Corporation.

Steve and his wife Kathy have 4 grown children, 1 grandchild and reside in Saline Michigan.

Steve holds a B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State University, 1982 and an MBA., Sloan Fellows Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999

Pete Messerle is a Client Partner within the Sales Organization, with the focus of partnering across his customer’s organizations to understand their strategic and tactical needs. He then works with key stakeholders at Quest and the client to build customized service solutions, built on the foundation of low drag execution and full ownership & transparency of deliverables.

Pete joined Quest at the beginning of 2020 in his current role. Prior to Quest, Pete worked at GE Aviation for 21 years in various engineering and customer operations roles. In his last few years at GE, he led teams in Aftermarket Spares for both Military and Commercial operations, working closely with customers, supply chain, and engine programs to effectively manage these critical business units.

Pete holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University, a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from University of Cincinnati, and a MBA from Xavier University.

As the Quality Manager and Management Representative of Quest Defense, Stuart is responsible driving Business Excellence throughout the company. He maintains and improves the Quality Management System ensuring compliance to AS9100, customer requirements, and enabling continuous improvement innovations.

With 17 years of Engineering and Quality experience Stuart joined Quest Global in 2017 as Regional Quality Manager and in 2022, was appointed Quality Manager for all of Quest Defense. His focus is to continually improve the Quality Management System.

Stuart holds a BSME in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Ryan is the Facility Security Officer for Quest Defense, supporting the organization’s compliance with the National Industrial Security Program (NISP) and other Department of Defense and federal security initiatives. Ryan has a background in personnel and physical security, working with both GE Aerospace and the U.S Navy, where he continues to serve as a reserve law enforcement officer (Master-at-Arms).

Ryan has a combined 19 years of experience in security, emergency, and project management. His focus is on ensuring every employee and customer feels their needs are heard, met, and followed up on. His goal is to ensure that Quest Defense exemplifies the qualities of an organization that leads the industry in security compliance and innovation.

Ryan is an avid flyfisher, SCUBA diver, karting racer, sim and road racer, motorcyclist, and plays most sports. His philosophy is that one of the greatest ways to connect with people is to try new things that can help build common ground with a diverse range of people.

As Chief Engineer for Quest Defense, Jon is responsible for ensuring that sound engineering processes are maintained and followed by our employees working in a diverse set of services and disciplines across all verticals. In this role he also leads Quest Defense’s efforts to develop new methods and technologies to help grow the business through innovation, as well as building and promoting the technical reputation of the company in the public sphere.

During his 20+ year career in engineering services, Jon came to Quest Global via the acquisition of ASE Technologies in 2008. He has since held several positions of leadership within the company, while working directly with customers in an engineering role as a heat transfer engineer, focused primarily around gas turbine technology. Prior to becoming part of Quest Defense, he represented Quest Global’s Technology Excellence Group, responsible for innovation and engineering processes for the North American region of the company.

Jon holds a Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering from Trine University in Angola, IN, and achieved a certificate in global business leadership from GlobalNxt University.

Jeff Fischer serves as a board member for Quest Defense Systems and Solutions business. Additionally Jeff is the Operations Leader for the Quest Global Aerospace and Defense Industry.

Jeff has held numerous leadership positions in Quest Global including Sales Operations Leader, North America Sales Business Unit Head, HiTech Industry Business Head, Strategic Client Partner for Quest Global’s largest account, and various other leadership positions in pricing and project management.

A majority of Jeff’s 38 years of experience have been in in the Aerospace Industry working for OEMs or outsourced engineering companies. Jeff had full P&L responsibility as President Belcan Engineering and led a rapid growth from $60M to $220M over only 5.5 years. Jeff began his career at GE Aviation, and worked as an engineer performing design, analysis, and test functions.

Jeff holds a BS degree in Physics from Thomas More University, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Jeff is passionate about continuous improvement in all aspects of his personal and professional life. He enjoys contributing at all levels from strategic to granular.

Chad joined Quest Global in 2006, specializing in advanced modeling and simulation for multiple verticals and customers and becoming a technical lead for computational fluid dynamics. He has held several leadership positions within the delivery organization since his joining, leading multiple teams through periods of high growth and developing many new innovative services and solutions. Before taking on ownership of Operations for Quest Defense, he managed the Cincinnati Modeling & Simulation Center of Excellence.

Chad studied Materials Science at MIT, and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He holds a certificate in Global Business Leadership from GlobalNxt University, as well as a MicroMasters Certificate in Statistics and Data Science from MITx.

As the President of Quest Global, Bob is responsible for establishing and maintaining senior customer relationships, catalysing new business development, and overseeing innovative and transformational deals. In this role, he also assists in building relationships with strategic acquisitions for the company.

Bob has over 40 years of experience, and through his career he has held senior domestic and international executive roles and P&L responsibility for multi-billion dollar businesses at General Motors and Pratt & Whitney. He began his career as a product development engineer for General Motors, moved on to corporate and operational finance roles, and subsequently to major operating positions. When he left General Motors, he was running their European Powertrain Operations from Zurich, Switzerland, and managing plants in five countries. Then he moved to Pratt & Whitney as Senior Vice-President, Module Centers and Operations, where he ran their US operations and current engineering. After P&W, he was the CEO of a fiber optic component company.

Bob holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago with specializations in Finance and Marketing.

Joe supports Special Missions across Quest Global to include key client contract negotiations, strategic business solutions, M&A, and culture endeavors.

He joined Quest in 2007, and held roles leading Strategic Business Units, Global Sales Operations, Sales Integration of a large acquisition in India, and Head of Corporate Development (M&A).

Before Quest, Joe held numerous leadership roles in the United States Army and in General Electric’s Energy business. At GE he led initiatives to enhance engineering capability and capacity at GE Engineering Centers, and with Engineering Services Partners, in India, Mexico, Russia and China; in addition, Joe also developed & led GE’s Direct Material Cost Productivity program across GE Power, Water, and O&G.

Joe holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and an EMBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York.

Arnold Punaro is chief executive officer of The Punaro Group, LLC, a Washington-based firm he founded in 2010 specializing in federal budget and market analysis, business strategy and capture, acquisition due diligence, government relations, communications, sensitive operations, business risk analysis and compliance, and crisis management. He consults for a broad array of Fortune 100 companies and has been recognized by Defense News as one of the 100 most influential individuals in U.S. Defense. He also leads Punaro Capital, LLC, a firm specializing in national security investments, and Punaro Press, LLC, a company that specializes in national security publications.

In November 2015, Mr. Punaro completed a four-year term, first as Vice-Chairman, then as Chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association, the country’s largest defense industry association with over 1,600 corporate and nearly 70,000 individual members. As NDIA Chairman Emeritus, he served as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee from 2015 to 2018. He began a new two-year term as Vice-Chairman in October 2018 and another two-year term as Chairman beginning in October 2020.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Puraro has served in many distinguished positions in DOD policy boards, commissions and in public companies.  His service includes: Various Sr. roles including Vice-Chairman, then as Chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association (2011-2020); Vice Chairman of the Reserve Forces Policy Board (2011-present), Member of the Defense Business Board (2002-2013, 2015 to present), Chairman of the Independent Commission on the National Guard and Reserves (2005-2008), a task force member for the U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Regional Security (2008), a Commissioner on the Independent Commission on the Iraqi Security Force (2007), Deputy Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (1998 to 2001), and Chairman of the Defense Reform Task Force for Secretary of Defense William Cohen (1997), and Executive Vice President at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) from 1997 to 2010 as a sector manager, deputy president of the Federal Business Segment, and led SAIC’s Corporate Business Development organization.

From 1973 to 1997, Mr. Punaro worked for Senator Sam Nunn in national security matters. He served as his director of National Security Affairs and then as Staff Director of the Senate Armed Services Committee (eight years) and Staff Director for the Minority (five years). In his work with Senator Nunn and the Senate Armed Services Committee, he was involved in the formulation of all major defense and intelligence legislation, the oversight and review of all policy and programs, and civilian and military nominations.

A retired U.S. Marine Corps Major General, he served as the Director of the Marine Corps Reserve, Deputy Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command (Mobilization), and for three years as the Commanding General of the 4th Marine Division. Other assignments were Commanding General, Marine Corps Mobilization Command, and Deputy Commander, Marine Forces Reserve. In December 1990, he was mobilized for Operation Desert Shield. In December 1993, he completed a tour of active duty as Commander of Joint Task Force Provide Promise (Forward) in the former Yugoslavia. He was mobilized for a third time in May 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He served on active duty as an Infantry Platoon Commander in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star for valor and the Purple Heart.

Mr. Punaro is the recipient of numerous recognitions and awards including the Secretary of Defense “Medal for Distinguished Public Service” and two awards of the Secretary of Defense “Medal for Exceptional Public Service.” He’s been recognized through numerous other awards from the Marine Corps League, Air Force Association, National Guard,  Army, Secretary of the Army,  Reserve Officer Association, Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, CAUSE, NDIA, and SAIC as well as the Distinguished Service Medal as well as numerous civic awards.

He has a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Georgia and a Masters of Arts degree from Georgetown University, the latter in national security studies. He was on the Adjunct Faculty of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University for ten years where he taught an annual graduate level course entitled “National Security Decision Making.”

He is the author of the book, On War and Politics: The Battlefield Inside Washington’s Beltway, that was published by the Naval Institute Press in October 2016. He is completing his second book, The Ever-Shrinking Fighting Force, which will be published in 2021.

John Thackrah is the founding Principal of Sextant Solutions LLC, an aerospace, maritime and government acquisition consultant.

Prior to his current role, John was the Vice President of Washington Operations for Pratt & Whitney, an aircraft engine provider (2017 – 2019), where he led Pratt & Whitney’s federal, state and international government and customer relations activities, advised senior management on government relations matters and communicated the company’s business interests to key public policymakers and organizations.

Previously, John served as executive director for the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command beginning in 2011. He was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2005 and served in several roles for the Navy including; Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development & Acquisition), and principal deputy, Strategic Systems Programs. He was twice awarded the Department of the Navy’s Superior Civilian Service Award.

John’s career began in 1979 at Pratt & Whitney, where he held several positions in project and test engineering, program management, model management, commercial flight test activities and as general manager of a joint venture startup. He was promoted to vice president Commercial Engines and moved to the Otis Elevator division of UTC as the vice president Worldwide Engineering. He returned to Pratt as vice president Aftermarket Services, and later vice president/general manager for one of Pratt’s strategic business units.

He is a graduate of the University of Delaware, where he earned a Bachelor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, and a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Master of Business Administration. He has been a member of the National Defense Transportation Association (NDTA) and a past board member from 2011 to 2017. He has also held membership at Aerospace Industry Association (AIA), 2017 to present and Navy League of the United States, 2011 to 2017. John also served the College of Engineering, Chairman’s Advisory Council and the Parent Board at the University of Delaware, 2001 – 2017.

Page Hoeper is a private consultant, corporate director, and venture capitalist. Since leaving government service, Mr. Hoeper has focused on corporate governance and board service. He chairs the boards of OnPoint Technologies, Inc., 501c(3) venture capital fund established by Congress to focus on emerging commercial technologies of interest to the U.S. Army, and Quest Defense Systems & Solutions, a provider of engineering services to the U.S. defense industry.

Mr. Hoeper previously served on the boards of public and private companies including United Industrial Corporation, Versar, Inc., Barco Federal Systems, Technology Research Corporation, DynPort Vaccine Company, and the Rockwell Scientific Corporation.

Public service continues to be a focus. Mr. Hoeper is a core member of the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board and chaired the DSB study on the cyber supply chain. The SANS Institute recognized his work in this area with its “Difference Maker” award. In 2017 he was elected to the investment committee of the $1.5 billion Annenberg Foundation.

In 1998 the Senate confirmed Mr. Hoeper as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology). In this position he was the Senior Procurement Executive, the Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Army, and the senior research and development official for the Department of the Army. He developed and oversaw logistics policy for the Army as implemented by the various military commands. In his capacity as Army Acquisition Executive, Mr. Hoeper appointed, managed and evaluated program executive officers and program managers; managed the 23,000 members of Army Acquisition Corps; and oversaw $17.3 billion in research, development, test and evaluation, and acquisition programs. Mr. Hoeper left government service in 2001.

From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Hoeper was Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (International and Commercial Programs). He was responsible for all cooperative DoD research, development and acquisition programs around the world. He implemented and managed DOD’s dual use technology program and the $15 billion Defense Export Loan Guarantee Program.

Mr. Hoeper received numerous honors while serving at the Pentagon. His awards include the Army Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service, the Defense Award for Outstanding Achievement, and the President’s Award (the Biddle Medal) for his dedication and support to the Association of the United States Army. Mr. Hoeper is also the recipient of the Vice President of the United States “Hammer” award for reinventing government. In December 1996, Secretary of Defense William J. Perry awarded Mr. Hoeper the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Hoeper was for several years the president of Fortune Financial, a private merchant bank. Before this, he was the proprietor of Northshore Consultants, a firm that focused on problems at the intersection of finance, technology and law. Mr. Hoeper has also consulted to public and private companies on numerous programs, strategic issues and corporate restructurings.

Concurrent with these business endeavors, Mr. Hoeper taught at several law schools. In 1990, he developed and taught What Lawyers Should Know About Business for the Stanford Law School. Following this, he taught the course for five years as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California.

Mr. Hoeper received his B.S.E. in Basic Engineering from Princeton University and his M.A.T. (Mathematics) from Harvard University.