Astronautics Corporation of America has welcomed Robert Atac as president. Reporting directly to chairman and chief executive officer Dr Ronald Zelazo, Atac will be responsible for the company's strategic growth, product and technology development and overall management.

“We are delighted to have Bob on board as the company's new president. His extensive domestic and international experience in military and commercial avionics and product development make him an ideal leader for Astronautics during our next phase of growth,” says Zelazo. “Astronautics was founded with an entrepreneurial spirit, with the goal of pushing the boundaries of technology. We believe Bob will embrace and promote that value while growing Astronautics' product lines and expanding our market reach.”

“I have always admired Astronautics' innovative spirit as an avionics developer and integrator. I look forward to working with this team to expand its product portfolio and addressable market,” adds Atac. “The Astronautics team has the creativity, capability and experience needed to produce reliable, high performance avionics.”

Before joining Astronautics, Atac had a 10 year career with Thales Defense and Security. He held numerous roles including chief technology officer, vice president/general manager of the Visionix helmet mounted display (HMD) division and vice president of engineering technology.

Previously, Atac co-founded and built the Visionix HMD division of Gentex that was sold to Thales. There he oversaw the development of Scorpion, the first HMD with colour symbols, and used the product to break into the military HMD market.

During his seven year career with Gentex, he was also vice president and director of engineering and technology, and director of integrated systems.

Before Gentex, he was vice president of military aviation for CMC Electronics. Here he integrated Flight Visions, his own startup avionics company, into CMC. Prior to that he was the president and co-founder of Flight Visions. Atac began his career as a project manager for the advanced computer programme of Fermilab.

Atac holds a MSc in electrical engineering and a BSc in computer engineering, both from the University of Illinois. He also holds a certificate in mid-management from Loyola University and is currently completing a chief technology officer programme at the Wharton School of Business. In addition, Atac holds numerous patents and is a licensed pilot.