history
Founded in 2017
28 Gorilla started with one engineer, Andy Philips, who wanted to move faster and solve harder problems without getting buried in bureaucracy. That mindset attracted others and today, we’re a tightly coordinated team of engineers and developers who thrive on the complex and the high stakes.
Our backgrounds span aerospace, automotive, energy and defense. We specialize in embedded systems, rugged hardware, full-stack software and design-for-manufacture.
meet the team
Leadership
Andy Phillips
Founder/Principal Engineer
28 Gorilla Engineering
28 Gorilla Engineering
Before co-founding 28 Gorilla and 29Tech, Andy was the CEO of HDScores, a data collection and analysis provider for Yelp. He also held global leadership positions for A.O. Smith and Generac, overseeing design centers in the U.S., China and South Korea. Andy earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University and holds various patents across a variety of technologies. Once a certified Scrum Master, he continues to lead with agility. He can usually be found tinkering or taking calls in one of his many black rock ‘n’ roll T-shirts.
“Dream, design, build, qualify” is Andy’s motto, and he’s been engineering precision-crafted products for more than 20 years.
Mike Mihalka
Founder/Principal Engineer
29 Tech Manufacturing
29 Tech Manufacturing
Before co-founding 28 Gorilla and 29Tech, Andy was the CEO of HDScores, a data collection and analysis provider for Yelp. He also held global leadership positions for A.O. Smith and Generac, overseeing design centers in the U.S., China and South Korea. Andy earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University and holds various patents across a variety of technologies. Once a certified Scrum Master, he continues to lead with agility. He can usually be found tinkering or taking calls in one of his many black rock ‘n’ roll T-shirts.
“Relentlessly pursue excellence” would probably be Mike’s motto, but he’d rather do it than write it down.
meet the team
Leadership
Andy Phillips
Founder / Principal Engineer
Andy Phillips
Founder / Principal Engineer
Andy leads from the bench with two decades in electrical engineering and product development. Before founding 28 Gorilla, he directed design centers in the U.S., China, and South Korea for A.O. Smith and Generac, and later served as CEO of the data startup HDScores. He holds multiple patents and continues to balance leadership with hands-on engineering
Jordan Klosa
Engineering Manager
Jordan Klosa
Engineering Manager
Jordan leads embedded hardware projects with a focus on control algorithms, rugged PCB layout, and low-level firmware. His work spans EMI/EMC compliance, energy systems, and production electronics built for harsh conditions.
Kendall Murray
Laboratory Operations Manager
Kendall Murray
Laboratory Operations Manager
Kendall manages lab operations, supporting prototyping and testing through expert assembly and troubleshooting. As a certified IPC Specialist, she ensures every wire harness and solder joint meets high-reliability standards.
Software / Firmware
James Sargent
Software & AI Engineering Manager
James Sargent
Software & AI Engineering Manager
James builds software that connects embedded hardware with cloud platforms. At 28 Gorilla, he develops secure provisioning pipelines, IoT infrastructure, backend systems, and embedded applications using C, Python, and JavaScript. He brings deep experience in full-stack development, system architecture and embedded programming.
Jesse Snyder
Electrical Engineer
Jesse Snyder
Electrical Engineer
Jesse designs digital hardware and embedded systems and develops FPGA algorithms. His work includes NASA JPL radar research that maps atmospheric H₂O and O₂.
Jon Wardwell
Software Engineer
Jon Wardwell
Software Engineer
Jon came to us after nearly six years at Iridium. He builds the backend systems and data pipelines for the kind of software that has to work every time, in some of the most mission-critical environments around.
Joshua Ravelo
Electrical Engineer
Joshua Ravelo
Electrical Engineer
Joshua develops digital systems and FPGA logic for sensing and signal work. He also created a prize-winning autonomous demining concept for Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Nemanja Kuzmanovic
Full Stack Software Engineer
Nemanja Kuzmanovic
Full Stack Software Engineer
Nemanja designs full-stack systems for mobile, desktop, and web. His work includes real-time data processing, server architecture, and modern UI/UX. He's a go-to for modernizing legacy tools or launching new platforms from scratch.
Hardware
Andrew Berthold
Hardware Engineering Manager
Andrew Berthold
Hardware Engineering Manager
Andrew designs and verifies PCBs that integrate cleanly with mechanical systems. At 28 Gorilla, he focuses on electrical reliability and design for manufacture using Altium Designer and cross-team coordination.
Alyssa Thompson
Hardware Engineer
Alyssa Thompson
Hardware Engineer
Alyssa designs and validates embedded hardware systems, with a focus on PCB layout, schematic design, and cross-functional integration. She works closely with firmware and manufacturing to deliver production-ready boards.
Mike Perez
Electrical Engineer
Mike Perez
Electrical Engineer
Mike's 15+ year career started in the Marine Corps, where he inspected, tested and validated aircraft and weapons systems to ensure flight safety and compliance. He’s since designed hardware for space payloads, fault-tolerant train systems, and rugged military applications. In his last role, he led the electrical design of military body-worn RF devices, power and data hubs, and radio adapters.
Mechanical engineering
Matt Eisenbacher
Mechanical Engineering Manager
Matt Eisenbacher
Mechanical Engineering Manager
Matt brings incredible depth of hands-on and strategic expertise. He has 25+ years across defense and advanced technology. He started at Raytheon Missiles & Defense, working on some of the most demanding defense systems in the industry before climbing the ranks at BDATech. He spent the last 8 years as an engineering VP, scaling engineering operations.
Foundations
Jacob Stroud
Electronic Assembler
Jacob Stroud
Electronic Assembler
Jacob solders and assembles the PCBs that go into rugged products for industrial automation, environmental monitoring and field-deployed systems.. Before joining 28 Gorilla, he installed solar-powered camera systems at Flock Safety, ran precision press setups at MIITEK, and operated high-speed manufacturing equipment at Ball Corporation.
our manufacturing partner
Made to work with 29Tech
Some engineering firms hand off designs and walk away. We do things differently. As a shared partner with 29Tech, our integrated manufacturing partner, we collaborate closely to ensure every design we deliver is ready to build without delays or guesswork.
Together, we:
- Align early on connector layout, ruggedization and test plans
- Share feedback during pilot builds to guide design updates
- Prototype and test in parallel with design work
- Eliminate the risk of context loss between engineering and manufacturing
If you prefer to work with another manufacturer, we can support a smooth transition with clear documentation, production-ready drawings, and testing protocols that make the handoff easy.
