Meet The Advisor Team

Anthony Famiglietti is a renowned American track and field athlete who represented the United States in the 3000 meter steeplechase at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.  He has won the USA 15 km & 5 km Road Championships and competed professionally for Skechers & Adidas.  Anthony is incredibly creative and motivational often stating "It takes patience to become the best you can be. Top athletes & companies realize it’s a long-term game, set up for people who value delayed gratification and like hard-earned success."  In addition to his motivational prowess, Anthony’s creative talents are multifaceted. He is a contemporary abstract painter and sculptor whose artwork is characterized by a unique intensity and energetic fluidity, which is also reflected in his aggressive yet seemingly effortless style of Olympic running. This blend of physical and artistic discipline showcases his ability to channel creativity through various mediums.  Anthony’s creative and motivational process, much like his athletic training, is driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence and a willingness to push boundaries, making him a source of inspiration for the entire Metal Raptor team.

Thomas Gardos brings to Metal Raptor an impressive 30-year career at Intel, where he held both research and engineering positions. Most recently, Thomas led a computer vision and computational photography research and development team, focusing on the development of deep learning applications and algorithm specifications for ultra-low-power computer vision chips. His expertise in computer vision and deep learning aligns perfectly with Metal Raptor's mission to revolutionize air traffic control for autonomous aircraft using cutting-edge machine learning and deep learning technologies.  Prior to his work in computer vision, Thomas led Intel's video compression technology algorithm team and represented the company at the ISO Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) and ITU-T video experts group. He also sponsored academic research grants at Intel and served as Intel's Researcher-in-Residence at the prestigious MIT Media Lab.  Thomas holds a Masters and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, with a concentration in Digital Signal and Image Processing. He also earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with Thesis from the University of Delaware.  As of Fall 2023, Thomas joined the Faculty of Computing and Data Science at Boston University as Associate Professor of the Practice and the inaugural director of the MS in Data Science program.

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Mike is the former Chief Financial Officer and Chief Information Officer of ETAK Systems where he worked with Metal Raptor Founder and ETAK Systems Chief Executive Officer Lee Priest for nine years.  During Mike’s tenure with ETAK he led the effort to drive all systems into the cloud years ahead of similar sized companies making the move.  His dogmatic approach towards quality, systems support and the bottom line reduced 50% of costs at ETAK and helped push quality scores to the top of the industry.  Due to Mike's efforts and teaming approach, ETAK was successfully sold to a private equity firm for a very high multiple in 2021.  Mike's expertise spans a wide variety of industries including Telecom, Construction, Services and Banking.  His true passion is Information Technology and Mike continues to advise Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies on stable, successful cloud strategies.  Mike's financial prowess and deep CPA expertise is regularly called upon by business leaders throughout the country.

Marty Strong is a decorated retired Navy SEAL Officer, who served for 20 years in that elite unit.   After his military service, Marty transitioned into the business world, serving as an investment advisor and portfolio manager with the United Bank of Switzerland. He has also been a counter-terrorism consultant for various governments, in concert with his extremely successful role as CEO of Linxx Global Solutions.  Marty’s nimble mind and charismatic leadership style coalesced the successful formation and launch of Legacy Care, where he serves as CEO.  He is also a prolific author, having written nine novels and two business leadership books, "Be Nimble: How the Creative Navy SEAL Mindset Wins on the Battlefield and in Business" and "Strategic Leadership in the Age of Optimization". In addition to his CEO role, Strong serves on two corporate boards and has made over 350 appearances as a subject matter expert on national news shows, TV specials, radio spots, and podcasts. His leadership and strategic thinking have been instrumental in transforming companies into rapidly growing industry leaders. 

Mike Sweeney has worked in business, government, and nonprofits and has over 30 years of experience solving major environmental challenges in the U.S. and around the world. In particular, Mike has driven early adoption of new technology for conservation, including drones, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence. He has also championed regional land-use planning and the clean energy transition, pioneering new ways to facilitate and incentivize the thoughtful build-out of renewable energy across the West. Mike is the Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in California, the organization’s largest chapter. In addition to his role in California, Mike overseas TNC’s chapters in Hawai’i and the Pacific Islands. Prior to TNC he worked as an assistant to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt helping advance the first Clinton Administration’s conservation priorities. He also worked in politics and publishing in the US and Japan. Mike serves as a trustee of the California Academy of Sciences, as an advisor to Colossal Biosciences, chairs the board of Pacific Island Tuna, and formerly served on the board of Island Conservation. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Harvard College.

In search of an FAA expert with key connections in the U.S. Department of Transportation and a deep understanding of AAM and UTM.