Leadership

Shahram Askarpour

Chief Executive Officer

Shahram Askarpour joined IS&S in 2003 as Vice President of Engineering. In March 2012 he was promoted to President. Since 2003, he has been a key contributor to the company’s leadership, strategy and technology. Dr. Askarpour has more than 40 years of aerospace industry experience in increasingly responsible technical and managerial positions. Prior to joining IS&S, he was employed by Smiths Aerospace (a division of Smiths Group PLC), Instrumentation Technology and Marconi Avionics. He holds a number of key patents in the aviation field. Dr. Askarpour was awarded an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, a post graduate Certificate in Systems Engineering and a PhD in Automatic Control from Brunel University London. He was an Associate Research Fellow for three years at Brunel and has published numerous papers in leading international peer reviewed journals. He has also completed management courses at Carnegie Mellon University and finance courses at the Wharton School.

Jeffrey DiGiovanni

Chief Financial Officer

Jeffrey DiGiovanni joined the company in April 2024 as the Chief Financial Officer.  Jeff is a seasoned public company CFO with experience in SEC filings, financial reporting and acquisitions, as well as capital markets interaction.  Previously, Jeff served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of StoneMor Inc. (formerly NYSE: STON), a provider of funeral and cemetery products and services in the death care industry, from September 2019 to May 2023, and prior to that, served as StoneMor Inc.’s Chief Accounting Officer from September 2018 to September 2019. From January 2012 until September 2018, Mr. DiGiovanni was Managing Director at Pine Hill Group, a leading accounting and transaction advisory firm, where he worked with clients to deliver services, including readiness for initial public offerings, financial reporting, including reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and technical accounting assistance on complex transactions. Mr. DiGiovanni holds a B.S. in Accounting and an M.S. in Financial Services from Saint Joseph’s University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Brian Urbanski

Vice President of Quality

Brian Urbanski joined the company in 1999 as Director of Quality and was promoted to Vice President of Quality in 2002.   His current responsibilities include: ISO9001/AS9100D Management Representative, FAA Certification Liaison to the Boston Aircraft Certification Office, Accountable Manager to the FAA/EASA Repair Station, CASE-1A Management Representative, D0-178B/C Software Quality Assurance Manager, DO-254 Hardware Quality Assurance Manager, Type 2 LOA Aeronautical Database Manager, and Reliability and Maintainability Manager. Mr. Urbanski is the main focal point for coordinating all FAA STC, TSO and PMA projects at IS&S.  Prior to joining IS&S, Mr. Urbanski held Six Sigma Master Black Belt positions at Raytheon and Allied Signal.  Mr. Urbanski holds a BS in Materials Engineering from Drexel University, he is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and he has over 30-years in aerospace continuous improvement and quality management systems.

Markus Knopf

Vice President, Product Development

Markus Knopf joined the company in 2000 as a member of the IS&S Engineering department in various capacities. Prior to joining IS&S he worked as a Design Engineer on ultrasonic fastener equipment covering the automotive and aerospace markets. Mr. Knopf holds a BS/MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Ulm-Germany and an MS in Information Science from the Pennsylvania State University.

Kevin Cravens

Vice President, Program Management

Kevin Cravens joined the company in 2001 as a software engineer working on flat panel display systems. He has since held positions in systems engineering, project engineering, and program management. Prior to joining IS&S he worked as a Design Engineer at Boeing Helicopters working mission computer software on the RAH-66 Comanche attack helicopter as well as flight control software for Boeings tiltrotor aircraft (V-22 and 609). Mr. Cravens also worked for Unisys on CRM software for the banking industry. Mr. Cravens holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech and has completed management and finance courses at the Wharton Business School.