Management Team

Dan Thoren became our President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2021 after being named Chief Operating Officer in June 2021. Prior to that, Mr. Thoren served as Barber-Nichols Inc.'s President and CEO since 1997. From 1991 to 1997, he held Senior Engineer and Engineering management posts at the company. Mr. Thoren earned a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wyoming and a M.S. degree in Organizational Management from the University of Colorado, Denver.

Christopher Thome became our Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer in April 2022. Prior to that, Mr. Thome served as Corporate Controller for Allied Motion Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AMOT).  He brings nearly 30 years of experience in finance and accounting leadership, audit, public company financial reporting, treasury, operational accounting, and shared services implementation.  From 2006 to 2020, Mr. Thome held progressively advancing roles at Integer Holdings (NYSE: ITGR) including Senior Director – Treasurer and Senior Director – Financial Reporting, Treasury Operations and Shared Services. He was previously Vice President – Reporting and Investor Relations Manager with First Niagara Financial Group. Mr. Thome began his career as a Senior Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Mr. Thome, a Certified Public Accountant, earned his B.S. in accounting at Canisius College and his Executive M.B.A. at the University at Buffalo SUNY.

Alan E. Smith was appointed our Vice President of Operations in July 2007. Previously, from 2005 until July 2007, Mr. Smith served as Director of Operations for Lydell, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of specialty engineering products. Prior to that, he had been employed by us for fourteen years, progressing from Project Engineer to Engineering Manager.

A licensed Professional Engineer, Mr. Smith holds a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University, a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from the State University of New York at Geneseo and an MBA from Medaille College. He has participated in seven Six Sigma green belt projects and a number of professional development courses.

Matt Malone joined Barber-Nichols in 2015 as a Project Engineer focused on rocket engine turbopump design and development. He was promoted to Navy Program Manager in 2018, overseeing key U.S. Navy programs. Mr. Malone was appointed Vice President of Operations of Barber-Nichols in 2020. He began his career at GE Transportation where he held a variety of engineering and management positions. Mr. Malone earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with honors in design optimization from Pennsylvania State University and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.