Avionics News November 2014 - 34

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Brad Thurow of

What do you do
at Appareo?

I am a solutions engineer and work
on new product concepts, feasibility,
technical and commercial aspects of a
product. In short, I turn product ideas
into projects.

How long have
you been there?

Nearly three years. Immediately
before that, I was involved with
a startup for eight years where
we designed power management
integrated circuits for laptops and
mobile devices like cellphones.

s
Appareo System
Brad Thurow of

L

ocated in Fargo, North Dakota,
Appareo Systems is one of
the leaders in the custom
development and manufacture of
low-cost innovative avionics solutions.
Through the creative application
of cutting-edge technologies, the
company creates complex end-to-end
solutions that include both airborne
and ground-station components.
Appareo offers turnkey services from
product conceptualization through
attainment of a supplemental
type certificate. In addition, the
company is an accredited FAA parts
manufacturing facility and is ISO
9001:2008 certified.
Recently, Patricia Luebke, Avionics
News contributor, spoke with Brad
Thurow to learn about his work and
his life outside the office.
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Where did you go
to school?

I'm originally from Saint Paul,
Minnesota, and I came to Fargo to
attend North Dakota State University.
My major was electrical engineering.

Did you always want to
become an engineer?

When I was younger, I didn't know
what an engineer was other than trains,
but I was very interested in computers,
machines, science and math. In
hindsight, it was obvious engineering
was in my future. I remember, on
more than one occasion, taking my
dad's computer apart, only to find I
couldn't put it back together properly
again. It made for an evening of fixing
everything I broke throughout the day
- certainly, a good learning experience
for father and son. Once I was older
and thinking about going to college,
pursuing engineering made sense and
was something I identified with easily.

Appareo Systems

What's the best part
about your job?
I'm an engineer at heart
- I like to start with an idea
and turn it into a piece of
hardware or software. As a
solutions engineer, you start
with an idea and end up with
something you can use. I
also like developing business
opportunities and being
involved in new projects.

You worked on Stratus?

Yes, that has been such an exciting
product to work on. When I joined
Appareo, the first Stratus was a
month from hitting the market. At
first, it was viewed very positively,
and then pilots started asking to
have some very specific features
added. We went to work quickly
to address those requests and
developed the Stratus II. I also was
fortunate to have worked on our new
transponder project, which will be
available this spring. It's a simplified
solution for pilots to comply with the
FAA's 2020 ADS-B Out mandate.

What's a typical day?

No day is typical, but that's
what I love about it. I spend a lot
of time meeting with customers
to understand their problems and
start finding solutions. A lot of my
day is in project initiation - I look
Avionics News November 2014

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