San Francisco, CA, Detroit, MI, December 12, 2017—Swift Navigation, a San Francisco-based tech firm building centimeter-accurate GPS technology to power a world of autonomous vehicles, today announced a new executive hire to support its rapidly growing business. Joel Gibson has joined the executive team as Vice President of Automotive. In his new position, Gibson will open a Swift Navigation office in Detroit to best serve automotive customers located in that market. He will be responsible for automotive strategy, plan and execution of centimeter-accurate localization, enabling automated driving, high-definition navigation and other safety and ADAS applications.
With deep expertise in automotive, Gibson is perfectly suited to manage this burgeoning sector of Swift Navigation’s clientele. Previously, he served a long tenure with Magna Electronics, a company that provides innovative electronic systems to the automotive industry. His most recent title was Vice President, Business Line Management, but over the course of 15 years with the company, he fulfilled many roles in both Germany and Michigan. During his time at Magna Electronics, he began a camera product line that grew to be the largest automotive camera Tier-1 supplier worldwide.
“Joel is a recognized leader in automotive sensor technology, bringing extremely pertinent expertise to Swift Navigation’s GNSS solutions, particularly in the field of autonomous vehicles. We are delighted to have him join Swift as part of the executive team,” said Rob Hranac, Swift Navigation’s Chief Operating Officer. “Joel pioneered the use of vision sensor technology in automotive ADAS applications. At Swift, he leads the automotive business, helping our automotive customers leverage high-precision GNSS for autonomy.”
Joel’s resume also includes experience as a software developer for various controllers in automobiles, where he was responsible for the architecture, design and execution of embedded software systems. Some of his projects included powertrain controls for Saturn, instrument clusters, navigation-enabled infotainment units, camera-based blind spot detection and lane departure warning technology. His background, both safety and technology-focused, leaves him perfectly suited for Swift Navigation’s automotive division. He holds a BS in Systems Engineering from Oakland University.
“Safety and autonomy are the growth engines of automotive, and the ability to know the exact location of the vehicle will be critical for safe automated driving,” said Gibson. “I am very excited to bring Swift Navigation’s leading high precision GNSS location technology to the mass market.”
Over the summer, Swift Navigation raised $34 Million in a Series B Round to support the next generation of high-Accuracy GPS for autonomous vehicles.
ABOUT SWIFT NAVIGATION
Swift Navigation, Inc. was founded in 2012 to make GPS positioning technology more accurate and affordable. Today Swift Navigation has gained a reputation for defining a new category of GNSS systems as the industry’s first low-cost, high accuracy real-time kinematics (RTK) receiver. Its GPS and GNSS positioning products are available a fraction of the price of the competition and deliver 100 times better accuracy than the GPS in a cell phone. Swift Navigation’s technology benefits a multitude of industries and applications—including autonomous vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), precision agriculture, robotics, surveying and space. With its innovation and technology honored by Inc.’s 2016 and Forbes 2017 30 Under 30 lists, Swift Navigation is enabling a world where fields farm themselves, drones fly safely and autonomous transportation can take you home. Learn more online at swiftnav.com, follow Swift on Twitter @Swiftnav