GSSI, the world’s leading manufacturer of ground penetrating radar (GPR) equipment, is pleased to announce the promotion of David Cist to the position of Vice President of Research & Development. An exceptional leader and innovator, since 1996, Dr. Cist has helped GSSI to develop several key products, including an arrayed utility mapper and a series of search and rescue tools.

Promoted from “Chief Geek” in 2015, and more recently to interim Director of R&D, Dr. Cist continues to provide the leadership GSSI needs to drive innovation and product strategy forward.

According to GSSI President, Chris Hawekotte, “I am pleased to announce the promotion of David Cist to the position of VP of Research & Development. David has led the organization in this capacity on an interim basis since last September and has convinced us that he is right to take on this role permanently. I am confident that he will continue to extend GSSI’s lead as the technological front-runner in GPR.”

A long-time GSSI employee, Dr. Cist recently celebrated his 21st year with the organization, having served in prior roles as Senior Software Engineer and also as Manager of Product Strategy and Planning. After graduating from Princeton University with a BSE degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Dr. Cist worked in market research and then in R&D for Siemens Medical in Germany. There he developed the first ever voice recognition tool for cardiac catheterization procedures. Dr. Cist completed his education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a Master’s degree in Radiology Science (Simulated Annealing image reconstruction), and finally a PhD in Geophysics (3D Migration of GPR data).

GSSI is confident Dr. Cist’s new position as technical lead will foster innovative solutions that further extend GSSI’s flagship role in the GPR industry.