Executive Leadership
Jeff Manning, President
Mr. Manning founded Manning NavComp, Inc. in 1993, with a vision to apply an elegant
software layer over the technologies of the Global Positioning System and wireless
data networks, giving people in many diverse environments the ability to remotely
supervise their important assets. His background of eight years as a senior engineer
with Raytheon E-Systems prepared him for the technological task that has evolved
during the last fifteen years. Mr. Manning received the Bachelor of Science degree
in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas in 1987, and the Master of
Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Arlington
in 1990. Mr. Manning is convinced that the values of hard work, integrity, education,
and humility are all very real, and actively applies those values to the philosophy
of the company.
Robert W. (Bob) Thompson, Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Robert Thompson began his mapping and surveying career at the University of Wisconsin,
then spent
2 ½ years in the Antarctic creating the first aeronautical charts in the early 1960s.
He served in several positions at Sanborn Map Company, Pelham, NY where he managed
several early geographic information systems. In early 1970, Bob was VP, Marketing
for Utility Data Systems in Houston, with digital mapping projects like the Tennessee
Gas Pipeline, oil wells in California and the earliest fully computerized appraisal
mapping at Forsyth County, NC. Thompson became President of Williams Stackhouse,
Inc. in San Antonio in 1975, where he developed a first order surveying and GPS survey/mapping
capability that was used to create and maintain military master plans for more than
100 bases. Later he formed his own company, Conversion Resources Corporation. In
the mid-1990’s he was a founder of ATX Research, a predecessor of OnStar that provides
telematics services for Mercedes, BMW, Rolls Royce and other fine cars today. He
is a published magazine author and has served on the Board of Directors of the American
Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing as well as other companies. He has also
served as a committee chair on both the National Emergency Number Association and
the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials and holds a patent in GPS-based
9-1-1 services.
Larry Durbin, Chief Operations Officer
Mr. Durbin was Manning NavComp’s first full-time Sales Director, and has grown and
developed the same independent domestic, international, and vertical market-specific
sales channels that the company continues to use today. Prior to his term at Manning
NavComp, he managed a customer service and technical support team for Power Computing,
Inc. He has been instrumental in the success of the company since joining with the
company in 1998, consistently increasing sales while simultaneously controlling costs.
He designed and implemented the proprietary Manning NavComp company-wide database
system for tracking customer service, technical support, and sales activity and has
developed many of the procedures used by company personnel. Mr. Durbin has a college
background in electrical engineering and over 25 years of experience in management
and customer service.
Lee Simmonds, Chief Development Engineer
Mr. Simmonds signed on with Jeff in 1996 as lead developer. It wouldn’t be until
a year later that the first general purpose GPS/AVL device would be manufactured,
but he drove the development of the first truly major upgrade of the RASTRAC software
and has continued to outdo himself in the years since. Mr. Simmonds’ unique experience
in real-time control of signal processing and analysis systems at Raytheon E-Systems
gives him QRC development expertise shared by few engineers in this country. He has
applied those skills to almost every product in the RASTRAC suite, leaving a legacy
of software applications that optimally exploit the computing platform while running
for months without a hitch. His efforts position the company uniquely in the AVL
middleware server industry, as a company that delivers software that works and keeps
working. Mr. Simmonds earned the Bachelor of Science Computer Engineering, Mathematics
and Computer Science in 1987 from the University of Minnesota.
