Kraken Sonar has appointed Jeff Bartkowski as director of business development, effective December 05, 2016.

Jeff has sales and business development experience with both commercial and defense customers and has worked at companies such as Teledyne-Reson, iXBlue and Sea Machine Robotics.

He is a graduate of New York’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Karl Kenny, president and chief executive officer of Kraken, said, “We’re delighted to have Jeff join Kraken. His relationships with companies and agencies active in underwater robotics will be very beneficial as we further develop our Sensors-to-Systems strategy. He brings a strong ability to understand and sell technical products and is experienced in new product releases and emerging markets. Over the past 18 months, Kraken’s hires have been predominantly engineering and technical related. With the addition of Jeff, we add increased sales and business development capabilities and an ability to quickly respond to the increasing volume of opportunities that Kraken is pursuing.”

“The maritime robotics sector is becoming a multi-billion market. Leveraging its position as a leading supplier to the unmanned underwater vehicle industry is creating new opportunities for Kraken,” said Jeff Bartkowski. “Kraken has built and acquired a significant portfolio of underwater robotics intellectual property. This technology, coupled with strong capabilities in smart sensors, underwater autonomy, electronics and mechatronics, uniquely positions Kraken to become a major player in the rapidly emerging maritime robotics industry.”