Meet 28 Gorilla

End-to-end product engineering and development experts based in Chandler, AZ.

History

Founded in 2017

28 Gorilla started with one engineer, Andy Philips, who wanted to move faster and solve harder problems without getting buried in bureaucracy. That mindset attracted others and today, we’re a tightly coordinated team of engineers and developers who thrive on the complex and the high stakes. Our backgrounds span aerospace, automotive, energy, and defense. We specialize in embedded systems, rugged hardware, full-stack software, and design-for-manufacture.

Leadership

Andy Phillips

Founder/Principal
Engineer
Before co-founding 28 Gorilla and 29Tech, Andy was the CEO of HDScores, a data collection and analysis provider for Yelp. He also held global leadership positions for A.O. Smith and Generac, overseeing design centers in the U.S., China, and South Korea. Andy earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University and holds various patents across a variety of technologies. Once a certified Scrum Master, he continues to lead with agility. He can usually be found tinkering or taking calls in one of his many black rock ‘n’ roll T-shirts. “Dream, design, build, qualify” is Andy’s motto, and he’s been engineering precision-crafted products for more than 20 years.

Mike Mihalka

Founder/Principal
Engineer
Before co-founding 28 Gorilla and 29Tech, Mike was the CEO of HDScores, similar to Andy's background, with various engineering leadership roles across different industries.

Engineering Team Members

Jordan Klosa

Engineering Manager
Jordan leads embedded hardware projects focusing on control algorithms, rugged PCB layout, and low-level firmware. His work spans EMI/EMC compliance, energy systems, and production electronics built for harsh conditions.

Kendall Murray

Laboratory Operations Manager
Kendall manages lab operations, supporting prototyping and testing through expert assembly and troubleshooting. As a certified IPC Specialist, she ensures every wire harness and solder joint meets high-reliability standards.

Software / Firmware Team Members

James Sargent

Senior Software Engineer
James builds software that connects embedded hardware with cloud platforms. He develops secure provisioning pipelines, IoT infrastructure, backend systems, and embedded applications using C, Python, and JavaScript.

Jesse Snyder

Electrical Engineer
Jesse designs digital hardware and embedded systems and develops FPGA algorithms. His work includes NASA JPL radar research that maps atmospheric H₂O and O₂.

Hardware Team Members

Alyssa Thompson

Hardware Engineer
Alyssa designs and validates embedded hardware systems, focusing on PCB layout, schematic design, and cross-functional integration.

Andrew Berthold

Hardware Engineer
Andrew designs and verifies PCBs focusing on electrical reliability and design for manufacture using Altium Designer.

Collaboration with 29Tech

As a shared partner with 29Tech, we collaborate closely to ensure every design we deliver is ready to build without delays or guesswork. This includes aligning on connector layouts, sharing feedback during pilot builds, and eliminating the risk of context loss between engineering and manufacturing.

Contact Us

Let’s make hard problems real products. Contact us