Rudy Kalafus grew up in a blue-collar family in Jackson, Michigan, spent his university years around theoreticians, then worked with innovators and entrepreneurs.  He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1966.  Early in his career he led advanced technology projects at the U.S. Transportation System Center in Cambridge, MA, for the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.  In the early 1980’s he performed pioneering work in assessing the potential of GPS for air and marine applications.  At his initiative the RTCM (Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Service) established Special Committee 104, Differential Global Navigation Satellite Systems, which has developed standards for high-accuracy GPS services around the world.  These standards form the basis of a multi-billion dollar industry today.  He chaired this committee from 1984-2009.  In 1988 he joined Trimble Navigation in Silicon Valley to develop receivers for the Global Positioning System (GPS), and has consulted for the military group there since 2002.  He has six patents and received the prestigious Kepler award in 1992 from the Institute of Navigation (ION) for significant contributions to satellite navigation.  He also served as president of the ION in 2002-2003.