Meet the Management Team

Daniel Caplin

Director, National Accounts

Daniel brings 10 years of combined mechanical engineering and startup growth-strategy experience spanning climate technology, medical devices, and advanced manufacturing.
He designed and commercialized Class II medical devices, leading cross-functional teams from concept to FDA clearance & manufacturing scale-up.
He brings technical fluency, commercial acumen, and clear communication to turn complex engineering insights and requirements into actionable business strategies for clients and partners.
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with honors from Cornell and MBA from MIT.

Matt Violette

VP, HVAC Partnerships

Matt brings over 20 years of HVAC Service Technician, Management, and Business Owner experience to Polarworx.
He started his career as an HVAC Apprentice, working his way up the ranks as Service Manager, and eventually a co-owner of an HVAC Company and Supply House company.
Matt holds mechanical and boiler licenses and is certified across several manufacturers for installation and start-up.
Matt earned his HVAC Degree from Lincoln Tech in New Jersey.

Ves Padgett

VP, HVAC Construction

Ves brings over 20 years of experience in HVAC industry related to construction/project management and team leadership.
Prior to Polarworx, he worked as a project manager for Blue Mountain Mechanical and led a wide range of projects up to $1M in value.
He’s completed work in hospitals, hotels, schools, and gov’t buildings.
Ves is known for his hands-on leadership style and is passionate about the client and his team. With a safety-first mentality, he leads by example and holds everyone on the team to a significantly high standard.
He holds electrical and mechanical licenses in numerous states.

Brandon Lackey, PE

Senior Vice President, Construction

Brandon brings over 13 years of experience leading large-scale mechanical and electrical programs across the retail, industrial, and energy sectors. He specializes in multi-site rollouts and has overseen electrical, controls, and infrastructure projects nationwide.
He’s held technical and leadership roles at high-growth startups and complex organizations, including SpaceX, Antora, & RavenVolt. Brandon’s leadership blends deep technical knowledge with a hands-on, field-first approach. At Polarworx, he leads national construction execution with a focus on precision, scalability, and client success. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and a licensed Electrical & General Contractor in 9 states.

Chris Poje, PE

Senior Vice President, Engineering

Chris joined Polarworx in 2025 bringing nearly 40 years of engineering, construction management and consulting experience to the organization.
He began his career as a design/build mechanical contractor, worked as a design engineer of large water and wastewater projects, and then spent most of the last decade managing a 35-person MEP consulting engineering practice.
Chris earned a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and completed Executive Project Management coursework at Georgia State University.

Rob Leslie

Senior Vice President, Operational Excellence

Rob joined Polarworx in 2024 as Senior Director of Strategy & Operations. He supports all aspects of project delivery out in the field and firmwide strategic decision making. Rob spent the year preceding as the Head of Corporate Development and M&A at Towne Park.
Prior experience includes M&A at ABM Industries and various roles as a management consultant at Alvarez & Marsal.
Rob earned a B.B.A in Finance from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Michael Fox, PE

VP, Mechanical Engineering

Michael has had a diverse career designing HVAC-R systems nationally.
Michael’s experience began with design of corporate, hospitality and medical projects for companies such as Google, Walgreens, KPMG, Lowe’s Hotels, Hyatt Regency, and Presence Health.
Utilizing expertise in both mechanical design and large corporate capital/maintenance planning Michael transitioned his focus into planning, building out and running large scale capital/maintenance programs for HVAC, Refrigeration, and EMS. up to 500 stores per year.
Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Trent Nelsen, PMP

VP, National Accounts (Co-Founder)

Trent has a diverse career starting as a mechanical design engineer specializing in HVAC, working for Trane as an Energy Engineer, and then working for Target & Walgreens managing their HVAC replacement programs.
Trent has performed over 3,700 HVAC and RTU replacements and 600 EMS upgrades in his career ranging from 3 to 75 tons per unit across packaged equipment, split systems, VRF, air-handlers, and chilled water systems.
Earned a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota.

Brock Collins

VP, Licensing & Safety (Co-Founder)

Brock served for 15 years as the Sr Project Manager in charge of hundreds of HVAC and mechanical swap outs for Walmart, Lowes, and many other national companies.
He is a licensed mechanical, electrical, and plumbing contractor in many state across the USA.
Brock graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University

Sonya Langkau, CPA

CFO (Co-Founder)

Sonya began her career working in audit & tax. After discovering she enjoyed working with entrepreneurial inspired firms, she left public accounting to pursue a career in corporate accounting with high growth middle market companies holding roles as CFO Consultant, VP of Finance, & Corporate Controller.
Most recently, Sonya has been a Senior Consultant on M&A Integrations and Finance Transformation initiatives working with highly acquisitive firms.
Sonya holds a BBA in Accounting & an MBA from Kennesaw State University and is a Certified Public Accountant

Jonathan Hinton

CEO / President (Co-Founder)

Polarworx is his 4th company, the last three were sold to Fortune 500 companies with RavenVolt growing to $290M in annual sales in 4 years.
Extensive experience in power generation & controls and has worked with thousands of US Supermarkets.
Has held roles in sales, accounting, construction, manufacturing, and senior management
Master Electrician in 10 States
BBA Accounting w honors from Georgia State University, and MBA from MIT

The Polarworx Management Team

Our Experience

5,000+

12+

4,000+