Meet the team.
Valqari is a team of dedicated and innovative individuals. From our executives to our engineers, our team is on the forefront of development.
Ryan Walsh
FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Ryan Walsh
FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
KEVIN DUCKERS
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
KEVIN DUCKERS
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Kevin is the Founder of IDU Group, which was recently acquired by Valqari.
Since 2016 Kevin has been an integral part of the creation of IDU Groups’ SmartBox and SmartBox Medical SBT (Sky Bridge Technology). Leading the company’s strategy in the product development roadmap, senior engagement in strategic joint ventures/partnerships and budgetary control of significant cost spend. Kevin is a patented inventor on several IDU patents, commercially focused with significant experience in multiple business sectors.
From the inception of seed funding and with the support of team IDU, Kevin built the company from ground up with a focus on an industry “pinch point”. Building strategic partnerships in the support of product deployments to future cities projects in North America, recently selling SmartBox development kits with the support of DiT. Entered as the most promising start-up by the Staffordshire Chamber Business Awards and nominated as an industry disrupter by Airwards.
Before IDU Group, Kevin managed over $80m of assets and complex stakeholders globally, including through humanitarian crises such as the 2015 Ebola outbreak and Niger Delta insurgency. With a sound record of excellence in risk management & counter-insurgency operations, he led the implementation of effective strategies and procedures in some of the world’s most challenging environments, improving safety, corporate governance and controlling organizational exposure to risk.
TIM AYERS
Chief Strategy Officer
TIM AYERS
CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER
Tim brings to Valqari over 20 years of management experience in technology services, strategy, product development, integration, operations, marketing, and sales, primarily in customer facing roles. Before joining Valqari, Tim worked for Extenet Systems, a large privately held technology infrastructure owner operator providing 4G and 5G mobile network infrastructure to AT&T, Tmobile, and Verizon.
Prior to Extenet, Tim worked for Tellabs, IBM, and 3COM building and managing technology services capabilities serving mobile network operators throughout the world, working extensively in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Tim has a BA in business from North Central College and is currently completing an executive program at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Marketing in digital marketing strategy.
ChUCK Byers
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
Charles Byers
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
Chuck was the chief edge computing architect at Cisco Systems. Prior to that, he was a former Bell Labs Fellow. Chuck has extensive experience with commercializing intellectual property.
Chuck has been granted over 120 US patents and is the chief technical officer of the IoT consortium. His vast experience with networks and complex systems and has been critical in leading Valqari’s engineering team to meet the evolving drone market demands
RALPH WOOD
CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER
RALPH WOOD
CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER
Having over 22 years of product development experience at Dyson, Ralph is an inspiring design and engineering professional. He has diverse experience as a design project leader, principal engineer and design engineer.
His capabilities span research, product commercialization and manufacturing implementation. At Valqari, he leads the organization delivering end to end global product development for large scale manufacturing.
JASON SELLNOW
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
JASON SELLNOW
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Jason has worked over 25 years for small & mid-sized family-owned businesses. He has an MBA with finance emphasis from Pepperdine University, BA in Business Administration from the University of Laverne.
He also a number of certifications including Certified Management Accountant, CMA, from the Institute of Management Accountants, certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis, CSCA, from the Institute of Management Accountants, and is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor, Exit Planning Institute.
KURT NUSBAUM
CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
KURT NUSBAUM
CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
Kurt has built leading edge manufacturing focused e-business solutions over the past 25 years. Kurt’s background includes hardware, software and e-commerce product development for AT&T, and manufacturing information systems development with Lucent Technologies.
His experience includes working with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and its suppliers on a collaborative web based supply chain quality management system that continues to save Goodyear millions annually.
Kurt brings extensive software and hardware commercialization experience. His responsibilities le includes translating market needs into solutions that can be brought to the key markets Valqari serves.