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we are...

We are FYR, Inc., a group of engineers and designers, artists and mathematicians, visionaries united with the common purpose to change the way we see the world.

We are proven business leaders, innovators, and technologists in a coordinated and balanced environment where creative thinking meets sound engineering. Our technical team is comprised of industry leaders with widely diverse backgrounds across the fields of advanced visualization and product development, and we’re led by a management team with substantial experience growing companies from startup to exit, including IPO.

We are pioneers in our respective fields with the experience to recognize opportunities previously overlooked, and the stamina to navigate challenges otherwise abandoned.

We are the authors of multiple patented and patent-pending technologies with a focus on applied research in electronics, optics, and digital imaging.

We are experts in hardware and software engineering, data handling, real-time computer graphics, digital content creation, and industrial design.

We are FYR.

 

management experience

  • Founder and former CEO of Allied Minds
  • Substantial leadership experience
  • Multiple successful exits including IPO
  • Over $700MM in funds raised
  • Senior startup leadership experience

technical experience

  • Original creators of core technology from Lockheed Martin
  • Over 100 years of combined computer graphics experience
  • Respected experts in AR, VR, software, electronics, & design
  • Proven leaders, former Tech Fellow, 3 PhDs, 1 MD
  • Inventors and co-inventors of 17 total patents
  • Senior product development & industry experience
 
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Mark Pritchard
Chairman
FOUNDER
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Chris Silva
CEO
FOUNDER
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Kyle Ringgenberg
VP of Technology
FOUNDER
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Mark Lamkin
VP of Innovation
FOUNDER
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Stephen Guest
VP of Engineering
FOUNDER
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Dr. Bryan Walter
Director of Software Engineering
 
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Dr. Jared Knutzon
Director of Software Engineering
 
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Dr. Vincent Chun
Sr. VP of Product Development
 
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Dr. Leonard Kibuule
Spinal Surgeon | Advisor to FYR
 
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background

Mark Pritchard

Founder | Chairman

portraitFollowing a successful career in investment banking in both Europe and the Far East, Mark focused on early stage technology investing taking both leadership and investor roles. He has senior level management experience in both private and public companies and has realized significant exits through IPOs and trade sales, most notably at Allied Minds, a technology incubator and FuturaGene a plant biotech company.

Within his role as Founder and Executive Chairman of Allied Minds, Mark initiated in excess of 40 start ups with total capital raised over $600 million. Mark took Allied Minds public in 2014 on the London Stock Exchange and grew the company’s market value to over $1.5 billion.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Commerce from The University of London.

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Chris Silva

Founder | CEO

portraitChris has a long and successful career of entrepreneurship and senior executive management. From 2006-2017, Chris was CEO and co-founder of Allied Minds, a diversified holding company with a portfolio of technology and life science businesses based on leading edge technologies. He took Allied public in 2014, establishing a 12.1x return for the shareholders. During his tenure, the market cap grew to over $2.2B (41x return) as a FTSE 250 company. Chris has directly raised over $600MM in capital. He has senior executive and board level experiences, including Chairman, at over 20 private and public companies. Chris currently serves as Board member to the Spade Defense Industry Index, traded by Invesco Aerospace & Defense exchange traded fund; PPA. Chris also is a senior advisor to leading aerospace and defense companies.

Prior to Allied Minds, Chris was a Partner at JSA, where he provided strategic counsel and Mergers & Acquisition support to aerospace & defense corporations and private equity firms. Chris was also a senior member of A.T. Kearney's Aerospace Practice and a corporate development executive at GRC Intl (acquired by AT&T), a technical and scientific contractor to the Department of Defense and US Intelligence Agencies.

Chris began his career as an officer in the US Air Force and was a member of the U.S Intelligence Community. He holds a BA from Tufts University and a Masters of Business Administration.

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Kyle Ringgenberg

Founder | VP of Technology

portraitWith extensive experience in both electrical and computer engineering, Kyle leads the semiconductor and low-level I/O development efforts at FYR. These encompass sensor, display, and logic unit architectures for the Facet. His areas of focus include high-performance data management, transistor-level real-time light field processing, and FPGA-based algorithm development & prototyping.

While a research engineer with Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, Kyle’s primary contributions included highly performant, highly extensible hardware and software architectures for unique, cutting-edge 3D experiences. His previous professional life was spent developing real-time rendering algorithms and pilot-vehicle interfaces (PVI) for heads-up and head-mounted displays within Lockheed Martin’s Simulation and System Integration Laboratories (SimSIL). Kyle has extensive experience developing content and algorithms for the major AAA game engines and working with virtually every AR/VR device on the market.

Kyle has authored or co-authored three technical publications, fourteen patents, and numerous whitepapers. He holds an M.S. from The University of Virginia and a B.S. from Rice University, both in Electrical Engineering.

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Mark Lamkin

Founder | VP of Innovation

portraitDrawing from formal training in design and more than 20 years of experience, Mark is responsible for all industrial and mechanical design, prototyping and manufacturing, coordination of optics design and development, as well as all visual communications for FYR.

Mark spent 17 years at Lockheed Martin, where he originally conceived the Visor and Facet concepts as a Research Engineer with the Skunk Works. His career has spanned both technical and creative development, during which he invented and oversaw prototyping of a unique pixel architecture, co-founded an enterprise-wide collaboration initiative and annual summit, served as Technical Lead for the 3D animation department, and directed numerous award-winning multimedia projects for a variety of USAF and DOD programs. He is well-versed in imaging and display technologies and almost all aspects of computer graphics content creation. He has spent his career combining engineering and aesthetics, with focused research on the capture and digital recreation of light.

A lifelong innovator, Mark is named inventor or co-inventor of seventeen patented and patent-pending technologies. He studied Environmental Design at Texas A&M University and earned a Media Arts & Video degree with honors from the University of Texas at Arlington.

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Stephen Guest

Founder | VP of Engineering

portraitStephen has worked in aerospace technology for over 30 years and currently applies his engineering experience to support FYR, Inc. with project management, architecture development, as well as circuit design and hardware / software interfaces.

His prior accomplishments include the support of multiple advanced aircraft programs (F-16, F-22, F-35, and classified vehicles) with the creation and management of 3D in-context engineering visual simulations, as well as the deployment of the first reconfigurable CAVE virtual environment system to be driven by both SGI supercomputers and PC clusters.

Stephen has a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Mississippi State University and has spent his career at General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin where his last project was to manage the “Project Sunrise” R&D effort for the advanced light field sensing and display systems that led to FYR’s core technologies. While at Lockheed Martin, he served two terms as a Technical Fellow in Advanced Visualization, acquired a patent for object-oriented data integration in a visual simulation system, and received an Aero Star award for developing and maintaining a visual simulation system to support vehicle mishap analysis.

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Bryan Walter, PhD

Director of Software Engineering

portraitDr. Bryan Walter has been working in virtual reality, modeling and simulation, and computer graphics for over 15 years. Prior to joining FYR, Bryan was primary architect and developer on multiple delivered interactive products at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. He developed a battlefield viewing application based on the OGRE engine, as well as applications that combine graphical displays with innovative interfaces to help groups within Lockheed Martin analyze complex sets of data.

Bryan holds a dual PhD in Human Computer Interaction and Mechanical Engineering as well as an MS and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University, where he was responsible for development of a VR battlefield viewing application for one of the world’s first six sided CAVEs.

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Jared Knutzon, PhD

Director of Software Engineering

portraitDr. Jared Knutzon has over 20 years of experience with computer engineering, with a focus on virtual reality and advanced visualization technologies. Before his work at FYR, Jared was part of a visualization and research team at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works where he co-developed a battlefield visualization system for large-scale military engagements using the OGRE engine and worked on innovative visualization and VR solutions for multiple programs throughout Lockheed Martin.

Jared Knutzon holds a PhD in Human Computer Interaction as well as an MS and a BS in Computer Engineering from Iowa State University, where he studied the remote tele-operation of vehicles from a VR environment, and performed research for the Air Force Research Laboratory on the impacts of VR on large scale battle management.

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Vincent Chun, PhD

Sr. VP of Product Development

portraitDr. Vincent Chun has ten years of experience in leadership roles at several technology startups in areas including next generation computer memory using spin transfer magnetics, non-chemical disinfection process for agricultural products using radio frequency heating, and low temperature solid oxide fuel cells. He works at the intersection of strategy, operations, and technology, and has often been brought in to diagnose and solve difficult technical or business issues.

Vincent holds a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His previous experience includes four years of management consulting and 16 years of aerospace engineering.

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Leonard Kibuule, MD FAAOS

Spinal Surgeon | Advisor to FYR

portraitDr. Leonard Kibuule is Chairman Department of Surgery at Texas Health Resources. He is a leading spinal surgeon with a specialty in minimally invasive treatments and development of cutting-edge surgical techniques and approaches to the spine. An advocate for innovation in spinal surgery and well versed in visualization technologies for the medical industry, Leonard is a leader in promoting the use of advanced display systems and HMDs to augment data in the OR, advance surgical training, and enhance patient care.

Leonard holds an MD from Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, has a background in engineering, and has numerous publications, honors, and distinctions. He has presented his surgical expertise at local, regional, and national levels, and is certified by The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.

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