Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Thengvall is a seasoned leader who has executed projects of all sizes for government and commercial clients. He enjoys leading a talented team at OptTek that provides innovative software solutions to complex real-world problems.
Dr. Thengvall has extensive experience solving complex problems in the commercial and government spheres where he has designed and implemented software that embeds state-of-the-art approaches from the fields of simulation optimization, artificial intelligence and machine learning, mathematical modeling, real-time optimization, transportation and scheduling, and agent-based and discrete-event simulation.
He earned his M.S.E. and Ph.D. in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Thengvall has taught at the Peter Kiewit Institute at the University of Nebraska and at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. He is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters and holds multiple patents related to software and optimization.
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Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Burns is a diversified leader who has executed projects of all sizes for both government and commercial clients. He currently oversees all areas of finance and accounting operations for OptTek.
Mr. Burns has extensive experience supporting companies utilizing the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs to develop technologies for Government and Commercial use, as well as working with various Angel and Venture Capital parties to raise funding for small businesses targeting rapid growth and commercial exits.
He earned his B.S. in Business Administration and Accounting from Kansas State University. Mr. Burns has worked with companies around the world to achieve key management objectives, including raising over $35M in investment capital and corporate exits totaling over $300M. He currently serves on Boards of Directors and as a Board Advisor to small businesses focused on strategic business growth, primarily through Government contracting.
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Senior Vice President Internal Operations/Legal
Ms. Kelly oversees OptTek’s contracts/legal, finance and human resources functions. Ms. Kelly joined OptTek with extensive experience in private law practice as founder of Kelly Law Office LLC, as well as previously a partner with Faegre & Benson, LLP, a multi-national law firm, and its predecessor Boulder law firm, Chrisman Bynum and Johnson, P.C. She also has prior in-house legal experience with a Washington DC-area national bank and a Boulder-based commodity trading advisor.
Ms. Kelly holds a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She serves on the Board of Directors of non-profit TRU Community Care, and the Regional Board, Rocky Mountain Region, of Thrivent Financial; she is also a member and past-President of Boulder Rotary Club.
Senior Vice President Operations
Mr. Snyder is responsible for managing the software engineering process for all of OptTek’s multiple business lines. He has wide-ranging experience leading software development teams through program and product management, as well as designing and implementing software and algorithm solutions for both desktop and web-based applications.
Mr. Snyder’s passion is in cultivating high performing teams and growing individuals professionally through continuous improvement and continual learning.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Information Systems from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with focuses in Foundations of Constraint Processing and Artificial Intelligence. He has also co-authored multiple articles on constraint based approaches to gaming.
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Vice President Government Services
Dr. Jose Ramirez is a retired U.S. Army Colonel with 28 years of experience, now pursuing business development in support of the Department of Defense (DoD). His expertise lies in operations research (OR), modeling & simulation (M&S), data science, and advanced statistical methods. He recently served as the Warfighting Analysis Division Chief in the Joint Staff J-8 where he managed a 40-person team, providing analytical guidance for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Combatant Commanders (INDOPACOM, EUCOM, and NATO).
Dr. Ramirez holds a Ph.D. in Operations Management from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a M.S.E. in Operations Research & Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a M.S. in Government Information Leadership from National Defense University’s College of Information & Cyberspace. He has applied his analytical skills to support high-level DoD strategic initiatives, and his background includes teaching Systems Engineering, OR, and M&S courses at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
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