Management Team

Robert R. Ryan, Ph.D., President and CEO

Bob has over 25 years of experience in the high-tech software industry. He previously served as President of Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. (MDI).  In 2002, Bob oversaw the sale of MDI to MSC.Software and served as Executive Vice President of the newly combined firm. Bob holds a Bachelor's degree in engineering and business from the University of Cincinnati, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from Stanford University. He spent two years on the Mechanical Engineering faculty at The University of Michigan, where he received the Exxon Outstanding Educator Award and carried out research sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Throughout his career, Bob has focused on the effective application of computer simulation to product design, finance, medicine, sports, and entertainment. Bob most recently served on the advisory council for the NIH's Center for Biomedical Computation and is a member of Plymouth Venture Partners, a top-tier venture capital group.

Ron Averill, Ph.D., Board Chairman and Chief Technology Officer

Ron served as President and CEO of Red Cedar Technology for twelve years before moving into the position of Board Chairman and CTO. He has also served for 18 years on the faculty of Michigan State University's Department of Mechanical Engineering, where his research and teaching focus on the finite element method, design optimization, crashworthiness, and analysis of composite materials and structures. Ron holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a B.S. in Engineering Science from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Angelo Flemings, Vice President, Global Business Development and Operations

Jim has a broad background as CFO of seven, early-stage companies over the past 30 years. He has led one company from start-up through an IPO, and has extensive experience with early stage capital fund raising, mergers and acquisition, cash flow, budgeting, financial modeling, and profit and loss management. Jim spent twenty-two years at Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. (MDI), a virtual prototyping software company in Ann Arbor, MI. Jim was the company’s first full-time employee, after the three founding members, and was the company’s CFO during its IPO. He developed and managed the company’s accounting, budgeting, human resources, sales administration, contract management, cash flow, and financial modeling functions. Jim was instrumental in the analysis, negotiation, and incorporation of seven acquisitions. In addition, he served primary roles in several capital fundraising efforts. Since leaving MDI, Jim has worked with a number of start-up companies, either as a consultant or as an employee. His first engagement was with Mobius Microsystems. As the CFO at Mobius, he helped raise nearly $2M in seed money from angel and equity investors and another $8.1M from West Coast VCs. Jim holds BSME, MSME, and MBA degrees from the University of Michigan.

 

Ranny has over a decade of experience developing and applying advanced optimization technologies to efficiently solve challenging design problems. Ranny is one of the primary developers of SHERPA, an industry-leading hybrid, adaptive optimization strategy that intelligently combines numerous optimization methods. He has developed and applied optimization techniques to solve design problems in various disciplines including automotive, aerospace, electronics, composite structures, material design and calibration, manufacturing, biomedical, consumer goods, and supply chain management. Ranny holds an M.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Michigan State University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India.

Bruce G. Fedewa, P.E., Director, Consulting Services

Bruce has 30 years of engineering experience in design, simulation, and production of a variety of mechanical products. He has applied his engineering knowledge toward a variety of products, including BIW structures, drive trains, bearing design, and numerous automotive trim components and assemblies.  His simulation experience also includes injection molded plastics, cast and forged brackets, steel stampings including hot-stamped sheet metal components and assemblies for static and high-speed dynamic events. Prior to joining Red Cedar Technology, Bruce held Lead Engineering positions at companies such as Gestamp North America, Hartwick Professionals, Inc., and Humanetics, ATD.  Bruce has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University.

Erik Goodman, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Board Member
Erik is co-founder of Red Cedar Technology. He is also on the faculty of Michigan State University, where he holds appointments in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science and Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer and Communication Sciences from the University of Michigan, and an M.S. and B.S. from Michigan State University, in Systems Science and Mathematics, respectively. Erik's research has focused on optimization, design automation and CAD/CAM/CAE, particularly on developing and applying novel forms of evolutionary computation, drawing on ideas from biological evolution. He is the Principal Investigator and Director of BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, one of the National Science Foundation's five new Science and Technology Centers. In BEACON, he leads a highly multidisciplinary team doing groundbreaking research on evolution in the lab and in the computer, and applying the lessons learned to evolutionary solution of engineering design problems. Recognized worldwide as a leader in the area of evolutionary computing, Erik has chaired the International Society for Genetic and Evolutionary Computation and was the founding chair of ACM’s Special Interest Group on Genetic and Evolutionary Computation. In 2009, he was named Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year by the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan.