The members of the Rainforest Automation management team possess a high level of technical expertise, as well as a depth of leadership experience. They are recognized experts in ZigBee® wireless design, software, and communications technology. They have also worked in leadership roles with many of the pioneering companies that built the internet and are now working to build the internet of power.
Chris Tumpach, President
As part of his role as president, Chris is responsible for working with strategic vendors and customers to enable Rainforest Automation to create leading-edge products. Prior to co-founding Rainforest Automation, Chris was a senior design engineer at PMC-Sierra where he architected communications ICs that power the Internet. He has also held product design positions at Raytheon Systems, Alcatel, and Mindspeed Technologies. His experience in the areas of Hardware Engineering, Integrated Circuit Engineering, Software Engineering, and Web Design put him in a unique position to lead a company that integrates these various disciplines seamlessly. Chris holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia.
Dave Gagne, CTO
Dave has over 15 years of management experience with startups and established industry leading companies. Dave was one of the founders of West Bay Semiconductor, a company focused on chips for the telecommunications market. West Bay was subsequently acquired by Intel. Along with founding West Bay and now Rainforest Automation, Dave has had extensive experience as a leader and senior designer in the HDTV, cellular, and communications industries. He was instrumental in creating the Vancouver Design Centre of Mindspeed Technologies (formerly Conexant Systems) as well as establishing the chip development team at Holley Communications Canada. In addition, Dave held an influential role at a local startup, UBVideo and has many years of design experience at PMC-Sierra. Dave has a Bachelors of Applied Science and a Masters of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. He is also a registered Professional Engineer with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC.
Lance Kujala, VP of Software, Treasurer
Lance is responsible for the system architecture and for software design and development. In addition to co-founding Rainforest Automation, Lance has been active in the computer industry in British Columbia since 1988. He has extensive experience in systems development, integration, and support; having worked on projects for The Loewen Group (Alderwoods), Prince Rupert Grain, Vancouver Community Centers, Daishowa-Marubeni, and North American Shipowners Insurance Services. Lance has experience with both 24x7 process control systems and enterprise scale systems. Lance has an MBA from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta.
Jacques Farges, VP of Operations, Corporate Secretary
Jacques is in charge of manufacturing, sourcing and logistics. In addition to being a co-founder of Rainforest Automation, Jacques founded Silicon Vision Ltd. in Vancouver in 1991, which has been designing and implementing leading edge camera scanning systems for the wood products industry. He also worked as purchaser and then operations manager for Western Canada at Far-Met Importers Ltd., a member of the Qualifirst Group of companies, and as an IC verification designer at Icron Technologies. He has also worked for Holley Communications and Mindspeed Technologies. Jacques holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Victoria, and a diploma in Robotics and Automation from the BC Institute of Technology.
Bill Richardson, VP of Sales and Marketing
Bill has over 20 years of Sales, Marketing and Engineering experience in the high tech market. As one of the founders of PMC-Sierra, he was part of the team that led that company from a startup to a global leader in the telecommunications semiconductor market. He has also held engineering and marketing positions at MPR Teltech and Sydney Development. Leveraging his engineering background in software and chip design, Bill's specialty is distilling detailed technical characteristics into a concise, commercial value proposition appropriate for our customers. Bill has a Bachelors of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, and is a registered Professional Engineer in the province of BC.
