Kerry Thacher, B.Sc. (Eng.) P. Eng, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Kerry Thacher is a graduate Electrical Engineer and MBA from the University of Manitoba. He is currently CEO and founder of Librestream Technologies Inc.
Prior to founding Librestream, Kerry was Vice President of Symbol Technologies Inc., a New York based global leader in the Enterprise Mobility market. He was responsible for Symbol's Winnipeg operations that developed a variety of mobile computing products that achieved revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Kerry had previously founded and was CEO of AirWire Mobile Technologies, which was acquired by Symbol in 1999. AirWire was involved in the development and manufacturing of hand held devices for the health care marketplace.
Kerry's entrepreneurial career began in 1988, when he co-founded and acted as CEO for Ubitrex Corporation. The company developed a system to automate the capture of clinical data by nursing staff. The company was venture capital backed and was acquired by Continental Healthcare Systems of Overland Park Kansas in 1994. Kerry was responsible for Continental's Canadian operations, until he founded AirWire in 1996.
Mark Ahrens-Townsend, B.Sc. (Eng.) MBA
Executive VP Business Development
Mark Ahrens-Townsend is a graduate Engineer and MBA from the University of Manitoba who has spent the past 25 years in the Venture Capital, Engineering and Information, Communications and Technology industries.
Mark joined Librestream in February 2007. Before Librestream, Mark was Vice President, Investments with ENSIS Growth Fund, in Winnipeg, Manitoba from 2002 until 2007.
Prior to ENSIS, Mark was the President & CEO of Norsat International Inc., located in Burnaby, British Columbia, and before that President & CEO of Infocorp Computer Solution Ltd., located in Winnipeg. Mark has worked extensively in the private sector for firms including IBM Canada Limited and Acres Engineering Consulting Services. With IBM, Mark held a variety of positions over 8 years including Regional Product Marketing for new product technology and Account Executive responsibility in both private and public sector accounts.
Bill Gillanders, B.Sc. (Eng.) P. Eng
VP Engineering
William (Bill) Gillanders is a graduate of Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba. He is currently Vice President of Engineering and a founding member of Librestream Technologies Inc.
Prior to Librestream, Bill was Senior Director of Programs for Symbol Technologies Inc. Winnipeg Product Development office. Bill's responsibility at Symbol was the establishment and maintenance of the Project Management Office, while overseeing the development of various Enterprise Mobility products. Bill led and guided project teams to deliver products on time and within budget, achieving revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Prior to Symbol Technologies, Bill held progressively more senior roles with Lockheed Martin Corp. developing airborne electronic systems ranging from mission computers to radars. His entrance to the industry began on the operations side of electronic product development for Unisys.
Philippe Beaulieu, B. Soc. Sc. (Eco.), MBA
VP Sales, US and Latin America
Philippe Beaulieu is a graduate from the University of Ottawa and MBA from McGill University who has spent the past 15 years in the Manufacturing, Logistics, and Information Technology Industries and is now based in Irvine, California.
Mr. Beaulieu comes to Librestream from Psion Teklogix where he worked for the past twelve years, most recently in the role of VP of Sales, Americas. In that position, he was instrumental in developing and leading Psion Teklogix’s sales strategy and execution across Canada, the United States and Latin America. Previously, Mr. Beaulieu spent seven years with Psion Teklogix in Europe in a variety of sales leadership and marketing positions. Mr. Beaulieu started his career in Canada with operational roles at Canadian Pacific Railways and Weston Bakeries.
Marieke Wijtkamp, B.Comm(Honours), MBA
VP, Marketing & Client Services
Marieke Wijtkamp holds her Bachelor of Commerce and MBA degrees from the University of Manitoba. She brings 15 years of marketing and senior leadership experience to Librestream.
Ms. Wijtkamp has held prior positions in marketing, business development, strategic planning and corporate leadership in several technology companies. Most recently she was the President & COO of OMT (TSX:OMT). In that position, she spent six years leading the company's two technology service-based operating divisions. Prior to OMT, Ms. Wijtkamp was VP Marketing/Strategic Planning at Norsat International Inc. (NASDAQ:NSAT, TSX:NII), a satellite technology company and Infocorp Computer Solutions (TSX:INP), an international business software solutions company.
Kent Wotherspoon, B.Sc. (Eng.)
Director, Systems and Software Engineering
Kent Wotherspoon is a graduate of Computer Engineering from the University of Manitoba. He is currently Director of Systems and Software Engineering and a founding member of Librestream. Prior to Librestream, Kent was a Senior Software Engineer for Symbol Technologies Inc. Winnipeg Product Development office. Kent's responsibility at Symbol was technical lead and software developer on enterprise mobility products, with the primary focus being Voice-over-IP solutions for wireless handheld devices. Prior to Symbol Technologies, Kent came from Edge Networks Corporation where he was technical lead and developer of a broadcast-quality transcoding multimedia streaming server. Kent spent the first 12 years of his 23 year career with Lockheed Martin Corporation, moving from ASIC developer to software developer and eventually to the role of Principal Systems Engineer on a variety of airborne and naval mission computer development projects.
Don Freiling, B.Sc. (Eng.)
Principal Systems Architect
Don Freiling earned his B.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1991. As a founding member of Librestream, Don led the development of the hardware architecture behind Librestream's innovative mobile collaboration devices and has been a key contributor to system implementation. In his role as Principal Systems Architect he continues to drive the technical evolution of Librestream's products. Prior to Librestream, Don was a Senior Engineer for Symbol Technologies Inc. at their Winnipeg Product Development office. At Symbol, he was responsible for architecture, design and implementation of all aspects of hardware and software for wireless hand held computer systems. Don has over 17 years of engineering experience and has held hardware and/or software development positions at several additional companies including: Amdahl, Northern Telecom, Unisys Systems, Continental Healthcare Systems, and Airwire Mobile Technologies.
Gilles Aminot, B.Sc. (Eng)
Manager, Hardware Engineering
Gilles Aminot is a graduate of Computer Engineering from the University of Manitoba. Gilles has spent his last 16 years working as a Hardware Design Engineer and is currently the Director of the Hardware Engineering group at Librestream. Prior to Librestream Gilles was self-employed as a contract engineer providing hardware and software solutions for companies such as Intermec Technologies and Magellan Aerospace. Before this, Gilles served as Sr. Hardware Engineer and Program Manager for Symbol Technologies Inc., where he was responsible for the development of embedded portable and fixed mounted devices. In addition to working as Hardware Technical Lead, Gilles was involved in all aspects of product development from conception to high volume manufacturing. Earlier in his career, he designed fiber optic cable monitoring equipment for Norscan Instruments Ltd. where he co-authored several patents.
