Russel van der Werff

Russel Van Der Werff has a diverse work experience spanning various roles and industries. Their most recent position was at Aerostar (Aerostar International, Inc.), where they served as the Vice President of the Stratospheric Platforms Division. In this role, they provided overall leadership and was responsible for team management, product and customer strategy, development planning, and budgeting. Prior to that, they worked as the Director of Engineering at Raven Aerostar, managing a team of engineers, technicians, and operators. Russel also held roles as a Senior Engineering Manager, Systems Engineering Lead, and Ground System Design Lead, focusing on the development of stratospheric platforms and airborne systems. Before joining Aerostar, Russel worked at Sencore, where they held multiple positions including Director of Product Management, Product Manager, Project Manager, Systems Engineer, and Firmware Engineer. Russel started their career at South Dakota State University as a Satellite Image Calibration Engineer. Overall, Russel has extensive experience in technical leadership, project management, product development, and strategic planning.

Russel Van Der Werff has a strong educational background with degrees in various fields. In 2001, they started attending South Dakota State University, where they pursued a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and graduated in 2006. During the same period, they also completed a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at South Dakota State University. In 2007, Russel furthered their education by enrolling in the University of South Dakota, where they obtained a Master of Business Administration degree in Business Administration in 2008.