1.
R​YAN ​T​HOMPSON
E​LECTRICAL ​E​NGINEER
814 Laurel Ave. St. Paul, MN 651­492­7220 Ryan.Thompson1313@gmail.com
S​UMMARY
Professional engineer experienced in the design and integration of electrical systems in both United States
military and commercial UAS platforms. Started career co­founding a tech startup and grew to lead engineering
teams in the development of UAS products in one of the world’s most competitive micro robotics companies.
P​ROFESSIONAL​ ​E​XPERIENCE
Independent Contractor, St. Paul MN​ ​ (October 2013 ­ Present)
Custom CNC Design Project ­ Electrical Engineer
❖ Designed electrical system to control precision two axis CNC machine. Designed and fabricated all
electrical systems to interface control customer provided 2 axis table, stepper motors, and limit switches.
❖ Modified open source software for CNC controller operation. Utilized GRBL source code to create a
solution specific to the customer platform.
I.P. Divestiture Project ­ Technical Consultant / Electrical Engineer
❖ Provided expertise as the subject matter expert for the ReconRobotics autonomous landing system
technology and UAS markets and products. Created and performed technical presentations, developed
documentation, and provided consultation to assist ReconRobotics Inc. in the divestiture of assets and
intellectual property.
❖ Provided engineering services to update and repair the autonomous landing system field demonstration kit.
Modified python code for the demo kit to update the flight control system and image processing pipeline to
increase robustness. Replaced necessary electrical components and evaluated system in bench top tests.
❖ Performed live flight demonstrations of the technology for ReconRobotics customers and management.
Acted as presenter, subject matter expert, and aircraft Pilot.
ReconRobotics​ ​Inc., Edina MN ​ ​(January 2012 ­ October 2013)
Engineering Team Leader / Electrical Engineer
Managed cross functional teams of 3 ­ 5 engineers including electrical, mechanical, and software in the
development of the optical autonomous landing system technology acquired from Xollai. Partnered with various
entities to develop both military and commercial versions of the product. Personally traveled to customer
locations to perform system integrations and testing.
❖ Partnered with General Electric (GEIP), NAVY, USAF, and ARMY to develop a military optical landing
system prototype for field testing and demonstration. Integrated the prototype and performed a successful
autonomous precision landing demonstration on popular Aerovironment fixed wing systems.
❖ Partnered with various commercial small UAS companies to develop a consumer grade landing system
product. Developed miniaturized Alpha prototypes to integrate into various commercial UAS platforms.
Traveled to company locations to perform integration, field testing, and validation.
❖ Developed and managed all landing system WBS, project plans, budgets, risk analysis, and tasking.
❖ Developed product requirements and engineering specifications through work with partner entities.
❖ Developed test procedures, analyzed test results, documentation, and reports.
❖ Acted as field test lead and aircraft pilot for all flight tests and technology demos.

2.
R​YAN ​T​HOMPSON
E​LECTRICAL ​E​NGINEER
814 Laurel Ave. St. Paul, MN 651­492­7220 Ryan.Thompson1313@gmail.com
Xollai, LLC., St. Paul MN​ ​ (June 2008 ­ December 2011)
Electrical Engineer / Co­Founder
Co­founded Xollai based around our patented technology for autonomous landing of small UAS. Worked on a
number of other contracts for major defense industry prime contractors. Grew the business to employ 10 people
and managed cross functional teams of engineers.
❖ Developed Flight Data Acquisition System for Lockheed Martin for the characterization of a new aircraft.
❖ Developed 3D visual and flight dynamics models for a UAS Pilot Training Simulator for Lockheed Martin.
❖ Developed various additional products, including a landing system prototype, 3­axis auto stabilizing
camera gimbal prototype, and an iOS app which provided live audio analysis feedback.
❖ Developed and managed WBS, project plans, budgets, risk analysis, and task assignments.
❖ Developed strategic business partnerships with Lockheed Martin, General Electric, Goodrich, and
MicroPilot.
❖ Developed test procedures, analyzed test results, documentation and reports.
❖ Acted as field test lead and aircraft pilot for all flight tests and technology demos.
❖ Xollai was acquired by ReconRobotics Inc. in Jan. of 2012 and all employees were hired on­board.
A​WARDS
ReconRobotics MVP (Most Valuable Person) 2012​, recognition of outstanding performance
Granted U.S. Patent,​ ​System and Method for Autonomous Vehicle Control, ​US8301326 B2
E​DUCATION
BS Electrical Engineering, ​University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN ​ (2003 ­ 2008)
A​DDITIONAL​ ​I​NFORMATION
Electrical Design for Personal Projects
❖ Designed a novel reverberation module for acoustic systems.
❖ Designed electrical and mechanical systems for a micro linear actuator
RC Aircraft Pilot
❖ Piloted a number of fixed wing and rotory RC aircraft for both personal and professional scenarios.
❖ Member of AMA (Academy of Model Avionics)
P​ROFESSIONAL​ ​R​EFERENCES
Jean­Luc Panetta, former Vice President of Product Management at ReconRobotics inc.
contact: ​jlpanet33@yahoo.com
Andrew Drenner, Director of Engineering at ReconRobotics inc.
contact: ​andrew.drenner@reconrobotics.com
Scott Morgan, retired Chief Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin
contact: ​scott_e_morgan@msn.com