leadership

Roger Mundell, CEO, Partner

Roger Mundell has been a successful entrepreneur for 30 years. In 1996 he became captivated by the challenges facing Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia.The newly created University had to leverage very limited physical space by taking advantage of emerging online learning technologies.   For the next eight and a half years, as the Director of Technology Transfer, Research and Innovation at Royal Roads, Roger created and led the teams that were recognised around the world for innovations in online learning technology, and he funded all the R&D by building a robust external client base.

In 1998 his team led the world by introducing the first learning-styles adaptive, dynamic course authoring platform with a reusable learning objects repository, and levels of learner interactivity that were previously unknown in online learning circles.  In 2002/2003 he led a collaborative project between Telus, Canarie, The Justice Institute of British Columbia, and Royal Roads University to develop a unique authoring tool that enabled media rich interactive simulations to be quickly and inexpensively built and modified by non-programmers.

Roger has spoken and lectured at conferences and institutions around the world on the subjects of reusable (shareable) learning objects, and interactive online learning. He is a frequent speaker, advisor, and panelist on the subjects of online learning, technology, and Entrepreneurial management.

In October 2005 Roger left the University, along with key members of the CEDAR team, and created Udutu to leverage all of their research and development experience into an ultimate new solution.  In addition to the talented team he had worked with at RRU, Roger was joined by two of the west coast's most visionary and talented high-tech entrepreneurs, Ron Hart, and Chris Coldwell.

Ron Hart, Partner

Ron Hart was the founding CEO of Power Measurement Ltd, a Canadian company specialising in digital 3-phase power metering systems. The company started by designing and manufacturing digital power meters for the telephone industry.

In 1984, Power Measurement completed the development of a micro-processor-based 3-phase power monitor - the first of its type in the world. The new panel-mount meter replaced a large number of traditional electro-mechanical meters with a single device. Soon after the company designed a communications port for remote data access, which allowed the meter to eliminate the need for discrete 0-20 mA or pulse output transducers.

Power Measurement grew rapidly. The line of meters was expanded and on-board data logging capabilities were added. The next milestone was the development of PC-based Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) software that automatically retrieves and displays real-time and historical data from the meters.

The addition of alarming and set point control capabilities to the meters enabled the systems to become popular for a wide range of applications, from industrial energy management to utility distribution automation. Systems were designed to help customers cut energy costs by automatically controlling parameters like peak demand and power factor, improve reliability by providing early warning of impending problems, enhance predictive maintenance and extend equipment life.

Throughout industry, new designs for power supplies, drives and process automation equipment were being introduced that were more sensitive to power quality anomalies - while often simultaneously generating them. As a result, Power Measurement's customers were seeking ways to avoid failures and downtime due to a rise in power quality problems. In response, the company began building harmonics analysis and unique disturbance recording features into its meters. These allowed the source and severity of problems to be quickly pinpointed and solved.

Power Measurement grew to become the greatest high-tech success story on Vancouver Island and was eventually acquired by Schneider Electric for more than $100 million.

Chris Coldwell, Partner

Chris Coldwell is currently the CEO and founder of Mercurial Communications Inc., a software development company he created in 1996. Mercurial Communications are the contracted developers behind several significant brandname products presently on the market, including a well known browser, a Spam management solution, several authoring systems and other niche market products created on behalf of major software vendors.

Chris has extensive personal experience in the IT field, earned through a variety of public and private sector projects in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. His skill set spans legacy mainframe technology to cutting edge web deployments. His business area experience covers several aspects of the Health industry, Manufacturing, Distributed Environments, On-line Service Delivery both public and private, Scientific Applications, Research and Development, Supply Chain Management and EDI, Messaging, Education and Remote Education Delivery, Social Services, Motor Vehicles, Forestry and Insurance Applications. Chris is currently pursuing his Master of Science (MSc) degree in Information Technology at the University of Liverpool in the UK.

“We've spent over a decade serving the needs of demandside customers, so we have an intimate understanding of what they want. This knowledge can now benefit supply-side organisations by giving them the tools they need to maintain a competitive edge."

Chris uses a creative approach to software engineering and business solutions; he is recognized for a unique ability to develop innovative solutions for clients. He is often heard to say "How hard could it be?"

Kris Noesgaard, Lead Developer

Kris graduated from the University of Victoria with a BSc in Computer Science, then went to work in Calgary for a dot-com company.  When the dot-com boom busted he returned to Victoria to work on the R&D team at Royal Roads University, and was a part of the award winning team that created the Kooltool and the LOGIC tool, and subsequently led the migration of Royal Roads University's authoring tools onto the .NET platform. He left the University to join Udutu in 2005

Kris has been an innovative programming expert who has brought new interactivities and levels of learner engagement to courses particularly for the health care and business sectors.  In the stimulating and fast moving R&D environment at Royal Roads University he became keenly aware of the needs of online learners and course designers, and was an out-of-the-box innovator and creative contributor to the process of designing and building solutions.

With several years professional experience as a software engineer and designer on a wide range of platforms, Kris brings the technical expertise and know-how to develop the team's innovative ideas into applications born of the most cutting edge technology. With an emphasis on developing software that is adaptable, reusable, and robust, Kris gives the technology developed at udutu the agility to meet the rapidly changing needs in the eLearning field.

He is currently pursuing a Master's degree while continuing to work full time at Udutu.

Amos Rowsell, Lead Designer

Amos is a talented animator and graphic designer who has been working in the field of online learning and related web design for 5 years. He has extensive experience designing online course content as well as the tools that deliver content to students. Amos is very experienced in working with Flash and Actionscript; having created a number of elearning games, interactive pieces and animations. As well creating dynamic elearning content, Amos has also been involved with several design and branding projects both for online learning and corporate clients.

Amos' knowledge and experience is currently being used in full to make myUdutu, our online course authoring tool, as powerful and easy to use as we can make it.  Amos and his team are responsible for the look and feel and the navigability of Udutu products.

Kirk Wilson, Creative Lead

Before he realised his true calling as a graphic artist/web designer/flash developer, Kirk had tried his hand as a teacher, a chef, and even a deep sea fisherman.   That varied background, and the perspective that came with it, informs his work and his understanding of the training needs of a variety of customers.   Kirk has worked on hundreds of courses, covering almost every imaginable discipline, and along the way has learned much about the industries and professions he has come into contact with, as well as a recognition of the commonalities that apply to online learning across all fields of endeavor.

Kirk's technical knowledge embraces a myriad of programs and applications. Coupled with his design creativity, Kirk is an invaluable asset to our project team. Conceptualizing, storyboarding and developing online application interfaces is where Kirk shines. Meeting user expectations, detailed specifications and overall usability is of paramount importance to him.

Kirk also has experience in creating identity and brand awareness for projects in their embryonic stages. To concisely and effectively create online learning experiences is a pursuit that continues to inspire him. Kirk was honoured at the First Annual VIAtec Awards for the Best Overall website, and at the National Innovation awards for his work on the LOGIC project.   Kirk led the team that created the innovative Krystal Kollege project with courseware in both English and Spanish. He has worked on many online course development projects and has a finely tuned his expertise in converting learning concepts into engaging online activities.