Management Team
| Matt Dion | CEO and President |
| Lars-Olof Burchard, Ph.D | Chief Technical Officer |
| Darren Nicholls | Chief Operating Officer |
| Clarence Wieting | Vice President of Security Business Development |
| Jamie Nichols | Director of Network Engineering |
MATT DION
CEO and President
Matt is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Meridex Software, a leading provider of IP security and facilities management software solutions. Recognized for his strategic vision, decisiveness, and results-driven leadership in the software industry of Vancouver, Matt was appointed as CEO in November 2006. In this role, Matt works with the management team and the Board of Directors to develop business plans and growth strategies for the company.
Matt has over 15 years of experience in the software industry. As Vice President at Apparent Networks, Matt was responsible for all marketing and product management functions. Brought in by the CEO to help grow the company, he helped move the company into the fast-expanding VoIP market and increase revenues by more than 50% year over year.
Prior to joining Apparent Networks, Matt spent 10 years at Crystal Decisions helping grow the company from a 60-person startup to the fastest growing enterprise software company in the world with more than 1,600 employees and USD$300 million in revenues. During his time at Crystal, Matt was intimately involved in the partnering strategy and had broad responsibility including strategic alliances, business development, public relations, analyst relations, product marketing, product management, and Vice-President of Sales. The company was ultimately acquired by Business Objects for approximately USD$1.2 billion.
Matt was also a member of the Board of Vancouver-based Active State when it was acquired by Sophos for $23 million in 2003. Matt is currently on the board of directors of 90 Degree Software, Time Search Inc. and INETCO Systems Limited.
Matt holds a degree in Business Administration and Psychology (Simon Fraser University, British Columbia) and is a member of BC Technology Social Ventures Partners.
LARS-OLOF BURCHARD, Ph.D
Chief Technical Officer
As Chief Technical Officer, Dr. Lars-Olof Burchard will manage the research and development division and build Meridex' security software development team. With over 10 years of experience in software development, Lars brings expertise in multimedia, streaming, networking, and distributed systems.
Prior joining Meridex, Lars was the Director of Engineering at Eyeball Networks, Inc., overseeing the VoIP client and server development.
As a Ph.D in Computer Science (Technical University Berlin, Germany), Lars held research and teaching positions at Technical University Berlin and Paderborn University in Germany. He has published over 20 publications specializing in networking, scheduling, distributed systems and grid computing in international journals and conferences. Lars was awarded a grant from Cisco Systems on his doctoral thesis on quality-of-service enabled networks.
DARREN NICHOLLS
Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer, Darren is responsible for the day to day operations of the company including sales and revenue, human resources, IT, business development, and public company requirements. With over 15 years experience in sales, technology and management, Darren brings a wealth of experience to the team.
Prior to joining Meridex, Darren was a Sales Executive at HyperWallet Systems Inc. Darren worked closely with the Director of Sales, taking HyperWallet`s leading edge online payment processing technology to market. Darren's role involved liaising directly with C level executives of multi-national corporations from project conception to close.
Darren founded and managed an internet solutions company, serving businesses in the Metro Vancouver area for 10 years.CLARENCE WIETING
Vice President of Security Business Development
Clarence Wieting is the Vice President of Security Business Development and is responsible for overseeing the security division. With 15 years of security industry experience, he has gained a strong reputation in the security profession and has developed long-term relationships with local, regional, and fortune 500 companies.
Working with various state agencies and departments in the United States, Clarence has extensive experience in statewide planning and policy work in emergency management and security systems. Developing the State Continuity and Business Recovery Plan Writer`s Guide for the State of Idaho, Clarence worked with the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security, a military division operating under the Office of the Governor. He performed assessments for business risk and impact of potential emergencies and contributed to the development of statewide plans, policies, procedures and guidelines. He also collaborated with the Deputy Director to revise the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) manual for Idaho.
As a Director of Business Development, Clarence worked with IT security companies providing security and surveillance technologies and hardware to customers. He has provided security and surveillance systems, paging systems, panic buttons, tracking systems, and Executive Security Systems and surveillance cameras to various customers. He has also consulted with corporations on products, access control, CCTV, UPS, digital recording, GPS systems, personal protection and covert solutions.
Clarence is fully certified in the following: Emergency Programming, Emergency Planning, Principles of Emergency Management, Public Assistance Operations, Community Disaster Exercises, EOC Management and Operations, and Exercise Design.
JAMIE NICHOLS
Director of Network Engineering
Jamie Nichols is the Director of Network Engineering. He is leading the development of the new IP network platform for the security division.
Jamie was the Network Design and Sales Engineer of 180 Connect. His key customers include Franklin County PUD Broadband Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), the City of Ontario, Elim Valley (Saint George, UT), Fiberpipe Inc., Power Engineers Inc., and Providence International. He also has extensive experience as a network engineer and engineering and design consultant.
Jamie is fully certified in the following: 2002 Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA); 2005 Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP); and Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks.
