Executive Team
Eric C. Close – CEO
Mr. Close is a recognized entrepreneur who leads the overall strategy and direction of RedZone. He has extensive experience building and managing both products and services-based early stage and growth companies. Prior to RedZone, Mr. Close co-founded and successfully built three companies: PartsZone, a provider of parts for construction equipment, ProLine Services, a provider of railcar manufacturing and maintenance, and Blue Fish Labs, Inc., a software application development company. Earlier in his career, Mr. Close served as a management consultant for Coopers and Lybrand and as a design engineer, product line manager, and sales engineer at Performance Controls, Inc., a motion control and robotics company.
Mr. Close received the 1999 Western Pennsylvania Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He is the primary inventor on two patents and has five patents pending. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University.
Chris M. Dunkerley – Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Dunkerley recently joined RedZone as COO. Mr. Dunkerley was most recently the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Siemens Water Technologies. He established and led the organization’s financial operations after the $1 billion acquisition of U. S. Filter, and had full P&L responsibility including establishing and managing financial metrics and key performance indicators and all external fiscal and regulatory reporting. He had previous senior management positions with Siemens for the past 25 years.
He is a graduate of Kingston University, Surrey, UK with a higher national diploma in Business Studies and Finance and has participated in a number of Siemens’ advanced management courses.
Kenneth Wolf – VP of Sales and Marketing
Mr. Wolf is responsible for the global sales and marketing strategies at RedZone. He has specific expertise in deploying sales channels around robotic technologies, software and data services. Prior to joining RedZone Mr. Wolf was Vice President of Global Sales for Confluence Technologies, Inc., a Pittsburgh based global software firm serving the financial services industry with offices in London and Luxembourg. During his tenure, Confluence was recognized as one of Pittsburgh’s fastest growing companies. Earlier in his career he was Vice President of Strategic Account Sales for McKesson Automation where he led the sales efforts of the company’s robotics, hardware and software technologies.
Mr. Wolf has lectured on sales processes at the Carnegie Mellon University Don Jones School of Entrepreneurship, and in 2007 he was featured in a Harvard Business School Press book entitled The Point of the Deal: How to Negotiate When Yes Is Not Enough. Mr. Wolf received a B.A. in English from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island.
Sub Vallapuzha – VP of Engineering
Mr. Vallapuzha is responsible for all aspects of mechanical, electrical and software design and improvement for RedZone’s current and future products. He has played an integral role in all aspects of RedZone’s robotic technology for both hardware and software aspects since 2003 including Renovator®, Responder®, and Solo®. Prior to joining RedZone he held various engineering roles with Bayside Automation and Axicon Technologies, Inc. (where he designed and developed a proprietary gearbox used in the revolutionary IBOT® wheelchair.)
Mr. Vallapuzha is the “inventor” on four of Red Zone’s patent applications and is also a co-inventor of two other patented RedZone technologies. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Karnataka Regional Engineering College in Mangalore, India, an M.S. in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and has earned his M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University.
