Management Team
- Sebastian Dewhurst, President and CEO
- Ian Hawkins, Vice-President, Product Development
- Tim Valachovic, Vice-President, Global Technical Services
- Mike Nieburg, VP Global Sales
Sebastian Dewhurst, President and CEO
Seb was one of the founding members of EASA, and as CEO, led the business from its inception.
Seb obtained a First Class degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oxford in 1988. He then joined AEA Technology’s Thermal Hydraulics group, and obtained his doctorate in Laser Doppler Anemometry, also from Oxford.
Seb has extensive experience in sales of technical software in North America, Europe, and Latin America. He was formerly Vice President of Strategic Relationships with AEA Technology’s Engineering Software group. During this time, he proposed the EASA initiative to AEAT senior management. Upon approval of the program in 2001, he became program manager.
Ian Hawkins, VP Product Development
Ian was also one of the founding members of EASA. Ian’s primary responsibility is the development, production, and on-going improvement of the EASA product. This role requires deep knowledge of the customer issues that EASA helps to address, and an excellent grasp of current software technologies such as SOA and Web Services, .NET, and JAVA.
Ian graduated from Exeter University with a First Class degree in Mathematics and Computing in 1987. Since then he has worked exclusively in the field of commercial software development, managing development projects in FORTRAN, Perl, C++ and Java. Ian has experience of managing teams of developers in several countries, and has experience in both the technical support and technical pre-sales aspects of the software development business. He transferred to the EASA team in 2001, and has managed the development of the EASA product since the start of the program.
Tim Valachovic, VP Global Technical Services
Tim’s role is to develop the team and the processes necessary to ensure our customers’ success with the EASA product. Tim’s team is heavily involved with each customer, both pre- and post-sale.
Tim has spent over 11 years working in the field of software. After receiving his M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1990, he joined GE Corporate Research and Development and later moved to GE Aircraft Engines. At GE, he was involved in developing, supporting and applying in-house codes used to simulate gas turbine engines.
In 1993, Tim joined AEA Technology and became manager of the CFX Consulting group in 1995. After a short spell in the e-sourcing sector, Tim joined EASA in March 2001.
Mike Nieburg, VP Global Sales
Mike is a seasoned business development executive with more than 25 years of experience in developing, launching and commercializing both hardware and software technologies. His key strengths include new business development, sales/marketing/customer service, and strategic partnering – a combination well-suited for early stage software companies in emerging technology arenas in which he has spent the majority of his career, and which is his passion. He has been extensively involved in creating and building national and international sales teams and reseller networks, as well as establishing and managing strategic partnerships.
Early in his career, he was instrumental in creating a commercial industry from an academic research field. Among his accomplishments was establishing the US sales and marketing arm for a UK based software company, AEA Technology, growing it from a one man operation to a 40 person organization with 25% market share within five years. Mike has also been involved in other software-centric businesses, including leading edge wireless location and telemetry.
Mike received his BS in Engineering from Cornell University in 1981.