The Firmatek Team

Get to Know the Firmatek Team

Our People Are Your Partner

Every employee has a role at Firmatek – not a silo. Our employees are cross trained to support several functions of the organization and problem solve with agile talents and an innovative approach. Our Geospatial Field Technicians and Data Processors support each other constantly, freely sharing knowledge and expertise to make our company stronger. Our Team First value is ingrained in our culture through commitment, service, and self-sacrifice in pursuit of our mission. At Firmatek, our employees ensure that we not only serve our clients, but also that we support the needs of individuals on our team.

Geospatial Field Technician Team

Our nationwide field staff rapidly mobilizes across the country, performing more than 2,500 field service jobs per year. All of our field technicians have Part 107 FAA licenses and MSHA safety training. Equipped with a laser scanner and a drone, they collect data on behalf of our industry clients. Firmatek’s Field Services are an end-to-end solution.

Data Processing Team

Whether it’s a stockpile or inventory measurement, a point cloud or aerial image, or a complex engineering project, we use the data our clients collect to create deliverables that provide insights and improve business results. Our data processors have a deep understanding of the industries we serve. When they process data, the analysis goes far beyond providing another data point.

Engineering Team

Led by Senior Vice President of Engineering & Solid Waste, Caleb Cass PE, our engineering team tackles special projects ranging anywhere from underground tunnel mapping to challenging ground topography scanning to identifying joint sets in highwalls.

Customer Support & Customer Success Teams

Firmatek’s customer support team makes it easy for clients to turn site data into business intelligence. Our team is equipped to assist in the areas of technical support, site-specific recommendations, and drone technology research and development. We work with our clients to determine the best tool for the job and implement solutions that meet their site needs. We are there to assist you from training and on-boarding to day to day operational questions about your drone or our software platform.

Leadership Team

Lauren Elmore

Chief Executive Officer

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Lauren is the Chief Executive Officer and part owner of Firmatek. She has overseen Firmatek’s transition from a regional Texas laser scanning company to a national leader in drone solutions. She has a background in finance and law and is part of the investment team from an Indiana based private equity firm, Elmore Companies. She received a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University in 2008 and received her J.D. and M.B.A. with honors from Indiana University in 2014.

Dustin Dudley

President & Chief Commercial Officer

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Patrick Collins

Senior Director of Product

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Patrick Collins joined Firmatek in January of 2022 as our Director of Product Management. Prior to joining Firmatek, Patrick built his career in the GIS domain moving from technical marketing and solutions engineering into product management having worked for companies such as MAXAR Technologies, Harris Corporation, and Pitney Bowes. With a BS from the University of Vermont and a Master's of Engineering from the University Colorado, Patrick has experience in both commercial and defense industries, having spoken at numerous conferences including the International LiDAR Mapping Forum, American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, the Esri User Conference, GEOINT, and more.

Tim Zinser

Senior Vice President of Operations

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Caleb Cass, PE

Senior Vice President of Engineering & Solid Waste

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Caleb is a professional engineer is located in San Antonio, Texas, where Firmatek is headquartered. He started his career as a field inspector for one of the ten largest construction contractors in the U.S. and then went on to spend five years performing engineering design for a national consulting firm. Caleb has worked at at Firmatek for over a decade performing engineering, mapping, and consulting work primarily for mining, solid waste, and engineering clients. Caleb graduated in 2007 from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering and became a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas in 2012 and is a Certified MSHA Instructor.

Joshua Wilson

Vice President of Operations

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Joshua joined Firmatek in 2015 as a Geospatial Field Technician. During his tenure at Firmatek, Joshua has become our resident Riegl expert, which has given him the privilege of getting to experience all manner of specialty work from scanning a ski slope in the Colorado Mountains to data collection 800 feet underground in a silver mine in Mexico. Joshua has a passion for Firmatek and for providing a consistent level of service to all of our clients. Joshua enjoys helping our field team reach peak efficiency. Prior to joining Firmatek, Joshua worked for Petram Measurements, a multinational stockpile measurement firm that measured over $2.5 billion in aggregate products.

Steele Olsen

Director of Customer Support

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Steele joined Firmatek in June of 2018 as a Geospatial Field Technician. In 2020, he was promoted to Drone Solutions Manager, and subsequently to Director of Drone Operations in late 2021. Steele oversees both client and field team drone operations for Firmatek. Prior to joining Firmatek, he was in graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He has a Master’s of Science in Geoscience and Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Geospatial Technology. Steele enjoys learning about new technology and developing methodologies with new platforms to help clients make informed decisions in all industries Firmatek serves.

Eric Bitzko

Director of Electric Utilities

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Eric has over 15 years in the Electric Utility industry as a Journeyman Lineman. During his time while leading System Maintenance he founded the UAS program at the largest Electric Cooperative in the United States. Eric has been flying drones since the Section 333 days and has pioneered many of the techniques used in the Electric Utility industry to this day. Including utilizing drones for named storm response, flying conductor pull lines and building cyclic maintenance programs incorporating Engineering and Operations to improve overall system resilience and reliability. He has also represented the utility sector on Homeland Security Technology Committees as well as working on multiple Texas House Bills surrounding the use of UAS. Eric has also consulted with a variety of utilities in developing internal UAS programs.

Sales & Account Management Team

Mike Pristas

Vice President of Sales, Electric Utilities

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Mike has several decades of experience serving the electric utility industry in a variety of key management roles including the Senior Vice President of Business Development for Cinergy, Vice President of Marketing for ABB MV Division, Vice President of Sales North America for Power Measurement and Vice President Utility Solutions at NRTC, a start-up services business for NRTC serving the US co-op market. Mike has specialized in emerging technologies serving the utility market throughout his career.

Matthew Van Slembrouck, PE

Director of Business Development - Kespry

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Matt is a licensed Professional Engineer in Michigan. Prior to joining Firmatek, Matt was an account manager at Kespry. Matt has been working with Kespry since 2014 in his work as a Project Engineer and Mine Planning Engineer and Manager. As an experienced user of the software, Matt understands how the technology changed his company's understanding of inventories, topography, and site planning. He enjoys meeting clients and learning about how they are using our software and services in their businesses.

Matt lives in Detroit with his wife Ashley and their three children, Samuel, Alice, and Luke. Matt has a BS in Civil Engineering from Michigan Technology institute.

Roger Sterry

President of Client Services

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Prior to his start with Firmatek, Roger was CEO/Principal of PLMS, Inc. When PLMS merged with Firmatek in 2015, Roger became part of the Executive Leadership team. He has worked in the mining industry since 1986 and was among the first to use the prism-less laser system. After experience in both blasting and inventory measurement, he decided to focus on quantifying and developing a methodology of bulk raw inventory in 1992. Today, he is recognized as an industry leader in the measurement and management of bulk raw material.

Danni Richardson

Account Executive

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Danni is Denver based and the head of BDR Management. She lead the team's business development efforts, and she is involved across all sales channels as an Account Executive for Firmatek | Kespry. Coming from a background in drone technology, software, hardware, and full cycle sales impact in industries such as Heavy Civil Construction, Mining & Aggregates, and Solid Waste. Highly knowledgeable in GIS and geospatial technologies. Danni comes from Sunny South Florida, but is now a mountain native in snowy Colorado where she leans into all the tech and networking that Denver Metro has to offer.

Ben Griset

Director of Business Development, Electric Utilities

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Ben is a former professional baseball player, where he spent 7 seasons in the New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (Mexican Baseball League) organizations. He joined Udemy in 2019 and was a key member in helping them through an IPO. Ben is joining Firmatek from Skydio, the largest American drone manufacturer. He spent several years working with electric utilities organizations to start or scale their UAS programs. He is passionate about helping companies solve problems and giving utilities the insights to make informed business decisions.

Team First: Who’s Got Your Back

By Lauren Elmore, CEO Every so often, we like to revisit our values in some blog posts to bring them back to forefront of our followers’ minds. At Firmatek, we believe in holding ourselves accountable to our values and celebrating the stories of our team...

5 Keys to Employee Safety

By Lauren Elmore, CEO Safety is a big deal. It’s a big deal for us and for our clients. Mine sites, landfills, and utility line operations can be full of potential hazards. With this in mind, we strive to foster a culture of safety in the organization...

Blog Series: What’s Your Why, Joshua Wilson

By Joshua Wilson, Geospatial Field Technician Team Leader When I was recently asked the question, “what’s your why” my initial reaction was to respond with why I’ve chosen to do my job for a living. The answer, on the surface, is quite simple: I do what...

How to be Stewards in the Field: Firmatek Values

By Erin Jean, Geospatial Field Technician We demonstrate the values that are important to us on a daily basis. As individuals and members of the Firmatek team, it’s now more important than ever to have guiding principles. Since the majority of our team...

The Importance of Being a Trusted Advisor

By Chris Mauldin, Senior Operations Manager Who enjoys buying a car? Visiting an auto mechanic? Calling a plumber? Anyone…Bueller? You may operate with caution when dealing with service-oriented activities like the ones I just listed. Why is that? What...

Firmatek’s All Company Meeting: Investing in Company Culture

When you hear the words company culture, what comes to mind? Is it a ping pong table and a casual dress code? Or maybe it’s the idea of flexible hours and open communication. If you ask 20 different people what workplace culture means to them, you’ll...

Team First Mentality: Firmatek Values

“I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.” – Kobe Bryant By Kyle Houston, Project Engineer I cried. I don’t do...

Blog Series: What’s Your Why with Kyle Houston

By Kyle Houston, Project Engineer Nearly three years ago, I joined the Firmatek team. I actually started out as a field technician, roaming the lower 48 with a laser scanner and drone, scanning hundreds of sites over a years’ time. Aggregate sites...

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The Firmatek Team

Our People Are Your Partner

Geospatial Field Technician Team

Data Processing Team

Engineering Team

Customer Support & Customer Success Teams

Leadership Team

Lauren Elmore

Chief Executive Officer

Dustin Dudley

President & Chief Commercial Officer

Patrick Collins

Senior Director of Product

Tim Zinser

Senior Vice President of Operations

Caleb Cass, PE

Senior Vice President of Engineering & Solid Waste

Joshua Wilson

Vice President of Operations

Steele Olsen

Director of Customer Support

Eric Bitzko

Director of Electric Utilities

Sales & Account Management Team

Mike Pristas

Vice President of Sales, Electric Utilities

Matthew Van Slembrouck, PE

Director of Business Development - Kespry

Roger Sterry

President of Client Services

Danni Richardson

Account Executive

Ben Griset

Director of Business Development, Electric Utilities

Team First: Who’s Got Your Back

5 Keys to Employee Safety

Blog Series: What’s Your Why, Joshua Wilson

How to be Stewards in the Field: Firmatek Values

The Importance of Being a Trusted Advisor

Firmatek’s All Company Meeting: Investing in Company Culture

Team First Mentality: Firmatek Values

Blog Series: What’s Your Why with Kyle Houston

Transform your site data into powerful insights.

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