Stephen D. Ricketts
Vice President, IDL Operations

Mr. Ricketts has over 25 years experience with the design and implementation of advanced software systems and since 1993 has been a pioneer in satellite-based Interactive Distance Learning.  He was the founder of Velocedge, Inc. and chief architect of the interactive satellite delivery system CADE (Communications And Distance Education) and it’s web-based, live delivery counterpart, eTutor, both of which were acquired by Learn.net in 2008. 

Previously, Mr. Ricketts was President and founder of two other software companies, Vice President of Technology at the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, and a Technology Fellow at the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing consortium Sematech.  As Vice President of Manufacturing Systems for Scicon and based in London, he was responsible for creating and managing an international portfolio of software products utilizing multi-national development teams from companies located in England, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.  He has participated in the acquisition of a number of companies and the purchase of intellectual property rights to many software products in Europe, the Far East, and the United States. 

Mr. Ricketts was an advisor to the IMS International Technology Committee and has given many presentations in the U.S., Asia, and Europe on a variety technical and intellectual property issues.  Mr. Ricketts attended Wichita State University on a Track scholarship where he earned Business Administration and Economics degrees.