Our Team

Michael Ferris has been a founder, chairman, and CEO of several companies throughout his 20-year career. As a former college athlete and 2011 winner and judge of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program, Ferris leads the firm Cerca Trova Holdings and its two fast-growing companies, Occam Technology Group and Abacode. Both firms represent the best and brightest with forward-looking technologies and global influence.
Before acquiring Cerca Trova Holdings, Michel Ferris was the Founder & CEO of Valet Living, a full-service amenities provider. He was also on the Board of Directors for New Mountain Capital and a Cybersecurity Committee Member for the Department of Homeland Security. Along with being a Board Member for Occam Technology Group, Ferris is the Chief Executive Officer for Abacode Cybersecurity.

Gordon Ryerson has over 20 years of experience in the life science industry, establishing the US office of Novumed GmbH, an IP consulting and advisory firm, and co-founding Crosstree Capital Partners, a life science investment bank. Ryerson also established the Corporate Finance Department of William R. Hough & Co.’s (Royal Bank of Canada) healthcare practice and was an officer in the United States Navy. He received an MBA from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Auburn University.

Roger Tipton is an Executive Research Director for Occam Technology Group and leads the Health and Life Sciences business. After two decades of working in new product development, Roger knows that the work he does leads to innovative solutions to some of today’s toughest challenges.
Roger has worked with over 120 clients including Exxon Mobil, Honda, Toyota, MDS Aerospace, Johnson Matthey, Ocean Optics, Asahi Glass Company, Diebold, Saint Gobain, Arthrex, HunterDouglas, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Corelle Brands, and many others in over 20 countries on five continents. Roger specializes in developing new products, the regulatory path to certifications, and the manufacturing processes to get these new products to market efficiently.
His previous experience includes positions from the shop floor at Honda to management positions at Little Tikes and Rubbermaid to a director position at Astra Products. Entrepreneurship experience includes founding five companies and selling one of them.
Roger is a NASA Fellow, a winner of a Cade Award for entrepreneurship and product development, a winner of the Manny Award for Excellence in Manufacturing, and a finalist for the Nortech Innovation Award in Advanced Materials. Roger holds a degree in Yacht Design, a Bachelor’s in Materials Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University, and a Master’s in Materials Science from the University of South Florida. He will also be completing his PhD in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering from the University of South Florida in 2020.

Mark Kelly brings 30 years of engineering experience to the company. He previously worked at GE Healthcare developing medical equipment. His educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in biology from Tufts University in addition to an MBA and a Master in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Andrew Kivela is the Director of Program Management for Occam Defense under Occam Tech Group and advises for OccamSmart. Prior to entering the engineering field, he spent nine years as a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Analyst and Korean Linguist for the US Army and an additional three years as an Operations Research/Systems Analyst (ORSA). He has spent over seven years supporting US Forces deployed to South Korea and Afghanistan supporting multiple infantry brigades, 501st Military Intelligence Brigade, 82nd EOD Group, and 3rd Special Forces Group.
Andrew has worked on projects for Anko, Arthrex, Azure Summit Technologies, Beta Bionics, Cell Detect, Corelle, JL Marine, Ocean Optics, Reftec, Welbilt and more. Besides program management, Andrew’s expertise focuses on python and embedded C programming as well as electrical design for embedded systems. His skill set includes software testing and analysis with the Liverpool Data Research Associates (LDRA) Testbed suite and FDA-level documentation.
As Director of Program Management, Andrew leverages over 12 years of analytical experience and military leadership, plus Computer/Electrical Engineering background. He holds an Associates in the Korean Language from the Defense Language Institute, Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of South Florida and is pursuing a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering to be completed in 2020.

Markus Vogel has over 10 years management experience in various industries, focusing on business, marketing, and management information systems strategies. Markus holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems, as well as a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship in Applied Technologies program from the University of South Florida.

Adrienne Lytle is the Office Manager for Occam Technology Group. Prior to joining the company in 2014, she spent ten years developing her business acumen and management skills supporting retail and commercial clients. Her career progression includes roles as a Merchandising Manager, Account Manager and Manager of Business Processes. In her experience she has successfully supported clients such as Rite Aid, ULTA, Apple, Harbor Freight, Petco, Michael’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Fred’s, Tractor Supply Company and Vology.

As Occam’s Office Manager, Adrienne assures that that day to day operations and procedures of Occam Technology Group run smoothly and efficiently. Her responsibilities include managing human resources, internal communications, company travel, scheduling, accounts payable/receivable, inventory, shipping/receiving, vendor management, and overseeing IT and marketing functions.

Adrienne was raised in the Tampa, FL area and attended Florida State University where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Sociology with a minor in Merchandising.

Patrick Baker leads the mechanical technology team at Occam Technology Group. With over 25 years of mechanical engineering experience, he has a diverse background in producing solutions for clients. While at Occam, Patrick has worked on large projects including industrial construction equipment, electromechanical production, machine design, and complex prototype assemblies. He has over 10 years of experience in team management, prototyping, and design manufacturing.

Before joining Occam Technology Group, Patrick worked on mechanical projects with Honeywell Sensor Systems, Teleflex, Adsil/ Microguard, DR Horton, Taylor Morrison, Felcor Lodging and Trust. Much of his work focuses on product design, managing support personnel, and operating project requirements. He also assisted in product redesigns, and research and development for new devices. Besides mechanical engineering, Patrick was the Entrepreneur/Owner of Environmental Protective Solutions, managing projects, interfacing with national building contractors, generating proposals, and more. He also worked as the Senior Engineer for Welbilt as the lead product designer and support personnel.

As Senior Mechanical Engineer, Patrick oversees mechanical engineering projects and guarantees requirements, performance, and cost targets are completed in a timely manner. Patrick is so good, he won the Innovation Award for assisting in the development of an industry first RFID pan tracking system used in commercial kitchen equipment. Patrick earned his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Jordan Kummer is a Mechanical Engineering for Occam Technology Group. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Central Florida. During his time in school, he worked as a Mechanical Engineer Itern on the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Competition performing design, analyses, manufacturing and testing. He also took the course and is certified in MIT’s Approach to Innovation and Design Thinking of Products and Services. Jordan has close to 10 year of experience in design, prototyping, manufacturing, testing and production.

Before joining Occam, Jordan worked as a Project Engineer and Mechanical Engineer at Boyd Industries designing medical products such as surgical chairs, hand pieces and layouts all under ISO 13485 requirements where he acquired multiple patents with his name under it. He also worked with the DoD at Lockheed Martin as a Mechanical Engineer implementing design changes and lab testing for the Hellfire missile. Jordan also worked at Valor Athletics Inc. as the Product Development Engineer designing and FEA testing health and fitness equipment products at Valor Fitness.

Tom Scharf has over 30 years of experience in software engineering and electrical design of embedded systems. He has worked in a variety of industries including medical, military, and industrial controls for Fortune 500 companies, international companies, and local small businesses. He has completed designs for the Hubble Space Telescope and brought several medical products to market. Tom is a BSEE from West Virginia University.

Enrique Moro is an Electrical Engineer for Occam Technology Group. He received his Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic José Antonio Echeverría. After earning his degree, Enrique worked for Mettler-Toledo Safeline Medisafe America as a project engineer. He also worked for IBA as a proton therapy engineer.

Enrique has extensive experience in the industrial industry performing end of line machinery and packing from PolyPack, Inc. His previous work with embedded C language, prototyping, and troubleshooting will be a great asset to many of our projects. He also has experience designing tools for medical machines.

Seltzer has 45 years of experience in electronics, over twenty in medical, designing and developing products for medical, industrial, and military markets. He has CID certification, from the IPC Association, for his primary role, PCB design. Chris specializes in reduced layer count Rigid, Rigid/Flex and Flex PCBs for embedded control systems, with mixed analog, digital and power circuits.

Carlos is thoroughly familiar with operational and design aspects of electronic devices. Extensive experience working on Military Embedded Computer Systems, Electronic Medical Instruments, Computer Automated Test Systems, Automated Industrial Systems, NIST Traceable Calibrations of Electrical and Mechanical Systems, Automated Food Service Equipment, and Automated Science Laboratory Systems.

Kurt Holmquist has more than 35 years of experience in development of embedded software and related products and systems primarily in the areas of data communications, medical devices and space electronics. He is inventor/co-inventor on 32 U. S. patents. Kurt has a BSEE from the U. S. Naval Academy and an MSEE from the U. S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Marcos Sierra is a Mechanical Engineer student at the University of South Florida graduating in December. Before Occam, he completed a co-op and internship with Cummins Inc. where he learned design and finite element analysis (FEA) for diesel engines. Marcos also has experience testing prototype components for turbos and using SolidWorks, Creo 4.0, and ANSYS.

Christisn Vincente is an electrical engineering student at Hillsborough Community College. Vincente will be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineer in 2020.

David Do is a certified Six Sigma Engineer with 20 + years experience in medical device. He is highly skilled on R&D, fabrication and build prototype on medical device, Verification & Validation test protocol & Reliability test. He also has experience in building automated test fixtures for life testing, testing devices in HALT/HASS chambers, and destructive and non-destructive reliability test methods.

Hannah is from Rockledge, Florida and moved to Tampa to attend the University of South Florida. She just finished her Bachelor's Degree in Marketing with a minor in Finance and will be starting her Master's of Business Administration in the Spring.

During her time at USF, she worked as a Student Ambassador for Amazon Prime Student, which included increasing awareness of the Prime Student benefits through a marketing approach and social media posting. She also was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority, where she was the External Social Chair. This position involved planning events and maintaining a budget for over 100 guests to attend.

Hannah currently works as the Marketing Associate for Occam Technology Group, developing the website, social media and keeping up-to-date with social events around the Tampa Bay area.