Leadership Team

Jerad Stack

Chief Executive Officer

As CEO of Firehole Technologies, Jerad directs operations, business development and software engineering for the company.

While Mr. Stack was involved in the early founding days of Firehole Technologies, he left Wyoming in 2000 and worked as a Technical Consultant for the enterprise software company Trilogy Inc. in Austin, Texas. At Trilogy, Jerad led consulting teams in the deployment and development of customized modeling software for Global 1000 technology companies such as Sun Microsystems, IBM, Boeing, and Hewlett-Packard. In addition, his duties included significant business development and pre-sales engineering. At Trilogy, Jerad's teams were often recognized for the success delivered to their customers.

After Trilogy, Jerad worked as a technical lead at Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems - Space Systems Division building modeling software for satellite systems. While with Raytheon, Mr. Stack was awarded Raytheon's "Technical Honors" designation as a top engineer in the company (awarded to less than 5% of engineers at the company,) the 2006 Technical Employee of the Year award and the National Reconnaissance Office's Gold Coin award for outstanding analysis work on national satellite systems.

Jerad holds an M.S. and B.S. both in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wyoming (1998 and 2000, respectively).

Outside of the office, Jerad spends his time traveling, playing soccer, skiing (both water and snow,) and cheering on his Wyoming Cowboys. He is married to Jennifer McDowell and they have two yellow Labrador retrievers, Asti and Cova.

Emmett Nelson

Chief Operating Officer

Emmett is the COO of Firehole Technologies. He has been the heart and soul of Firehole for several years. His responsibilities include contributing technically, company administration, business development and planning, and product development.

Mr. Nelson is an expert in finite element analysis with several years experience analyzing composite structures. His interests include multiscale analysis, failure and damage analysis, and insuring the continued success of Firehole.

Emmett holds an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wyoming (2003) and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University (2000).

"Firehole is great because it gives me the opportunity to do the work that I enjoy, interact with outstanding people, live in a fantastic area, and have a balanced lifestyle."

Outside of the office, Emmett spends his time bird hunting, cycling, skiing, and fishing. He has one dog, Rune.

Don Robbins

Chief Engineer

Don is the guidepost for technical innovation at Firehole. He is a key contributor to all innovations and his technical competence is unparalleled. His responsibilities include developing and executing technical strategies.

Dr. Robbins is a computational mechanics expert with 15 years experience in developing adaptive, multiscale finite element methodology and codes for the analysis of composites. His numerous journal publications in this area have been well received by the research community, with three of his journal papers having been cited in excess of 100 times each. Don is the originator of the variable-kinematic finite element (VKFE) concept.

Dr. Robbins holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (1994) and an M.S. and B.S. in Agricultural Engineering for Auburn University (1987, 1984).

Don's extracurricular interests include horses, fishing, hunting, photography and horticulture. In 1988 Don was a national champion weightlifter. He is married to Karin Robbins.

Jason Gies

Director of Commercialization and Quality

As Director of Commercialization and Quality of Firehole Technologies, Mr. Gies focuses on the commercialization and overall quality assurance of Firehole's software and services offerings.

Previously, Mr. Gies was Quality Assurance Manager for a leading ASME nuclear fabricator. He brings a diverse background to Firehole, including non-destructive examination, welding, steel fabrication, and ASME Code analysis, interpretation and documentation. Mr. Gies was project lead and go-to for customers like Alstom Power, General Atomics, Taiwan Power Company, and Fluor.

Jason has been involved with the fabrication of, collectively, over five miles of Nuclear Class 3 piping spools, several Nuclear Class 3 vessels including two stainless steel (304L) vessels 1.5" thick and has worked with ASME VIII, Division 2 for multiple jobs including the fabrication of two 75-ton biodiesel reactor vessels. Additionally, Mr. Gies was an integral part of the design, construction and testing of a Hastelloy®/Chromoly high pressure reactor vessel. Mr. Gies also worked with Lincoln Electric and Miller in the application development of the hybrid GMAW welding processes Surface Tension Transfer ® and Regulated Material Deposition™, respectively. Mr. Gies is a certified Level II NDE technician in both magnetic particle examination and dye penetrant examination. He has also held visual and weld inspection certifications, is a qualified Auditor and Lead Auditor and calibration technician.

Prior to this work, Mr. Gies spent over 6 years with Laramie-based IDES, Inc., focusing on technical support and sales, product development and management, and quality for such companies as John Deere, Carpenter Technologies, and General Electric. Jason holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering (1998) from the University of Wyoming.

Jason is an avid outdoorsman, an accomplished competitive shooter and enjoys spending time with his wife, Dr. Jonna Gies at their family ranch.

Additional Firehole Staff