Team Bios

Edmond A. Heinbockel

President, CEO, and Founder
BS Engineering, MBA

A “high bandwidth” entrepreneur, Mr. Heinbockel, founder and president of Visual Purple, has more than twenty-five years of hands-on experience in the management of high-tech companies, with a proven record of success in building leading-edge software products for both public and private companies. Under his leadership Visual Purple clients include just about every U.S. government agency that ends in a vowel. Mr. Heinbockel was recognized by Newsweek Magazine’s Century Club as one of the top “100 people to watch…in the next millennium.” He was also recognized as one of Executive Excellence Magazine’s “Top 100 Thinkers of Our Time.”

Lydia R. Heinbockel

Chairperson

A California girl, Lydia has been “plugged-in” to Visual Purple since its inception, which is not hard to do since she is married to Ed Heinbockel, Visual Purple’s President/CEO and Founder. Lydia enjoyed a successful career in entertainment in Hollywood, yes, Hollywood, to include modeling, dance, movies and TV for close to a decade before preemptively shifting careers to one of her true passions: marketing and sales. It was not lost on Lydia that women in their 30’s and Hollywood don’t often mix. Lydia reinvented herself and in just a few short years rose to the level of national sales manager for $1B French-based Pierre Fabre Cosmetics. The entrepreneurial bug bit and Lydia left Pierre Fabre to build her own marketing and distribution company. Over the last few years, Lydia has been an active board member at Visual Purple helping to shape market positioning and sales strategies across sectors.

John W. Jarrett

Vice President of Project Operations and Implementation
BS Life Sciences/Zoology, MDiv.

After acquiring his Masters Degree, Mr. Jarrett worked as an executive conference center administrator where he gained valuable relational, managerial, and writing skills. Mr. Jarrett began his software career in 1991, using his varied and seasoned knowledge as a designer, writer and project manager. His expertise has been instrumental in the production of more than a dozen entertainment software titles, including Free Enterprise and Silent Steel, and over two dozen Visual Purple training simulations. Mr. Jarrett’s contribution to the Visual Purple team has been invaluable in the management of aspects ranging from oversight of contracting, project management, client liaison, project design, production, and security.

David G. Harlow

Vice President and General Counsel
BS Accounting, CPA, MBA, JD

Mr. Harlow has lent his extensive education and proficiency to a multitude of businesses and organizations in national and international arenas, including directing and participating in multi-national tax planning and negotiations in Europe and the United States. Mr. Harlow has served as Tax Director for McCormick and Company, Inc., and Great Lakes Chemical Corporation. He was Vice President and General Counsel for QO Chemicals, Inc. and an Associate of Sonnenschein, Carlin, Nath & Rosenthal.

Mr. Harlow’s recent career has focused on representing individual and corporate clients in negotiations, arbitration and litigation. His insight and advice are valuable assets to the Visual Purple team and clientele.

David L. Ostby

Vice President and Chief Scientist

Mr. Ostby, a software systems designer and inventor, is responsible for much of the creation of the Visual Purple proprietary technology. He was instrumental in the creation of the core simulation software engine and modeling technology, an inventor of US Patent #5,326,270, a software technique for assessing an individual’s task-processing style, and a creator of Interactive Intelligence (I2), a product used by the Intelligence Community and the Army Research Institute. Mr. Ostby was also a creator of FloChart™, a high-level technology that allows non-programmers to quickly and simply construct complex simulations. Currently, Mr. Ostby’s ingenuity is being plied in the areas of Behavioral Intelligence and Experimental Mathematics as Visual Purple builds enabling technology to usher in the next wave of intelligent simulations.

James E. Spellman II

Vice President of Applied Technology Systems

Mr. Spellman began his career as a software developer in 1986. While working for Sierra On-Line and Tsunami Media, he refined his extensive knowledge in the creation of single and multi-player entertainment titles. His proficiency is apparent in interface design, 2D and 3D graphics, and artificial intelligence systems. At Visual Purple, Mr. Spellman has constructed a group of ever-evolving production tools and provided technical programming support for nearly two dozen high-level training simulations. Mr. Spellman was also responsible for Visual Purple’s 2004 transformation from video-based simulations to interactive 3D reality.

Lisa Miskinis

Special Projects/ Finance Manager
B.S.B.A The Ohio State University

Lisa’s multi-dimensional career began in public accounting with Arthur Andersen & Co. She obtained her CPA, and then migrated to the private sector, where she shifted her focus to the operational areas of project management and finance. She has held high-level positions in several real estate development and investment firms, for whom she managed acquisitions, major development projects, joint venture restructures and bulk sales of assets. Her depth of general business experience combined with the practical knowledge of accounting and finance is a valuable asset in the realm of both business and strategic planning as well as participation in the creation and completion of successful products.

Megan Rutherford

Business Development
BS Business, Marketing

Mrs. Rutherford has extensive experience in high tech companies holding both production and marketing positions. Her marketing experience spans social media, publishing, ad design and sales. Prior to joining the Visual Purple team Mrs. Rutherford held sales and technology positions within the real estate service industry. Mrs. Rutherford’s business development efforts at Visual Purple are focused primarily on intelligent training simulations and licensing of Visual Purple technology through the 2011 release of GisterPRO.