About Us » Executive Bios
Ed Downs, the CEO and Founder of Nirvana Systems, Inc. has more than 20 years experience in trading and software development. Ed received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, and a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to founding Nirvana, Ed worked on design automation software for Tektronix. In addition to inventing the original concepts for OmniTrader and VisualTrader, Ed has published several books and trading seminars, including The 7 Chart Patterns that Consistently Make Money. Ed currently serves as President and CEO of Nirvana Systems, Inc.
Steve Belknap joined Nirvana Systems in 1991. Prior to joining Nirvana, Steve turned one of Austin’s largest country clubs into a profitable operation under his guidance. Steve holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. Steve is the Vice President and General Manager at Nirvana Systems, Inc.
Denise Ramirez joined Nirvana Systems in 1991. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Rice University, and her areas of expertise include accounting, database management, IT systems and programming. In her career with Nirvana, Denise serves in the capacity of CFO and Director of Operations.
Hans van der Wal worked as an automation software engineer prior to joining Nirvana in 1998. Hans holds a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Twente, Netherlands, and has extensive software development experience, specializing in Microsoft’s COM architecture and dot Net development. Hans has overseen the development and QA of all Nirvana’s core products in his role of Director of Development.
Jeff Drake holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physics from the University of Utah, and had a decade of management experience before joining Nirvana in 1998. Jeff currently leads a team of scientists in his role as Director of Trading Technology. Jeff and his team have developed several profitable Trading Strategies, including the highly successful NSP product line.