Arlen Nipper brings over four decades of SCADA and industrial automation experience to Cirrus Link. As co-inventor of the MQTT protocol, he is a pioneer in industrial data communications and a recognized thought leader in the global IIoT movement. His background spans embedded systems, SCADA infrastructure, and cloud architecture — with leadership roles at Amoco, Koch Oil, Arcom Control Systems, and Eurotech.
Education:
- B.S. Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Oklahoma State University
Chris Houghton leads Cirrus Link with a unique blend of engineering and business expertise. With a career that began in data acquisition and SCADA systems for oil and gas, Chris has held executive leadership roles in global industrial technology companies. His collaboration with Arlen Nipper on remote data systems and M2M innovation laid the foundation for Cirrus Link’s success in IIoT.
Education:
- B.Eng. in Engineering
- MBA, Baker University
Wes Johnson specializes in embedded device software, cloud computing, and the communication technologies that connect them together (IIot, IoT, M2M, SCADA). After graduating from Portland State University with a B.S. in computer engineering and physics, he began working at Arcom Controls Systems where he was the primary creator of what is now the Eclipse Kura OSGi device framework. At Eurotech, he was Director of Software Engineering and a key contributor to what is now Eclipse Kapua. He is now CTO for Cirrus Link Solutions where he co-created the Sparkplug specification and is project lead for Eclipse Sparkplug and a co-project lead for Eclipse Tahu.
Education:
- B.S. Computer Engineering and Physics
- Portland State University