Ken Childress
Co-founder of Ocean Aero, alongside Vance McClure and Mark Ott, drawing on their prior work together on a U.S. Navy unmanned hard-wing sailboat program.
Ken (Kenneth) Childress co-founded Ocean Aero in December 2012 with Vance McClure and Mark Ott, after the U.S. Navy unmanned hard-wing sailboat program they worked on together at Harbor Wing Technologies ended in 2011. He led business development at Ocean Aero and is a former Naval Special Warfare officer. He has since retired (as of 2023) and consults through the marine-mapping nonprofit Map the Gaps.
Overview
- Role
- Co-Founder, Ocean Aero
- Based in
- Camano Island, WA
- Prior experience
- Harbor Wing Technologies; Redback Networks
Affiliated funds0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- Who is Ken Childress?
- Ken (Kenneth) Childress co-founded Ocean Aero in December 2012 with Vance McClure and Mark Ott, after the U.S. Navy unmanned hard-wing sailboat program they worked on together at Harbor Wing Technologies ended in 2011. He led business development at Ocean Aero and is a former Naval Special Warfare officer. He has since retired (as of 2023) and consults through the marine-mapping nonprofit Map the Gaps.
- What is Ken Childress's role?
- Ken Childress is Co-Founder, Ocean Aero, based in Camano Island, WA.
- Where did Ken Childress work before?
- Ken Childress's prior roles include Harbor Wing Technologies; Redback Networks.
Sources & citations1
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Ocean Aero was founded 3 years earlier by myself and Mark Ott, our current CTO — Ken Childress, in a 2015 interview.
Offshore Energy: Interview: New Class of Ocean Observing SystemVerified2026-08-15