Principal Investigator

Captain Ken Ryan, U.S. Navy (Retired), completed 30 years of service in the Armed Forces in August 2011 before moving to the Lowcountry to pursue an entrepreneurial dream and serve the local community. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Aircraft Designer for KRyanCreative, LLC, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business based in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The company’s mission is to advance solutions to society’s most pressing problems through transformational research and product development. Reinventing the helicopter is one such quest, with the commercialization of an electric rim-drive system as its singular technical focus—aimed at freeing vertical lift from mechanical constraints and expanding the rotary-wing flight envelope to its practical limits. His distinguished military career included assignments as a senior staff advisor to Flag and General Officers, Commanding Officer of a tactical helicopter squadron, and Assistant Professor at the National Defense University. He is a Naval Aviator with 18 years in the cockpit and over 3,600 hours of mishap-free flying. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Captain Ryan holds an M.S. in National Security Resources from the National Defense University/Industrial College of the Armed Forces, an M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (two awards). Post-military, Ken immersed himself in the Charleston area’s abundant opportunities for community service. He was a founding director of the Palmetto Military Support Group and designed the group’s iconic logo. He also served as a military advisor to the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce and its U.S. Africa Command Relocation Task Force. He continues to volunteer locally, focusing on veteran small business advisement, organizing senior basketball, and mentoring new accessions to the military.