Our People

Sid Hellman

President

Sid is a physicist/software engineer and serves as President of ISTI. As such, he has been developing scientific software solutions for over 30 years in fields including nuclear physics, x-ray physics, seismology, and geochemistry. With a passion for problem solving, Sid thrives on designing and delivering inventive solutions that address complex issues, especially in fields that contribute to the effort to make the world a better and safer place. When not at his desk, Sid enjoys cycling the roads near his home in northern New York, from short after-work to day-long century rides with friends and family.

Paul Friberg

Chief Executive Officer

Paul is a seismologist that is passionate about his research into micro-earthquakes and ones induced by human activity in particular. His background is in both geophysics and computer science, but few people know that he started out as a geologist looking at metamorphic petrology, structural geology, and doing field mapping. In his spare time, he is an avid mountaineer, mountain biker, and rock climber with numerous ascents of El Capitan in Yosemite and other famous spires and big walls around the world.

stefan lisowski

Chief of Staff; Senior Software Developer

In addition to being ISTI's Chief of Staff, Stefan is excited to be designing, coding, configuring, integrating, and teaching seismic software on all continents of the planet (well, except Antarctica). After spending the 1990s in the Silicon Valley doing early internet technologies, Stefan eventually found ISTI in New York, where he is proud to be developing scientific software that can make people’s lives safer. When not working, Stefan may be found hiking the Adirondack high peaks or trying to explain "why" to his young kids.

Scott Fertig

Managing Director, Europe

Scott is a computer scientist by training (AI and high performance computing) and a 4x serial entrepreneur with two successful exits. His first professional experience was parallelizing numerical computing algorithms to run on shared and distributed multiprocessors. Scott loves going back to his roots in a smaller company, doing scientific computing and helping to grow ISTI's business, after a more recent career as a leader in larger enterprises such as TechRepublic (CTO), Gartner (CIO), and the IAEA. Beyond ISTI, Scott enjoys helping his wife train seeing-eye dogs, gravel bike trekking, and playing full-court basketball.

ilya dricker

VP of Research & Development; Seismologist; Computer Programmer

Ilya was working on his doctoral thesis on mantle dynamics of Tibet and Siberia when the Internet revolution of the 1990s took over the world. Ilya became involved with complex programming projects and enjoyed this more and more. Joining the ISTI team in 1999 was a very simple decision, merging his skills as an Earth scientist and software developer. At ISTI, Ilya develops software, manages projects, writes papers and documentation, presents at conferences. and provides support to the customers. In the larger world, Ilya is an avid traveler, family guy, book reader, and occasional scuba diver.

josh stachnik

Chief Geophysicist

Josh began his seismology career in 1999 during a field experiment in Alaska and has been going full steam ahead ever since with collaborative research projects all over the globe. Joining ISTI in 2015, his recent focus turned to the expanding field of microseismic monitoring and research across all energy markets. When not in front of the keyboard or digging holes to install seismic stations, Josh can be found running around anywhere outdoors with friends and family, or under the hood of a classic car tuning a carburetor.