Bio
My name is Rodney Ring and I am the Founder and Operations Manager at DroneWorx. I was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts but grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I began working at the age of 14 under a minors work permit as a sweeper for my middle school. In 2005 I enlisted in the US Army at the age of 17 where I served 5 years on active duty. During my time on active duty I completed 3 combat tours performing PSD and Sniper operations in the Middle East. PSD is Personal Security Detail which in this case I was assigned to protect USO tours where stars come over to perform for the troops. I had the privilege of protecting stars like Kid Rock, Robin Williams, Miss USA, Lance Armstrong, Lewis Black, Tito Ortiz, Scarlette Johansen and more.
When my active duty enlistment ended, I transitioned to the Colorado National Guard where I served for an additional 10 years as a weekend warrior. After getting out of active duty I went to school at Front Range Helicopters to become a Helicopter Pilot. When my GI Bill funding ran out I ended my flight training and broke out in Oil & Gas.
I started in Oil and Gas as an entry-level Roustabout constructing wellsite facilities. I was fascinated with the science and design of facilities and pipelines so I began teaching myself how to design and engineer facilities while I was still a Roustabout. I quickly advanced to a Division Managers role before getting hired on at EOG as a Construction Manager in the DJ Basin. I started EOG’s first in-house design group and advanced to division operations where I was responsible for facility designs in the Bakken, Uintah, Powder River and DJ Basins.
When the workload became too much to handle in-house, I split off and started my first company, Petro Tech. Petro Tech quickly evolved into a full Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management firm that designed everything from wellsite facilities to compressor stations and pipelines. I realized in 2016 that I could incorporate drones and VR technology into the design workflow and began investing in those resources.
When the industry slowed down during the Coronavirus Pandemic I focused my energy on developing more drone technology and started DroneWorx. DroneWorx has since taken on multiple clients and performs a range of services including DOT Visual Patrols, Area Classification Surveys, Site Surveying, Facility Design and more. I have been married for 9 years and have two beautiful children ages 4 and 7.