Ryan earned dual degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from U of MN. He has tech support, software, and web development experience. Then he made groovy machines to mix, move, spray, and form cob. He designed a straw bale building on HUG campus, then designed an arched bale structure that ended up being tested successfully in snow, instead.

Then Ryan took a couple year detour into the Biodiesel business. After returning from that he has been installing the worlds largest array of hot air solar panels on the HUG shop building. He also is helping to supervise the R&D efforts within HUG, and doing detailed thermal analysis of the design for the ARC '08 building.