ABOUT US

HISTORY

APOLLO is a small professional team that has been in service since 1974 serving the needs of the residential, commercial and industrial industries. We are a results drive company that transforms traditional thermal cook / baking systems into high speed systems that can reduce process times by 50 percent and more by combining and controlling radiant, convection and microwave energies.

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OUR TEAM

Ken Eke

President/CEO & Founder

As an entrepreneur and chartered engineer, Ken created Apollo in the early 1970s after working for the British Government at the Ministry of Aviation in the UK calibrating electronic instruments in the DC, RF and microwave fields. As his experience with microwaves grew, he focused his energy on the specialized field of microwaves and their applications. Recognizing the commercial implications of a future growth market in microwave ovens, Ken committed his company to an aggressive design and development plan that resulted in the introduction of the Apollo-Patented Combination microwave oven which became known as the Brother High-Speed Cooker, which successfully sold Worldwide. This was the first countertop oven to simultaneously combine microwaves with convected hot air, thus providing consumers with high quality cooking at the speed of microwaves! This technology met with great success and has now been expanded into the food service industry. His extensive expertise, coupled with an inquiring mind and an entrepreneurial spirit, has resulted in Ken being awarded over 100 International Patents and in bringing his company, Apollo USA, to the innovative heights it has achieved.

Gillian Eke

Finance Executive

With her knowledge of company procedure, having initially worked for several years for an international company in London, it naturally followed that Gill would ideally bring her knowledge and office skills as co-founder to the Apollo group of companies. With the inception of the new company in the United States in the 1990s and her experience gained in industry, finance, property and the media, Gill proved herself invaluable in her administrative role, thus supporting Ken and his team through their design and development programs.

Mark Boyer

Director of Operations

Mark has spent his entire career in the field of Electrical Engineering. Where he has gained over 20 years’ experience in the design, development and managing of embedded control systems. In his career, Mark has worked for all three Major US based appliance companies; GE, Maytag and Whirlpool where he gained proficiency in control system project management. While at Whirlpool Mark brought to production Whirlpools first self-diagnosing oven control system. During his tenure at Maytag he developed Maytag’s first Trilingual ATM user interface. Mark has acquired over 6 patents ranging from custom user interfaces to intelligent failure delivery algorithms. Some of Marks biggest accomplishments were during the early years at Apollo where he helped develop alongside of Ken Eke quarter and half-time cooking systems. Mark also designed and build a prototype oven that was displayed at Disney’s EPCOT Center in the kitchen of the House of Innovations. This futuristic appliance pushed the boundaries for user interfaces and styling. Mark started is formal education at the University of Central Florida where he received his Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering. In 2015 Mark went back to school at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to earn his MBA. Mark has lived in Tennessee for over 20 years with his wife Mara and two children Rebecca and Michelle.

Graham Eke

Director of Research & Development

Graham spearheads the R&D side of Apollo. He has a background in Microwave energy control / design, digital media and the recording arts and, since joining the company in 1995, has headed up the algorithm and 3D concept development for the company’s projects. Recently Graham has taken the lead in developing and designing the launch systems for all new programs. Working with the Apollo team, Graham does all the preliminary CAD and simulation work associated with the start of a microwave project. He then leads the technical side of a project through to completion. Graham is also versed using NI LabVIEW software and hardware. These stills are used on the control and user interface side of projects. He has also spoken at IMPI regarding Apollo’s advanced technologies. Graham has been married to Kari for 14 years and they have three children, Lauren, Oliver and Elizabeth.

Chris Rader

Project Engineer

Chris has been with Apollo since 2014 and has assisted on multiple projects in the residential, commercial and industrial markets. Chris cooperates and communicates with the project manager and other project participants and collaborates with senior engineers to create a more efficient project.

256 Seaboard Lane, Suite G-105, Franklin, TN 37067