Tailwater Systems Founder

Dr. John Skardon

Dr. John Skardon is the founder and owner of Tailwater Systems. John received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and PhD from Clemson University. He also received an MBA in the executive program at Kent State University. John entered the US Army as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant in 1977 upon graduation from Clemson. After a 4 year service term in Infantry units in Germany and the US, he entered the tech industry in 1981 as a process engineer with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). After 3 years at AMD, John joined Keithley Instruments and spent 10 years working in sales, marketing, and business management in the US and Japan. John was recruited by Motorola Semiconductor as strategic marketing manager for the new Chemical Sensors internal startup. 

It was this last assignment that propelled him into the startup world. John took his cumulative experience in sensors, software, and systems and founded a new company, AirAdvice. The company developed a wide area network for monitoring indoor air quality. The company focused its initial products on helping families with severe asthmatic members better manage their health. John and his team received numerous patents for the ground-breaking work at this company. 

John then worked for several startup companies in the US and Switzerland. After earning his Ph.D. at Clemson University, he began teaching at California State University’s graduate program in Environmental Science. This teaching stint enabled John to get a very close look at persistent environmental programs (e.g. nitrate pollution of ground and surface water). John then launched Tailwater Systems in 2017 to develop novel solutions for nitrate removal. Since then, John has used his knowledge and training to develop novel solutions for salt removal and TDS that leverage a wide array of different technologies and science from diverse industries.