Key Note Speakers
Don Richardson, Director of Manufacturing for Global ISV Strategy
Microsoft
Don manages a team of business development managers and technical specialists responsible for developing solutions that take full advantage of the Microsoft .NET platform. Don and his team support manufacturing Independent Software Vendors to architect and develop solutions to take full advantage of the Microsoft Operating System, Server System, Office System, and other core Microsoft technologies. These solutions include plant floor and manufacturing operations, Enterprise Resource Planning, Supply Chain Planning and Execution, and Product Lifecycle Management. Don is also a key member of the Microsoft manufacturing strategy and leadership team.
Don Richardson joined Microsoft in 1997 as a technical specialist for manufacturing in the Developer Relations Group (DRG), and has worked with the leading ISVs to develop manufacturing solutions on the Microsoft platform.
Before joining Microsoft, Don was a CAD mechanical application engineer and technical manager for Intergraph Corp., a Fortune 1000 company in the CAD/CAE space. His career in the CAD/CAM industry began at ComputerVision Corp. where he was an application engineer specializing in advanced surface design.
Paul Greene
Pfizer
Paul Greene is the Senior Director/Team Leader, Drug Product Automation, for Pfizer. In this role, Paul leads a Pfizer team responsible for strategic direction and global solutions in the area of Drug Product Automation including process automation and MES. Paul has extensive experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry gained through positions of increasing responsibility in Engineering, Manufacturing and IT.
Peter Swartz
Dell
As Director of IT for Dell's Global Manufacturing and Fulfillment Systems group, Peter Swartz manages a $100M application portfolio on which Dell runs its supply chain and manufacturing and distribution plants for its American business unit. Mr. Swartz also has direct responsibility for the application team that develops and supports Dell's factory automation and control systems.
In 1994 Mr. Swartz began developing a systems suite for Dell that over time has evolved into Dell's Data Warehouse (DDW). He worked to define the DDW's architecture and middleware infrastructure, while deploying and supporting the initial worldwide warehouse that provided daily summaries of orders to the company's senior management. Later, he took on the task of globalizing Dell's e-Commerce engine, by first managing the effort to merge local requirements and then deploying the suite of applications to Dell's European business units.
Most recently, Mr. Swartz led the effort to integrate more than 200 applications developed "in the business" into Dell IT. One of the applications that fell under his management was Dell's fragmented deployment of CIMPLICITY and various factory-control applications. Mr. Swartz championed factory automation software at Dell, and he has secured buy-in from Dell's business and IT leaders worldwide on the deployment of a single, standard factory-automation layer. To this end, he and his team defined a multi-year plan to execute this vision, and CIMPLICITY is now deployed to half of Dell's locations, with plans in place to deploy to numerous new facilities worldwide while, at the same time, completing the retrofit to the rest of the company's facilities.
Between his time with Dell, Mr. Swartz also served as a principal in three Internet startups, shifting between Pittsburgh, London, and Paris.
Mr. Swartz holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
Clay Johnson
Dell
Clay Johnson, manager for Dell's Global Manufacturing and Fulfillment Systems group, is directly responsible for managing the factory automation software team. Mr. Johnson has day-to-day responsibility for ensuring that the automation solution runs smoothly and that "boxes flow down the lines" at Dell's various manufacturing and distribution locations. A key part of Dell's factory automation solution is CIMPLICITY - an application that Mr. Johnson has helped evolve at Dell from a series of fragmented deployments to the now standard factory-automation layer.
Mr. Johnson and his team have recently deployed CIMPLICITY to Dell's flagship factory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as well as its new location in Xiamen, China. The team continues to retrofit the global code-base into Dell's existing facilities, as well as planning for numerous deployments to their locations coming over the next 18 months.
Prior to joining Dell, Mr. Johnson worked at Nortel and FedEx. At FedEx, he helped design and implement a corporate-wide logistic routing application that was deployed to all the FedEx freight facilities in North America. At Nortel, Mr. Johnson played a key role in developing VoIP software and components of the next-generation core wireless network and gateway for 3G / UMTS circuit and packet domains. He also served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Mr. Johnson holds a bachelor's degree in computer science engineering and an MBA from the University of Texas and serves on the Computer Science and Engineering Industry Advisory Board for Southern Methodist University.
Session Speakers
Terry Begnoche
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Community Relations Manager Membership, Technical Activities
Terry joined Technical Activities at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) www.sme.org in 2001. SME is a non-profit professional development society serving the manufacturing community. Terry works with manufacturing professionals in product and process design & management, lean manufacturing, quality, and supply chain focusing on collaborative learning and improvement. Terry promotes the idea of designing quality into work, products and services. Environmental and safety concerns are important quality aspects. Terry's career interest has evolved from responding to environmental emergencies to managing liabilities through controlled compliance and on to proactive prevention and creative re-design to eliminate problems and improve performance. He currently works with many SME Members to develop communities of interest in subjects such as lean manufacturing (see www.sme.org/lean). Terry approaches work as an opportunity to help create win/win/win outcomes for people, their economy, and the supporting environment.
Prior to joining SME, Terry Begnoche had over 20 years of environmental, management, safety, training and regulatory experience. He began studying quality and management systems design and improvement because he perceived that the accomplishment of environmental, safety, and general business aims was frequently hindered by management system conflicts. Simultaneously, he developed and began teaching classes in Oakland University combining Lean, Quality, and Environmental Management.
Terry received a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan at Dearborn and an MSBA in Quality and Operations Management from Madonna University.
Terry lives in Farmington Hills, Michigan, with wife, Linda, and daughter, Arwen. Hobbies include shipwreck diving and underwater photography. Terry currently serves as the President of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, which has been highlighted in recent programs on PBS, Discovery, and the History Channel.
Michael Blechman, President
Automated Control Concepts, Inc.
Michael Blechman is President of Automated Control Concepts, Inc. (ACC), a leading systems integrator in the Life Sciences and Utility Industries. Michael joined ACC in 1988 and worked as a Sales Engineer, Sales and Marketing Manager and General Manager, before becoming President in 1996. Prior to joining ACC, he spent eight years with GE and GE Fanuc in a variety of sales and application engineering roles in the areas of variable speed drives, PLCs, robotics and vision systems. Michael has a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Pepperdine University.
Anthony H. Bynoe, Sr.
Bynoe Consulting Group, Inc.
Anthony H. Bynoe, Sr. is the CEO and President of Bynoe Consulting Group, Inc., a leading computer technology consulting company specializing in System Integration, Manufacturing Execution Systems and Training that efficiently manages the technology lifecycle. BCG's portfolio of clients includes Nissan North America, where they provide project and portfolio management for the Production Management and Control Systems at the Canton, MS plant. Their portfolio of clients also includes several other leading companies in the Service and Component Manufacturer sectors across diverse industries such as: automotive, appliances, government, rubber products and others.
Anthony is one of the leading system integrators in the field and has expertise in several computer languages, operating systems, databases and Network topologies including GE Fanuc's CIMPLICITY software, US Data's Factory Link, Microsoft's SQL Server, Visual Basic and Visual C/C++. He is a former consultant for Zycron Computer Services, Inc. where he designed SQL Server applications and served as a Database Analyst for Bridgestone/Firestone's E-Commerce Marketing department in their corporate office.
Prior to joining Zycron, Anthony was a Senior Project Engineer at PREMIER System Integrators, Inc. where he was responsible for the design and integration of Dynamically Linked Libraries and Open Database Connectivity Application Programming Interfaces for the Bridgestone/Firestone plant. Prior to joining PREMIER, he was a consultant for CDI, serving as the Systems Architect and Analyst representing GE Fanuc for Nissan North America's Smyrna, Tennessee plant. Prior to joining CDI, Inc. he served as an Operations Analyst for Bendix Friction Materials Division, a subsidiary of Allied Signal Corporation.
Anthony was selected for the 2005-2006 edition of National Register's Who's Who in Executives and Professionals, and is an active member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and The Prince Hall Masons. His professional affiliations include the Project Management Institute, IEEE and the Nashville SQL Server Users Group.
Anthony is a passionate reader of business strategy, warfare and non-fiction. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Chana, and their two children, Anthony, Jr. and Chaun-Michael. He and Bynoe Consulting Group, Inc. are active in the community, and support the Make A Wish Foundation as well as numerous other charities.
Anthony holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer System Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and he completed postgraduate studies at Russell Sage College. He is also a graduate of the Kauffman Foundation's FASTTRAC Planning Program.
Gary Caravella
CNC Engineering, Inc.
Gary Caravella, President and Founder of CNC Engineering, Inc., has more than 25 years of experience in the metalworking industry. Gary holds an A.A.E.E. and is a member of the the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association. Founded in 1983 and located in Enfield, CT, CNC Engineering, Inc. provides CNC control solutions, specializing in GE Fanuc controls, for a wide variety of machine tool applications. In 2004, CNC Engineering, Inc. was named the first GE Fanuc Five Start Retrofitter.
José Luis Chesta Robles
Chesta Ingeniería S.A.
José Luis Chesta is the President of Chesta Ingeniería S.A. With 26 years of automation and instrumentation experience and an emphasis on the mining industry, Mr. Chesta founded Chesta Ingeniería in 1985. He began offering system integration services for GE Fanuc's automation technology in 1990 with the implementation of a centralized ventilation control system for Codelco's El Teniente mine. Chesta Ingeniería became a distributor for IPITEK and Balogh in Chile in 2000, and the company gained ISO 9001/2000 certification in 2005 and 18001 and 14001 certification in 2006.
Mr. Chesta's automation projects have spanned from ventilation systems and vehicle traffic control to remote control systems for rock crushing jackhammers, remote loading control systems, and train dispatch for railroad systems.
Prior to founding Chesta Ingeniería, Mr. Chesta was a project engineer for Codelco at the "El Teniente" division.
Mr. Chesta earned a degree in Electronic Engineering from Universidad Técnica Santa Maria, Valparaíso, and has completed advanced studies in Business Administration and Operations for Service Enterprises, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. Originally from Temuco, Chile, he is married with three children.
Mark Ewing, Project Manager / Head of Automation,
Chicago Scenic Studios
Mark Ewing started his career in technical theater before becoming a project manager and has worked with Chicago Scenic for the past six years. After working successfully on smaller automation projects and having lead the design and fabrication of the stage automation system for Harpo Studios, Mark was recently promoted to the position of Head of Automation. He is currently developing a modular control system for the entertainment market.
Julie Fraser
Industry Directions Inc.
Julie Fraser is Principal of Industry Directions, an independent industry analyst firm that provides targeted research in manufacturing-supported value networks. She is currently heading research with MESA International on operational metrics and business performance and the impact of software on performance. Fraser has 20 years experience as a manufacturing systems industry advisor, marketer, speaker and consultant. Prior to joining Industry Directions, she was VP Marketing for Baan Supply Chain Solutions, Senior Analyst on MES and Integration at AMR, and editor of the CIM Strategies newsletter. Fraser has a degree with honors from Lawrence University in Wisconsin, and is active in MESA International.
Martin Edgardo Galaz Melendez
Codelco
Martin Galaz is a Mine Instrumentation Maintenance Engineer for Codelco at the El Teniente Division. Mr. Galaz's major projects have included a centralized railroad control system for Esmeralda Bombardier, Ipitek communication system, and loaders control system LHD, AutoMine Sandvik.
Originally from Santa Cruz, Chile, Mr. Galaz is married with two children. He holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from the University Federico Santa Maria.
Greg Gegner
GE Healthcare
Greg Gegner is the Client Service Manager for GE Healthcare's ISS team in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this role, Greg focuses on designing, developing and deploying a complete manufacturing execution system (MES) for GE Healthcare. In previous roles with GE, he developed a system to control the testing of super-conductive magnets used in magnetic resonance (MR) equipment and held positions in system design, development and support; LAN engineering; and ERP planning and control.
Prior to GE, Greg served more than 15 years with Belden Wire & Cable, focusing on manufacturing systems and in particular, SPC, specification management, and shop floor control. He built and deployed Belden's first online integrated SPC system, later moving from DOS-based software to a Windows-based SPC system with an Oracle database. His roles at Belden included industrial engineering, quality engineering and process engineering - as well as IT roles ranging from programmer to system designer to project manager. Before joining Belden, Greg served in manufacturing supervision and warehouse management positions. He has nearly 25 years of manufacturing and IT experience and holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.
Michael Grasley, Director
MES - ASECO Integrated Systems Ltd.
Michael joined ASECO Integrated Systems Ltd. in 1991 and has held technical and management positions in both the Controls Engineering and MES groups prior to taking on his current role of Director, Consulting. In this role Mike has overall responsibility for ASECO's consulting practice, which focuses on Performance Improvement for manufacturing operations. Michael also works with clients and internal ASECO teams in areas such as best practices for manufacturing information and automation systems, integration of plant floor systems with corporate systems, adaptation of new technologies into current processes, and the development of long-term manufacturing information system plans.
Michael is a professional engineer, has served on the board of MESA, is active with the ISA-95/MESA working group, and has made numerous presentations at industry conferences.
Mike has a Bachelor's of Applied Science in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo. He and his wife Debra enjoy spending time with their three children, camping, and travel.
Doug Gray
Coors Brewing Company
Doug Gray is Director of Process Control and Information Systems with Coors Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado. In this position, he has multi-plant accountability for all manufacturing systems and standards for Coors in the United States. Prior to joining Coors, Doug served in roles of increasing responsibility with South African Breweries and was responsible for all instrumentation, control and ERP systems as Manufacturing Systems Manager. He has more than 25 years of experience in brewery control systems, instrumentation and manufacturing management and has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and an MBA. His interests outside of packaging automation include living in Colorado, fly fishing, skiing, and hiking.
Les Haman
Matrix Technologies
Les was born in Valparaiso, Indiana. He attended Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and graduated with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1986. After college, Les worked as a Controls Engineer for Cummins Engine Company in Columbus, Indiana. While with Cummins, Les worked on data communications projects. Next, Les joined the automation sales group at Mosier Fluid Power as an application engineer.
He is currently a Department Manager with Matrix Technologies, Inc. in Indianapolis, Indiana and has the primary responsibility for developing integration strategies and supervising the deployment of HMI, PLC, and Level 2 systems. He has worked on multiple projects for the automotive and steel industries including; large plant wide monitoring and production control systems, high capacity historian systems, and complex database applications.
Brandon Henning
The J.M. Smucker Company
Brandon Henning is currently a Project Leader at The J.M. Smucker Company and is responsibility for the implementation of Proficy Plant Applications - Efficiency, Quality, and Production Management - for U.S. and Canadian plants. Brandon joined Smucker in 1997 as a developer working on the plant maintenance systems and about a year later started to support and enhance a home-grown OEE system. Since then, he has supported and led implementation of many of the applications in the company's plants. Brandon graduated from Kent State University with a major in Management Information Systems and Industrial Human Resources.
Frank Hill
Stratus Technologies
Frank Hill is the Director of Worldwide Manufacturing Sales for Stratus Technologies. Mr. Hill has an extensive manufacturing industry background. Prior to joining Stratus, Mr. Hill led business development at Wyeth, Merck & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb, and AstraZeneca for Rockwell Automation. He has also worked in manufacturing leadership at Merck & Company. Mr. Hill has both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration degree from Brigham Young University. He received a certificate of Industrial Pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy & Sciences and has completed Oliver Wight's training series in Enterprise Resource Planning. He is an active member of ISPE and has spoken extensively on technology-enabled manufacturing solutions.
Charles Horth, President
System Technologies for Industry (STI), Inc.
Charles Horth is the principal consultant for System Technologies for Industry (STI), a Premier Systems integrator for Proficy Plant Applications. He has more than 15 years of systems integration experience in manufacturing in multiple industries and in multiple countries. He has recently opened an office in Brazil to spearhead the Proficy Plant Applications implementation in South America. Prior to founding STI, he worked as a systems integration consultant for Digital Equipment Corporation. He is married and has 3 daughters.
Dave Jancosek
Crown E.S.A
Dave Jancosek is a vice president and partner at Crown E.S.A., ranked as one of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Along with partners Tom Adams, Bill English and Brad Hendrickson, Dave seeks new ways to apply technology and challenges the Crown engineering team to achieve new innovations for their customers and the businesses they serve. Dave and his partners also opened Crown Training and Development, Inc., to provide customers with high quality training on all Crown installed systems and new platforms available to customers. Additionally, in 2000, the Crown leadership purchased the Orville Redenbacher factory from Con Agra Foods, automated the complete facility and continues to manufacture products for Orville Redenbacher, Pop Secret, Walgreen's Deerfield Farms Popcorn, and Family Time Popcorn.
Prior to Crown, Dave served 10 years with GE. He worked in the GE Drive Systems group as an application/marketing specialist supporting the Singapore operation and provided OEM support in Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Korea, Manila and Malaysia. Additionally, Dave developed a new modernization business for GE ISE, which applied GE drive and PLC technologies to automate and improve yield productivity in the steel industry.
Dave holds patents for research and design for the development and installation of the Galvaneal Induction Process, and he worked as an engineer for US Steel and National Steel during the early 1980s. Originally from Gary, Indiana, Dave holds a B.S. in EET from Purdue University.
Miklos Konya
GE Consumer & Industrial (Lighting)
Miklos Konya is a System Analyst for GE Consumer & Industrial - Lighting, Manufacturing IT. Miklos joined GE Consumer & Industrial in 1984, working primarily in manufacturing technology and, since 1993, has held many roles in Manufacturing IT. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from NME KFFK, Dunaujváros, Hungary, and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Mathematics from Jozsef Attila University, Szeged, Hungary. Miklos is married and living in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary.
James Kosmala, General Manager
FANUC Robotics America, Inc.
Jim Kosmala has held the position of general manager of FANUC Robotics America's Southeast Region since 2000, and manages the company's regional office located in Charlotte, NC.
Prior to 2000, Kosmala served as Director of Applications Engineering with FANUC Robotics Automation System Group in Rochester Hills, MI, responsible for the company's automotive and general industrial systems business in the US.
Kosmala joined FANUC Robotics in 1992 and held a variety of management positions in the company's sales, automotive assembly, and systems groups. He also served as director of the company's Flexible Assembly Systems group.
Prior to joining FANUC Robotics, Kosmala served as lead controls engineer for Saturn Corporation, a division of General Motors Corporation.
Kosmala holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a Master's in Business Administration from Vanderbilt University.
Rex LaRowe
EDS
Rex LaRowe is the Director of Manufacturing Industry Frameworks and Solutions for EDS. The Manufacturing Industry Framework describes the future application architecture to provide agility and visibility for a manufacturing enterprise. The framework also prescribes the changes necessary to make the transformation. Rex started his career with General Motors as a manufacturing engineer and has held positions of increasing responsibility. With EDS, Rex has over 20 years experience with Manufacturing Execution Systems, MRP II systems, Product Lifecycle Management systems, document management and systems administration. Rex has also lead a Product Development organization providing mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and software engineering services.
Michael Ludgate, Industrial Segment Marketing Manager
Intel
Michael Ludgate is leading the Industrial Segment team within the Digital Enterprise Group at Intel. Michael has been responsible for leading various Intel marketing teams for the past 3 years. His past experiences include 5 years at Iomega, as the General Manager for their Zip and Jaz product lines as well as 10 years at HP in various marketing management positions. Michael has an MBA and a bachelor's degree in Mathematics.
Robert Marx, VP of Engineering
Synapse Systems
Robert (Bob) M. Marx is Vice President of Engineering and Operations at Synapse Systems, Inc., a progressive engineering firm formed in 1998. Synapse is part of the $200M Parekh Group with offices in the US, Europe and the Middle East.
Born on August 15th, 1973 Marx grew up in Pittsburgh, PA along with his brother and sister. Marx attended the University of Pittsburgh where he earned a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on computer and manufacturing technology.
Upon graduation in 1995, Marx joined Chemtech Consultants as a junior controls engineer. At Chemtech, Marx developed the fundamentals that formed his core philosophies. He was eventually promoted to a senior controls position with sole account responsibility for their largest client.
In 2000 Marx joined Synapse Systems to lead the process control business unit. During his tenure, Marx grew the business unit and was eventually promoted to his current position of Vice President of Engineering. Currently, Marx's focus is providing global technical direction, driving the project management philosophy and developing strategic partnerships during this period of company expansion.
Marx was married on September 1st, 2001 to Karen H. Marx. They have one child. Marx is an avid reader and enjoys playing ice and deck hockey.
Gary Matthews
Molson
Gary Matthews holds the position of Brewer/Senior Materials Scheduler with Molson Canada in Toronto. In this position, he has accountable for assisting in the scheduling of all production within the Toronto brewery as well as relieving some of the smaller breweries as required. Gary is also responsible for all major configuration and maintenance of the Plant Applications (Proficy) for all the Molson breweries. Prior to his current position, Gary was part of the national team that was responsible for the development and implementation of a fully integrated ERP system. He has more than 21 years of experience in the brewing industry and has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Sciences and Biology. His interests outside of the brewery include scuba diving, car racing, stamp collecting and generally relaxing with his wife and 3 kids.
Ken McCown, Director of Sales
Control Dynamics Int.
Ken McCown - Director of Sales for Control Dynamics International has over 25 years of experience in the Oil & Gas Industry selling Controls Systems and control system products into the Upstream, Mid-stream and Downstream Oil & Gas markets world wide. Before coming to CDI, Ken has held sales and marketing positions with Wieland Electric, LUTZE Inc., Weidmuller Inc., Texas Instruments and Bailey Controls and has been involved in a number of SCADA, DCS and PLC projects.
Ken has a BS degree from the University of Toldeo and an MBA from The Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio.
Paul Mercier
Phoenix Contact
Paul Mercier has over 25 years of applications experience in industrial measurement, control, telemetry and communications systems, spending much of the past decade conducting wireless technology seminars with an emphasis on spread spectrum radio system application. He works on behalf of Phoenix Contact with industry consulting engineers, systems integrators and equipment manufacturers to insure reliable application of wireless network products and solutions.
Joyce Miller, PE
GE Healthcare
Joyce Miller, PE, is the Client Service Manager for GE Healthcare's Imaging Subsystems team in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With a focus on business process development and information automation, Joyce has held multiple roles in deployment of global product data management (PDM) systems at GE Healthcare, including usability, testing, user training, definition and deployment of custom functionality, and deployment of the applications to recent acquisitions. Currently, she is deploying MES and Proficy Change Management across several GE Healthcare locations. Additionally, in 2005, Joyce deployed Proficy EAM for maintenance management in GE Healthcare across 10 sites in four countries.
Prior to her eight years with GE, Joyce served 12 years with Delco Electronics (Delphi), focused on improving manufacturing quality and cost effectiveness in high-volume assembly of automotive electronics. Her roles included Quality Assurance Supervisor and Manufacturing Engineering - with key projects that included SPC implementation across manufacturing operations, production support for high-volume assembly, and concept through implementation for multiple assembly automation projects ranging from material handling and casing to testing and component placement. Joyce holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin - Platteville and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.
Zoltan Misik
COM-FORTH
Zoltan Misik is a Senior Application Engineer with COM-FORTH, a GE Fanuc distributor located in Hungary. Zoltan joined COM-FORTH in 2002 and works primarily on plant intelligence and intelligent manufacturing systems. He received his Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Kando Kalman University in 1999. Zoltan is married and lives near Budapest.
Jeff Moore
Centocor Biologics
Jeff Moore is a Senior Automation and Project Engineer with Centocor Biologics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, located in St. Louis, Missouri. In this role, Jeff is responsible for leading major automation projects - including startup of a plant under new ownership and preparing all automation systems for manufacturing new cGMP products. He provides leadership and coaching of cross-functional teams during design, implementation and validation of projects. Prior to Centocor, Jeff was a Process Control Engineer for Wyeth BioPharma, focused on improving and expanding plant operations. He also served 20 years with Mallinckrodt Medical in roles of increasing responsibility, including supervising the Electrical, Instrumentation & Control (EI&C) group at an R&D pilot plant.
Jeff has 25 years of EI&C experience in the BioPharma, Pharmaceutical and Chemical industries. His key competencies span from project management and validation to quality systems and process improvement. He has experience with all areas of EI&C, including DCS, SCADA and PLCs. Jeff holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville and a BS in Occupational Education from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale. Additionally, he is a member of the Instrument Society of America (ISA), International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE), and National Calibration Standards Laboratories (NCSL).
Dave Mow
Timken Company
Dave Mow is a Controls Engineer for the Timken Company. Dave has spent the past six years at the Timken Shiloh facility, developing a generic grinding control, using off-the-shelf basic components. Previously, Dave worked 15 years as a motion controls designer for the Torrington Manufacturing Development Center, located in Atlanta.
Upon graduation from Valparaiso University in 1964, Dave worked on several Government Contract Projects for the Viet Nam war, including the FADIAC gun control system for the Army and the TALOS Missile project for the Navy.
The late 1960s brought the development of Numerical Controlled Machines, and Dave attended the GE "100S" Mark Century Numerical Control School in 1968. The NC control concept advanced from the 100S control (discrete component) to the 7500 control (TTL), to the 1050 control (Microprocessor), to the 2000 control. Dave received his training in motion control technology by GE's legendary instructor, Ross Spalding.
Dave is a member of the IEEE and the American Water Skiing Association. He has been a water-skiing competitor since 1961. With the advent of age, Dave has resorted to being a water ski tournament official with the level of Chief Judge at many tournaments.
Babu Narasimhan, Embedded Technology Marketing Manager
Intel
Babu Narasimhan is the Embedded Technology Marketing Manager within the Communications Infrastructure group at Intel. He has been engaged in the development and marketing of products for various embedded & industrial applications. He has a strong background in technology, product planning and marketing. Babu has been with Intel for 7 years. He has a Masters and Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering.
Mike Nolte
GE
Mike Nolte is a member of the Corporate Initiatives Group (CIG) for GE in Fairfield, Connecticut. In this position, he employs Lean principles to improve customer facing business processes across the company as part of GE's "Lean Showcase" effort. Prior to joining GE, Mike was a consultant with McKinsey & Company, where he led a variety of strategy and operations engagements, primarily in the energy, healthcare and transportation sectors. A former U.S. Army Captain with operational experience in healthcare logistics and facility planning, Mike holds a bachelors degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Eric Olson, Associate Project Manager
Hinz Automation Inc.
Eric Olson has worked for Hinz Automation as a process safety technologist since November 2000. Eric graduated from DeVry in 1976 and started his career in the business computing sector as a field service engineer. During the 1990's Eric moved into the SCADA industry, starting with electrical power generation and transmission control systems. During that time Eric went back to university and earned an honors diploma in Business Management. While working as a Field Engineer, Eric also took on Internal Auditor (ISO 9000) and Quality Manager roles and responsibilities.
Noel Peberdy
Entegreat Inc.
Noel Peberdy has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing performance improvement utilizing manufacturing systems technology. Roles have ranged from consulting and program and project management, to design, implementation and commissioning.
Consulting
Noel has proven experience in leading and participating in numerous consulting assignments in the process manufacturing industries, encompassing various aspects of the clients' manufacturing business. He has facilitated the articulation of prioritized business requirements, leading to development and definition of projects and programs. He has been seconded into three manufacturing organizations to fulfill an owner's role in the manufacturing and supply chain systems arena. Working closely with customers in cross-functional roles, he has led teams in developing manufacturing improvement strategies, implementation programs, specific projects, through to support plans.
Systems Integration
Noel has been responsible for all aspects of systems integration projects, ranging from consulting and design, to implementation and commissioning. Systems range in size and scope from point solutions, to factory architectures, to enterprise-wide manufacturing systems. Systems range from process control systems to information systems in manufacturing, encompassing supply chain support, segmented channel management, product consistency and quality improvement, costing and inventory, waste reduction, key performance measurement, etc. Recognizing that it is people not systems that ultimately determine business performance, he has emphasized the need to align and balance the business objectives, the opportunities offered by technology, and the capability and aspirations of the people involved. He is experienced in change management implementation.
Project Management
Noel has managed large and small projects and programs, with teams comprising up to 75 people. He has specialized in rescuing problem projects, in both greenfield and existing sites.
Business Experience
Noel is a successful business manager that has formed and grown teams, business units and companies throughout his career. He has extensive global business experience in the food and beverage, brewing, and mining and metals industries. His successful company Kenwalt Systems was the premier manufacturing systems consultancy in the South African market. He sold this company to Hatch Inc of Toronto, Canada, and went on to grow Hatch's global systems business globally. He is one of the founders of EnteGreat Canada Inc., a company that specializes in consulting and integration of manufacturing and supply chain systems for process manufacturing companies.
Dan Perrier, P.E.
Automated Control Systems, Inc.
Dan Perrier is the President and founder of Automated Control Systems, Inc. (ACSI) and has over 16 years of experience in automation and control system engineering with the last 9 years focused in the electrical power generation, oil, and gas industries. The ACSI team has developed and deployed PC-based technologies utilizing iFix along with a sophisticated XML-based calculation and control engine on 143 hydroelectric turbines with almost 14,000 MW of power generation. ACSI focuses on assisting customers, integration firms, and engineering companies in developing applications and tools with built-in testing suites that offer verifiable performance.
Dan holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Kansas State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in both Electrical and Control Systems Engineering.
Rick Pierro, President and co-founder
Superior Controls, Inc.
Rick Pierro is President and co-founder of Superior Controls, one of the nation's largest independent systems integrators providing automation and information systems to the BioPharma and Chemical Industry.
Mr. Pierro received a Bachelors in Chemistry from Boston University in 1981, an MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lowell-Mass in 1983 and has 20 years of automation experience. For the past 13 years at Superior Controls, he has helped design and implement automation/information systems using PLC, DCS, and PC based solutions specifically for the BioPharma Industries.
Mr. Pierro is currently on the Board of Directors of the Boston, ISPE Chapter, Board of Directors of the New Hampshire High Tech Council, and Chairman of the Board of Advisors to the University of Mass - Lowell Engineering Department. He is a frequent guest speaker on automation and future trends in automation and has written several articles on wireless technology.
Vic Ronchetti, Senior VP/Technical Director
Automated Control Concepts, Inc.
Vic Ronchetti is the Technical Director at Automated Control Concepts, Inc. (ACC), a leading systems integrator in the Life Sciences and Utility Industries. Vic joined ACC in 1985 and worked as a Project Engineer, Project Manager and Manager of Engineering, before becoming VP and Technical Director in 1996. He has extensive experience in the automation arena, having implemented PLC, SCADA, DCS and MES systems in many industries. Vic includes batch process control, clean water systems and substation automation as areas of particular application expertise. Prior to joining ACC, Vic worked as a chemical engineer for M.W. Kellog and Airco Industrial Gases. Vic holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Rutgers University.
Guy Rousseau
Lafarge North America
Guy Rousseau is an Industrial Application Specialist for the Lafarge North America - Corporate Technical Services group, located in Montreal. In this role, he is responsible for technical support and guidance on plant floor applications for all of Lafarge's North American plants, including 20 cement plants and 130 distribution sites. Guy has been a member of the Corporate Technical Services Electrical and Automation department since 1998 - and specializes in Control System and HMI applications.
Steve Sefton
BOC Edwards
Steve Sefton holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Ohio State University and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Wilkes University. He is also pursuing his MBA at the University of Minnesota. Steve has been with the BOC Edwards, Chemical Management Division, for two years and currently serves as the Program Manager for the OEM Systems group. Previously, Steve served as a Lead Controls Engineer at BOC Edwards and as a Project Engineer with Techneglas, Inc. in Pittston, Pennsylvania, and Columbus, Ohio.
Steve Smith
Nissan North America
Steve Smith is a Lead Systems Engineer for Nissan North America. In this role, Steve is responsible for Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), supply chain management, energy management and control, data collection and pokayoke, management reporting, and PC and PLC control systems. With more than 10 years of control system experience in the automotive industry, Steve designs, develops, manages and integrates manufacturing systems at Nissan.
Steve holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. He and his wife, Jennifer, have a 16-month-old son, Isaac.
Dave Stock, President
Innovative Control Inc.
Dave Stock, President, founded Innovative Controls in 1993. Since then he has leveraged his twenty plus years of experience in automation/controls, electrical contracting, and OEM equipment design to grow ICI into a full service company that provides state-of-the-art integration, solutions and services. As a GE Preferred Solution Provider and a CSIA Certified Integration firm, ICI focuses on customers within the batch and process industries across the country.
Brian F. Thomas
GE Consumer & Industrial (Lighting)
Brian Thomas is a Senior Controls Engineer for GE Consumer & Industrial - Lighting, Technology Department. A 1987 graduate of the GE Edison Engineering Program, Brian has worked in manufacturing automation for more than 20 years and in many locations, including Cleveland, Ohio; Budapest, Hungary; and Leicester, England. He holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering & Applied Physics from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Ohio State University. Brian is married and living near Cleveland.
Steve Trei, Engineering Manager
Control Dynamics International
Steve Trei joined Control Dynamics International in June 2004. As Engineering Manager for Control Dynamics International, Steve Trei manages the engineering department and is accountable for the successful completion of the engineering component of all CDI projects and department P&L. While at CDI, Steve has played a major role in assuring the company's QA conformance, leading the development of CDI_s ISO 9001:2000 Engineering Design and Development procedures.
Prior to arriving at CDI, Steve held Engineering Coordinator and Project Management positions at Foxboro and Silvertech Systems Inc. During his career, Steve has also served as a control systems engineer in the Chemical and Oil & Gas industries.
Steve holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University and a Masters of Business Administration from South Eastern Louisiana University.
Barry Vaught
EDS
Barry Vaught is a Delivery Executive for EDS in the manufacturing industry where he provides oversight and direction to delivery teams helping companies strengthen their competitive position by transforming business practices through the application of Information Technology.
Barry brings 23 years of IT experience ranging from application design and development, to managing product launches, to strategic evaluation and planning for emerging technologies and business practices for manufacturing operations systems. He brings demonstrated international expertise in applying various techniques of business process transformation and total quality management. Barry's areas of specialty include Manufacturing Execution Systems, Quality Management Systems, and wireless applications, security and infrastructure architecture.
Chuck Yorke
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Chuck Yorke is a management process authority specializing in helping organizations tap into their people to drive their organization forward.
As the Manager of Organizational Development for Technicolor, Chuck was responsible for training and coaching related to organizational improvement, Lean Manufacturing and other initiatives at Technicolor's three Michigan facilities. He took the lead in changing Technicolor's Improvement Process as highlighted in SME's DVD "The Human Side of Lean at Technicolor". Chuck participates in SME's Human Side of Lean and Lean Certification Technical Groups.
His diverse background includes both health care as Vice-President/Administrator at Michigan Health Center and manufacturing management at Feedland Industries, a steel stamper/processor. He has provided coaching, training, and other development services for various organizations including General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
Chuck is the author of All You Gotta Do Is Ask a book which explains how management can engage their employees for improvement in all areas of the business.
Chuck has a Bachelors degree from Eastern Michigan University and multiple certifications including a Master Facilitator from Development Dimensions International, and a Program Leader for Chrysler Root Cause Analysis from Kepner-Tregoe.
Jim Zelazny
Integrated Mill Systems, Inc.
Jim Zelazny graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in control systems engineering. He began his career at Scottsdale Control Systems as a project engineer focusing on automation systems for the steel industry. Besides leading many successful projects, Jim has developed various technologies including flash butt-welding controls and automatic gauge control systems for both hot and cold rolling mills. His inventive "design for startup" techniques have been instrumental in the successful execution of large-scale retrofit projects. Jim is a co-founder of IMS and oversees implementation of all major projects.