John Kevin Koehler serves as manufacturing gofor at KK Tool Company, a custom tooling and parts manufacturer established in 1972 in Springfield, Ohio. KK Tools specializes in contract manufacturing, with a strong focus on tool and die design for the manufacturing industry. Their services encompass prototype design and manufacture, process development, and full-scale production.  John… Continue reading John Kevin Koehler, KK Tool Company

Dave Evans, CEO of Fictiv, co-founded the global manufacturing company in 2013 with his brother, Nate, to simplify sourcing for custom manufacturing. Fictiv offers an intelligent manufacturing operating system that leverages a distributed network of vetted vendors to help teams streamline prototyping and product development cycles. Dave is a distinguished member of the Fast Company… Continue reading Dave Evans, Fictive

Lieutenant Colonel Kathy Gallowitz, founder and CEO of Vanguard Veteran, is a seasoned 30-year Air Force veteran. In response to 9/11, she designed and led a novel statewide outreach program for the Ohio National Guard to educate and engage civilians in support of troops and their families.   Kathy is the author of Beyond ‘Thank You… Continue reading Lieutenant Colonel Kathy Gallowitz

As Chief Learning Officer at HumanWRKS and Principal Industrial Strategist for Hexagon Asset Lifecycle Intelligence. Brent Kedzierski’s primary roles at both companies are to improve the worker experience by creating a more human-centered approach to digital transformation.   At Shell, Brent served as Head of Learning Strategy and Innovation,  and Global Manager of Manufacturing Learning. He… Continue reading Brent Kedzierski, HumanWRKS

Meghan Kennelly is head of Global Marketing at German Bionic, a robotics firm headquartered in Germany and the US that develops and produces wearable technologies, including connected exoskeletons driven by artificial intelligence.   Under Meghan’s leadership, German Bionic has secured a number of accolades, such as Fast Company’s “Innovation by Design Award,” the CES 2023 “Best… Continue reading Meghan Kennelly, German Bionic

Adam Gluck is CEO & Founder of Copia Automation, building DevOps tools for controls and automation engineers that streamlines operations, reduces downtime, and improves innovation and delivery of applications and services. Copia’s flagship offering provides Git-based source control for PLC programming.  Adam was an early hire on Uber’s driver engineering team and later was the… Continue reading Adam Gluck, Copia Automation

Jerry Gootee, EY Global Advanced Manufacturing Sector Leader, EY-Nottingham Spirk Innovation Hub Sponsor, and EY Global Coordinating Service Partner, has more than 30 years’ experience helping global organizations with their strategy, growth, operations, and risk management needs. Jerry has led projects involving product and business model innovation, mergers & acquisitions, digital manufacturing and supply chain, as… Continue reading Jerry Gootee, EY Global Advanced Manufacturing Sector...

Jay Timmons has served as president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers since 2011 and chairman of the board of the Manufacturing Institute, the NAM’s workforce development and education partner. The NAM is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector.  Since Jay took… Continue reading Jay Timmons, National Association of Manufacturers

Chuck Ridgeway is automation technology manager for Horner Automation Group, a part of Horner APG, an Indianapolis-based, global leader in commercial automation and LED lighting that has been in operation for more than 35 years. Horner Automation specializes in the global automation market, serving original equipment manufacturers, integrators and end-users from a variety of industries.… Continue reading Chuck Ridgeway, Horner APG

Kurt DeMaagd is Chief AI Officer of Sight Machine, with offices in San Francisco and Ann Arbor. Sight Machine’s Manufacturing Data Platform creates a common data foundation and utilizes data gleaned from artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver a systemwide view of end-to-end manufacturing processes.  In July 2023, Sight Machine introduced Factory CoPilot, adding… Continue reading Kurt DeMaagd, Sight Machine

Brandon Farris, vice president of domestic economic policy at the National Association of Manufacturers. Before joining the NAM, Brandon was the head of federal government relations for the Chemours Company.  Brandon also served as assistant general counsel for Arkema as well as senior counsel for government relations for the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation. After serving… Continue reading Brandon Farris, NAM

Oleksandr Zadorozhniy is CEO and co-founder of CIoEE, which provides companies with SaaS based Industry 4.0 solutions to improve customers’ productivity by increasing production efficiency, improving quality and yield. CloEE also helps companies measure and control carbon emissions to reduce energy consumption and minimize the number of required machine tools. Olexandr’s team has served more… Continue reading Oleksandr Zadorozhniy, CIoEE

Christelle Keefer, Global Product Manager for Robotics Education at ABB Robotics, leads the Global Solutions Center for Education and collaborates with colleagues and educators worldwide to determine the educational products and solutions needed to train the future workforce in robotics and automation. Her current position is informed by her prior roles as Business Development Manager… Continue reading Christelle Keefer, ABB Robotics

John Brandt, CEO and founder of The MPI Group and the former editor-in-chief and publisher of both Chief Executive and IndustryWeek magazines. He is an accomplished management innovator and an internationally recognized expert on manufacturing and technology. His book, NINCOMPOOPERY: Why Your Customers Hate You—and How to Fix It, is based on groundbreaking research into… Continue reading John Brandt, MPI Group

Dusty Alexander, President and CEO of Global Shop Solutions, a global ERP software provider for small- to mid-sized manufacturers. This family-owned company is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, and has offices in Mexico, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. The company has been in business for 40+ years with 300+ employees focused on their on-premise… Continue reading Dusty Alexander, Global Shop Solutions

Gary Bertoline is senior vice president for Purdue Online & Learning Innovation as well as distinguished professor of Engineering Technology & Computer and Information Technology at Purdue University. While serving as dean, he co-founded the Polytechnic Institute and the Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center. The author of multiple textbooks in computer-aided design and engineering… Continue reading Gary Bertoline, Purdue University

Glenn Daehn, PhD, is principal investigator and director of a new $52 million National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center called “Hybrid Autonomous Manufacturing, Moving from Evolution to Revolution” otherwise known as HAMMER. The Ohio State University is the lead institution of a consortium that is dedicated to quickly transitioning new manufacturing processes and technologies to… Continue reading Glenn Daehn, The Ohio State University

Jay McCoy serves as Vice President of Manufacturing at Ariel Corporation , the world’s largest manufacturer of reciprocating gas compressors. During Jay’s 17-year tenure at the Mount Vernon, Ohio, based company, he has also worked as Director of Manufacturing – Machine Shop and as Superintendent. One of his previous positions was as VP of Operations… Continue reading Jay McCoy, Ariel Corporation

Danny White serves as senior director of Portfolio & Product Management  at  ECI Software Solutions. For 30+ years, ECI has served small to medium-sized manufacturers with cloud-based business software solutions.  Danny has 35 years of leadership in manufacturing technology.  Prior to ECI, he was VP of Product Management for Epicor Software and has worked for… Continue reading Danny White, ECI Software Solutions

Mike Maynard is managing director and CEO of the Napier Group, a $7M PR and marketing agency for B2B technology companies.  For 14 years, Mike and his team have helped mid-sized B2B manufacturers identify, attract, engage and drive sales opportunities with customers.   Mike has directed major PR and marketing programs for a wide range of global… Continue reading Mike Maynard, Napier Group

Taylor-Winfield Technologies Donnie Wells is president of Taylor-Winfield Technologies, a leader in the design and manufacture of material joining equipment and systems. With over 135 years of continuous operation, this Youngstown, Ohio-based company produces parts joining, welding, processing and automated assembly for a diverse set of industries.   In addition to his helmanship at Taylor-Winfield, Donnie… Continue reading Donnie Wells 

Rosemary Coates is founder and executive director of the Reshoring Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on expanding U.S. manufacturing supply chains. She is also president of Blue Silk Consulting, a supply-chain management consulting firm that has helped global supply chain clients for more than 25 years. She is a best-selling author of five supply chain… Continue reading Rosemary Coates, Reshoring Institute

Jeannine Kunz serves as Chief Workforce Development Officer at SME (the Society of Manufacturing Engineers), where she provides end-to-end workforce and training solutions for communities, companies and educational institutions by leading new partnerships, programs and service offerings.  Prior to this newly created role, Jeannine served as vice president of Tooling U-SME. She is a recognized… Continue reading Jeannine Kunz, SME

Carol Latham is the retired founder, president, and CEO of Thermagon, a Cleveland-based custom manufacturer of high performance heat-transfer materials for electronic components. Under her leadership, Thermagon changed the microchip industry and, within five years of its launch, achieved sales of $18 million annually. She writes about her experiences in the book A Chip Off… Continue reading Carol Latham, Thermagon