Panels
Panel on Lean Six Sigma (Panel I)
How Can Your Flexibility Be the Key to Successful Change Management?
2:00 – 3:30 pm, Sunday, June 12, 2022: Onsite Ballroom – Room 1
Panel Chair
Dave Harry
Black Belt Trainer / Kata Coach
President & CEO
Process Whisperer® Consultants LLC
Greeneville, TN, USA
David Harry, a.k.a. “The Process Whisperer®”, has more than 30 years’ experience as a project manager, business process improvement instructor and expert problem solver. Following a successful military career as a Naval Aviator, Dave taught Lean and Six Sigma “Belts” and project management classes for various companies including KPMG Consulting, Northrop Grumman, Rolls-Royce Energy, Arconic, and the University of Tennessee Knoxville. An Expert Trainer at Northrop Grumman, he was Manager of Continuous Improvement at Rolls-Royce Energy and has been involved with manufacturing and logistics Lean Six Sigma programs across several industries.. He has served on leadership boards of the American Society for Quality and the Institute of Industrial Systems Engineers and the OpEx Society. He has been awarded three Masters-level degrees in management, including from the University of Southern California and the University of Chennai (India). His certifications include PMI Project Management Professional, ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Bronze Certification from the SME/Shingo/AME Alliance, Agile Certified Scrum Master and a Certified Baseline Project Management Office (CB-PMO) Consultant. He is a recognized Toyota Kata “Geek” and has attended and presented at several IEOM conferences.
2:00 pm – 2:15 pm
Dr. Cindy Young, PMP, LSS MBB, CMQ-OE
Founder/CEO
CJ Young Consulting LLC
Chesapeake, Virginia USA
Dr. Cynthia J. Young is the Founder/CEO of CJ Young Consulting, LLC, a knowledge management consulting firm, as well as a Curriculum Development and Training Lead in the Leidos, Virginia Beach, VA office after retiring as a Surface Warfare Officer with 23 years in the U.S. Navy.
She holds professional certifications as a Project Management Professional, a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and as an ASQ-Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence. Her doctoral study, Knowledge Management and Innovation on Firm Performance of United States Ship Repair, provided her the opportunity to gain additional professional and academic expertise to facilitate improvements in organizational knowledge management.
Dr. Young is also the author of three chapters in the Refractive Thinker® doctoral anthology series – two of the anthologies have been certified as an Amazon #1 International Best Sellers. In September 2020, she gave a TEDx Talk called “A Knowledge Mindset: What You Know Comes from Where You Sit.”
2:15 pm – 2:30 pm
Terra Vanzant Stern, PhD
LSS MBB, PMP®
CEO of Simple, Smart, Decision-Making dba SSD Global Solutions
Conifer, Colorado USA
Terra Vanzant Stern, PhD., PMP, SPHR/GPHR. is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and CEO/CAO of SSD Global Solutions, Inc. (Smart Simple Decision Making). She currently serves on two non-profit boards: Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Colorado Lean Network (CLN). She holds a PMP®, SPHR, GPHR, Quality Engineer and Facilitator certifications.
Dr. Stern is a USAF veteran who has written several books and articles on problem solving, process improvement and leadership. Her most well-known book is Lean Six Sigma: International Standards and Global Guideline (Routledge). Her latest book by the same publisher is currently being used at Metropolitan State University: Leaner Six Sigma – Making Lean Six Sigma Easier and Adaptable to Current Workplaces. Dr. Stern’s latest work has been with Design Thinking: A Model for Process Improvement, Innovation and Invention.
Additionally, Dr. Stern has published two Kindle books: ‘Leaner’ Six Sigma and A Leaner Approach to Government and Public Utilities. Her book Lean and Agile Project Management went into 2nd Edition May 2020. Dr. Stern’s latest work is on Employee Engagement, she is offering training and certification as an Employee Engagement Coach. Dr. Stern’s most recent book ‘Leaner’ Manufacturing: Making Lean Manufacturing Leaner, is publishing October 2022.
2:30 pm – 2:45 pm
Ms. Vic Wilson, LSS MBB, PMP, Agile PM
CEO
Vic Wilson Consulting LLC
Hertford, NC USA
Vic Wilson is the owner of Vic Wilson Consulting, LLC, a full-service Lean and Project Management consulting firm; and is a recent retiree from the Chesapeake City Manager’s Office as the Process Improvement Officer. She holds a Master’s in Management, E-commerce from Cambridge College, and a BA in Biology Education from Virginia Wesleyan University. She has over 25 years of Performance Improvement; Project Management; and Instructional/Mentoring experience supporting our military services as well as private healthcare organizations.
Vic is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt; a Certified Agile Project Manager; and a Project Management Institute certified Project Manager. She has supported Hospital Administrators and Presidents by working with doctors, nurses, and staff to lead Lean improvement efforts in all areas of clinical and support services, which include: reducing infection rates; designing and establishing new nursing support resource pools; faster and more efficient trauma patient registration; and other efforts to increase patient safety and satisfaction. Vic has led Lean Six Sigma training classes, mentoring meetings, focus groups and Lean conferences all over the globe; and led a partnering workshop of over 100 participants to help establish improved partnering relationships between the Navy and contractors on the island of Guam.
2:45 pm – 3:00 pm
Patricia (Pat) Tyre, PMP®, ACP, PSM, LSSMBB
Managing Director
Business Excellent Group, Inc.
Norwalk, Connecticut, USA
Pat Tyre is a Managing Director of Business Excellence Group, Inc a consulting Practice focused on Operational Efficiency and Technology Implementations as an enabler of change. Focused primarily on financial service, life science, and pharma industry clients, she works with the C-Suite leaders to apply Lean to IT and transform organizational from a Waterfall culture to an Agile culture. Pat and her team assume the role of Agile evangelists and innovation facilitators to support forward progress and model Agile mindsets. Knowing the potential for destabilization when organizations are forced to change, she offers a proprietary “pace of change” dashboard that she uses with the C-suite to validate speed of change
Pat has always been a proponent of lifelong learning. As an Adjunct at NYU, University of Connecticut, University of Bridgeport, and now College of Charleston, Pat teaches a Global Leadership class, and a Big Data Visualization class as well as the PMI PMP and ACP curriculum. She is an extensive writer about the diversity of learning opportunities, has created learning pathways using AI, and has been asked to speak at many PMI conferences, and a panelist for the Aspen Institute – Future of Work initiative. Pat sits on the Connecticut Governor’s Workforce Council, supporting a distributive learning and work initiative.
Pat has an MBA from New York University, and a Master Black Belt Certification from General Electric’s program. She has a PMI-PMP and a PMI- ACP as well as the Professional Scrum Master and SAFe credential. Pat has authored 2 books (Microfinance, and the Darwinism of Non-Profits) and numerous articles and has spoken at many PMI events
President Panel on the Future of IEOM Discipline
4:00 – 6:00 pm, Sunday, June 12, 2022: Onsite Ballroom – Room 1
Panel Chair
Professor Abu Masud, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Wichita State University, Kansas, USA
Dr. Abu Masud is a professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering at Wichita State University. He has been named the Boeing Global Engineering Professor at Wichita State University. In this new post, Dr. Masud is expected to advance the College of Engineering’s strategic alliances for global enrichment and experiential learning of students as well as international research collaborations and partnerships. He received Duane and Velma Wallace Outstanding Educator Award from WSU College of Engineering. Previously he was held various positions at Wichita State including associate dean, graduate school (2008-2013), coordinator, college ABET affairs (2006-2008), associate dean, college of engineering (2004-2005), chair, industrial and manufacturing engineering department (1994-2004) and graduate coordinator of IME (1991-94, 1996-98, 2001-2004). Dr. Masud has engaged with various companies and governmental research centers including NASA Langley Research Center, VA, NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow (1991 and 1992), Boeing, Consulting Analyst, and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. He is member of Accreditation Review Council (2011-2014). Dr. Masud published book, book chapters, and numerous journal and conference papers. He is registered Professional Engineer at Kansas State. Dr. Masud is an IIE fellow. He received Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Kansas State University, and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology.
Panel Co-Chair
Professor Hamid Parsaei, Ph.D., PE
Professor
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Interim Director, College of Engineering Accreditation and Assessment
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
USA
President, IEOM Society International, 2021-2023
Hamid R. Parsaei is a Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University (College Station) and also Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University at Qatar. He is a registered professional engineer (PE) in Texas, a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), and a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). He has published over 280 articles in peer-refereed archival journals and conference proceedings. He has also served as editor/co-editor in chief for four academic journals and eight book series. His research, in excess of $26 million, has been funded by numerous government and private institutions.
Dr. Waldemar Karwowski
Pegasus Professor and Chairman
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida, USA
Waldemar Karwowski is Pegasus Professor and Chairman, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, University of Central Florida, USA. He holds an M.S. in Production Engineering and Management from the University of Technology Wroclaw, Poland, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University, USA. He was awarded D.Sc. in management science by the Institute for Organization and Management in Industry, Warsaw, and received the National Professorship title from the President of Poland (2012). Three Central European universities also awarded him Doctor Honoris Causa degrees. Dr. Karwowski served on the Board on Human Systems Integration, National Research Council, USA (2007–2011). He currently is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science journal, Editor-in-Chief of Human-Intelligent Systems Integration journal, and Field Chief Editor of the Frontiers in Neuroergonomics. Dr. Karwowski has over 550 research publications, including over 200 journal papers. He is Fellow of the Ergonomics Society (U.K.), Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), and the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), and served as President of both HFES (2006-2007) and IEA (2000-2003). He received the William Floyd Award from the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors, the United Kingdom in 2017, and the David F. Baker Distinguished Research Award. Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, Atlanta, USA, in 2020. He was elected to Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL), Orlando, Florida, USA, November 2020.
Dr. Shahram Taj
Chair and Professor, Department of Data Science & Business Analytics
Florida Polytechnic University
Lakeland, Florida, USA
Dr. Shahram Taj joined Florida Polytechnic University in August 2016 as a professor of logistics and supply chain management. He served as the academic program coordinator of science and technology management and the academic program coordinator of graduate programs in 2017. Since January 2018, he has served as the chair of the department of data science and business analytics. Taj has extensive tenure in academia. He was professor and chair of the Department of Management and Marketing at Lawrence Technological University in Michigan from2013 to 2016. He served as The Cameron Endowed Chair of Management and Marketing at the University of St. Thomas in Houston from 2008 to 2013. Taj previously taught for more than 20 years at the University of Detroit Mercy. Taj has conducted more than 100 projects at Ford, Visteon, New Venture Gear (formerly joint venture of GM and DaimlerChrysler), GM-Holden, Baker Hughes, and Schlumberger in the United States, Germany, Australia, and Japan. The projects have covered productivity improvements, implementing lean manufacturing, and optimizing process design. In 1999, he earned the Franz Edelman Finalist Award for Achievement in Operations Research/Management Science for projects that resulted in $15.5 million capital savings and a profit increase of more than $2 billion for Ford Motor Company. Taj has served as thesis advisor/reader of more than 100 graduate students at the University of Detroit Mercy, including a doctoral thesis committee at MIT. He served as the track chair of the “Lean Manufacturing, Manufacturing Information Management, Supply Chain, and Product Development” for the SAE International in Ireland, Spain, and France. He has published 68 refereed articles in journals and proceedings of many international conferences. Recently, he published several articles on the adaptation of lean production in China, and most recently in areas of sustainability and business model innovation.
Dr. Abdelaziz Berrado
Professor and Academic Coordinator
Department of Industrial Engineering
The Ecole Mohammadia d’Ingénieurs (EMI)
School of Engineering
Mohammed V University
Rabat, Morocco
Abdelaziz BERRADO is Professor and Academic Coordinator of Industrial Engineering in EMI School of Engineering at Mohammed V University in Rabat. He was previously Industrial Engineering Department Chair at the same institution. Prior to his current position, he was a faculty member of Engineering Management at AlAkhawayn University in Ifrane. He holds a Ph.D. in Decision Systems and Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University. He researches advanced analytical methods and frameworks for knowledge generation and decision support in organizations. He focuses on data analytics for Operations and Supply Chain Modelling, Planning, Improvement and Control with applications in Healthcare, Education and other Industries. He has led several funded applied research projects with local and international impact and published research papers in renowned journals. In addition to academic work, he interacts closely with the industry through training and consulting projects. He is a fellow of IEOM Society and a member of INFORMS and IEEE. Previously, he was a senior engineer and data analytics lead at Intel.
Dr. Wilkistar Otieno
Associate Professor and Chair
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Faculty Mentor of Preparing Engineers and Computer Scientist NSF-STEM Scholarship PI. & WiscAMP
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Wilkistar Otieno is an Associate Professor and Chair of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She holds a Doctoral degree in Industrial Engineering and Masters in Statistics degree both from the University of South Florida. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Production Engineering from, Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. Her research interests include sustainable manufacturing (remanufacturing), sustainable energy (solar power generation systems performance analysis), sustainable water systems reliability and overall systems optimization. She is has interests in Science Technology Engineering and Math education, particularly for female and underrepresented minority students. She is a member of IIE, IEEE, INFORMS, SWE and QSR.
Panel on Women in Industry & Academia (WIIA) – Panel III
2:00 – 3:30 pm, Monday, June 13, 2022: Onsite Ballroom – Room 1
Panel Chair
Akashita Sareen
Engineer in the Operations Planning and Engineering department
FedEx Express
United States
Akashita Sareen is an Engineer in the Operations Planning and Engineering department at FedEx Express, the world’s largest cargo airline and one of FedEx Corporation’s subsidiaries. While at FedEx, she has contributed to a diverse range of projects related to last mile delivery, digital transformation, spatial data engineering, automation and more. She is directly responsible for the planning and development of multiple sortation facilities to meet customer needs in the growing logistics and supply chain industry. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Sustainability from Florida Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from Marshall University. She also holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification.
2:00 pm – 2:15 pm
Sheena Butts
Associate Vice President
Surgical and Procedural Services
Lakeland Regional Health
Passionate healthcare executive with proven ability to marshal change and innovation to drive business performance and growth. Mindful of the big picture and skilled at bringing together multiple silos of executive leadership, upper and middle management, and project team members to foster collaboration and build value. Known for applying creativity, analytical rigor, and transformational leadership skills to capitalize on opportunities to maximize operational efficiency, financial performance, and clinical excellence.
2:15 pm – 2:30 pm
Susan LeFrancois, Ph.D
Data Science
Florida Polytechnic University
Dr. Susan LeFrancois joined Florida Polytechnic University in July 2013, and has helped to design and build the curriculum, participated in outreach activities, and helped to develop industry relationships. Her background extends from work as an educator to industry jobs in the areas of quality assurance and government regulation.
She has taught students science from pre-school to college. From 2008-to 2012, she was an instructor in industrial and management systems in the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The program was for industry professionals and provided a graduate certificate in medical devices and regulatory affairs.
LeFrancois also served as director of quality assurance for FTSI, an industrial sterilizer of medical devices and packaging. She developed and maintained the quality system according to ISO 13485 guidelines. In addition, she was a sterilization industry consultant for the gamma and EtO medical device sterilization industries.
LeFrancois received her doctorate in pharmacology and physiology from the University of Florida in Gainesville and her bachelor’s in chemistry from the University of South Florida. Also, LeFrancois received a graduate certificate in health informatics from the University of South Florida.
2:30 pm – 2:45 pm
Amy Augustyniak
Senior Manager, Supply Chain Analytics
SaddleCreek Logistics
2:45 pm – 3:00 pm
Sanna Siddiqui, Ph.D.
Mechanical Engineering
Florida Polytechnic University
Prior to beginning her appointment at Florida Poly, Dr. Sanna F. Siddiqui was a postdoctoral associate at the University of Central Florida through the P3 Pre-eminent Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.
Siddiqui earned a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering with honors distinction (Magna Cum Laude), and a master’s and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Central Florida.
During her time as a student, she held positions at Lockheed Martin Corporation and was the recipient of several honors and awards including the Order of the Engineer, President’s Honor Roll, Who’s Who Among Students at the University of Central Florida, and the Prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Siddiqui’s doctoral dissertation work, entitled “Characterization of Anisotropic Mechanical Performance of As-Built Additively Manufactured Metals,” has received much recognition, including a nomination for the 2019 Outstanding Dissertation Award at the University of Central Florida, 1st and 2nd place distinction in engineering at the 2017 UCF Graduate Research Forum, and Florida Statewide Graduate Research Symposium respectively, honorable mention for best student-authored paper in the materials division at the 2017 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), and honorable mention distinction from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for the 2017 Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship Program.
Siddiqui is very interested in promoting women and minorities in engineering disciplines and was an invited speaker to the 2016 Athena International Women’s Leadership Luncheon. She is a recipient of the 2016 Athena International Emerging Women Leader Fellowship and the 2015 Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship, which is awarded to only 35 fellows internationally each year.
During her time at Florida Poly, Siddiqui has led the development of the aerospace concentration in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her research is currently supported by a National Science Foundation Grant under the Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation to assess the deformation mechanisms driving torsional fatigue failure of additively manufactured metals at high temperatures.
3:00 – 3:45 pm
Group Discussion
Panel on Industry 4.0 and Industry Solutions (Panel IV)
4:00 – 6:00 pm, Monday, June 13, 2022
Onsite Ballroom – Room 1
Panel Chair
Lina Khan
Systems Engineer
Strategic Missile Defense
Lockheed Martin Space
Titusville, Florida, United States
Lina Khan serves as a Systems Engineer in the Strategic Missile Defense sector within the Lockheed Martin Space business area. Within the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry, she has held critical roles in program management, engineering, and operations, where she continues to pursue methods that ensure strategic growth and execution. Key initiatives include incorporating Industry 4.0 technologies such as smart factories, model-based engineering, and digital twin. Based on her industry experience, she has chosen to pursue a doctoral degree, at the University of Central Florida (UCF), with an Industry 4.0 research area. The potential contributions of this research relate to defining the critical success factors and developing a strategic framework for implementing Industry 4.0 technologies within the A&D industry. She has also earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from UCF.
Panel Speaker I
Cintia Zuccon Buffon
Industrial Engineer
Ocean Insight
Orlando, FL, USA
Cintia Zuccon Buffon, MBA, MSIE, is an industrial engineer with 10 years of experience in the industry. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Industrial Engineering at University of Central Florida while working full-time as a Quality Engineer at Ocean Insight. Her research focuses on analyzing the voice of the customer (VOC) using artificial intelligence techniques in the Quality 4.0 era. Prior to her current position, she worked for large companies including GE Aviation, Dentsply Sirona, ZEISS and BASF. Besides industry work, she also has experience conducting research in the artificial intelligence field focused on using Natural Language Processing techniques and artificial neural networks to analyze and develop tools to estimate the volatility of financial assets in the stock market.
Panel Speaker II
Thomas Jones
Ph.D. candidate at UCF
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL, USA
Thomas Jones is a PhD candidate at UCF in the department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and he holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Wichita State University. His research focus is on Quality 4.0 in manufacturing environments with an interest in how company culture and quality systems influence digital transformations.
Panel Speaker III
Johnson Olajide Olaitan
Ph.D. student of Industrial Engineering, UCF
Emerging Professionals Member of Society of Manufacturing Engineering (SME)
Member of IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society
Johnson Olajide Olaitan earned an associate of Science in Advanced Technology from Polk State College in 2016 and a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering technology in 2018 from Daytona State College with a major in electrical and electronics. As a part-time employee of a well-known aerospace and defense company, he went on to earn a master’s degree in engineering management at the University of Central Florida, where he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in industrial engineering. As a test technician, he works with test engineers to transition from manual testing and configuration to automated processes. Johnson is not only passionate about digital technologies, but he is currently working with a number of manufacturing and commercial organizations on how to transform the quality assurance department into a Quality 4.0 ecosystem.
Panel Speaker VI
Austin Taft
Mechanical Ground Support Engineer
Strategic Missile Defense
Lockheed Martin Space, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.
Austin Taft operates as a Mechanical Engineer in the SMD sector of the Lockheed Martin Space business segment, leveraging a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology. Within the Aerospace and Defense industry, he has provided both legacy program support and new design development through various engineering disciplines, products, and customers. A component of his current role involves championing Virtual and Augmented Reality integration into traditional work processes to find new methods of delivering technical data to key stakeholders. This technology provides stakeholders with additional product control and a redefined perspective, sparking unique conversations throughout product lifecycles to ensure deliverables are as effective and efficient as possible. As the A&D industry continues on its journey through Digital Transformation, Austin aims to find new ways in which Virtual and Augmented Reality can be value-add tools.
Panel on Global Supply Chain and Logistics (Panel V)
2:00 – 3:30 pm, Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Onsite Ballroom – Room 1
Panel Chair
Alper Senol
Professor- Supply Chain Management- Miami Dade College
Process Engineering Manager
Ph.D. candidate – Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida, USA
Alper Senol is an experienced process engineering manager with more than 12 years of strong working knowledge and experience in the transportation, supply chain & logistics, and manufacturing industries. Skilled in Project Management, Lean manufacturing / DMAIC, Operations Management, Quality Management, and Continuous Improvement.
He is working towards a Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at the University of Central Florida with the research subject of “Impact of Industry 4.0 on Global Supply Chain Management”. He received his Master of Science in Engineering Management and Systems Engineering from the Old Dominion University and his Bachelor of Science in Information Management System from Strayer University. Also, he is Lean Supply Chain Management and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certified. When Alper was in university, he was the Student President of the Industrial Engineering department and received “The student of the month” award.
Alper started his career as an Industrial Engineer at M&G Electronics in 2010. He was responsible for lean initiatives of the company along with estimating production times, staffing requirements, developing weekly labor and production forecasting for production planning, designing workstation, workflows, and assembly lines, preparing manufacturing documentation (SOP) based on ISO standards and providing necessary training for production employees and operators.
Alper joined Perry Ellis International in 2013 as an industrial engineer. In this role, he has involved various sides of the supply chain management and warehouse management systems. He has executed two major WMS projects during his employment and received an outstanding achievement award representing the engineering department for executing an overseas WMS project successfully in 2014. His expertise includes implementing strategic initiatives and projects; overseeing WMS and WLM processes; and leading diverse staff to maximize productivity, efficiency, and overall business performance. Through his experience, he has become adept at ensuring alignment with organizational goals and requirements while facilitating streamlined transportation, logistics, and supply chain operations and building strategic relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
Alper worked as a process engineering manager at the Bel USA in Miami. He oversees and manages production, quality, supply chain, and logistics operations including need assessment, system upgrade, new process flow, and layout design, inventory management, performance metrics (KPIs), staff training, and project execution. He also supports logistics and supply chain operations while identifying and pursuing strategic opportunities to improve operational performance in terms of cost, time, quality for internal and external processes. He secured close to 1 million dollars in annual savings by implementing a freight & packaging optimization project and a quality improvement project that resulted in reducing the redo rate that was caused by production defects and breakage.
He is currently a full-time professor in Supply Chain Management department at Miami Dade College (MDC) where he teaches all subject related and engineering courses since 2020. Alper is working to build a Supply Chain Management laboratory in Miami Dade College West Campus`s makerspace with his students to provide hand-on classroom experience. Laboratory will provide end-to-end supply chain solutions within the concentration of Warehouse Management Systems that includes robotics, automation and AI. He is an advisory committee member of the Supply Chain Management board at MDC. He also helped to build Data Analytics, Procurement and Project Management concentrations for the Supply Chain Management program and concluded with the state approval.
Panel Speaker I
Dennis Tribby – Director of Portfolio Solutions
Siemens Digital Industries Software
Florida, USA
Dennis Tribby is the Director of Portfolio Solutions for Siemens Digital Industries Software as well as a PhD Candidate at the University of Central Florida under the guidance of Dr. Ahmad Elshennawy in the department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems. His research is related to how Cost Engineering practices impact project success in Six Sigma related projects.
He holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA as well as a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cincinnati. Dennis is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and a Certified Quality Engineer.
He has more than 30 years of Engineering Services and Program Management experience with 25 of those years in the Aerospace and Defense industry in the areas of Product Lifecycle Manager, Cost Engineering, Supplier Parts Management. Over the span of his career he has managed software deployment at Lockheed Martin for the JSF program as well as managing Siemens Industrial Machinery and Energy Services group.
Panel Speaker II
Professor Don Reimer
Director of Membership and Chapter Development – IEOM Society
President, The Small Business Strategy Group, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Adjunct Faculty – A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical Engineering
Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan, USA
Donald M. Reimer is an adjunct faculty at the A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical Engineering in College of Engineering at Lawrence Tech in Southfield, Michigan. He coordinates the Certificate of Entrepreneurial Engineering Skills. Mr. Reimer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from Lawrence Technological University and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from University of Detroit/Mercy. He is a Certified Management Consultant with over 35 years of experience in working with closely-held businesses. He has taught courses in entrepreneurship, strategic management, corporate entrepreneurship and innovation for engineers. Mr. Reimer is a member of the Lawrence Tech Kern Campus Committee, Coordinator of the Lawrence Tech Innovation Encounter. He is faculty Advisor of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization. Mr. Reimer serves as a Kern Fellow of The Kern Family Foundation, Co-Direct of the Coleman Fellows Program, member of the National Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Faculty Advisory Council and is a member of the American Society of Engineering Education. He has operated his own consulting company – The Small Business Strategy Group for 23 years. He published numerous articles on small business, entrepreneurship and strategic thinking. He has received several awards and recognition by local, state and federal agencies for his work in entrepreneurship and minority business development. Mr. Reimer served as member of the Minority Economic Development Committee of New Detroit. Mr. Reimer is member of the Small Business Advisory Council of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Reimer is a member of Advisory Board of the Milwaukee Junction Small Business Assistance Center. He is also a member of the Applied Innovation Alliance. Mr. Reimer serves as a KEEN Fellow for The Kern Family Foundation and is a member of United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Panel Speaker III
Mohammad Anwar Rahman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Manufacturing and Construction Management
Central Connecticut State University
New Britain, CT, USA
Dr. Mohammad Anwar Rahman is a faculty at the Central Connecticut State University in Manufacturing and Construction Management. He has published papers in referred journals and presented results in conferences. His research focuses on logistics, supply chain management, stochastic process and designing quality procedure. Dr. Rahman conducted several research projects with Mississippi Dept. of Education (MDE) and US Dept. of Transportation (USDOT). He has various certifications including Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (Purdue University), Lean Principles (Purdue University), Demonstrated Master Logistician (The International Society of Logistics), Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award Examiner (Louisiana Quality Foundation), and Certified Transportation & Logistics (American Society of Transport & Logistics). Dr. Rahman is affiliated with ISERC, DSI, AST&L and IEOM.
Panel Speaker IV
Mark Calabrese
Senior Instructor
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL, USA
Diversity & Inclusion Panel Sponsored by Ford Motor Company (Panel VI)
4:00 – 6:00 pm, Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Onsite Ballroom – Room 1
Panel Chair
Dr. Wilkistar Otieno
Associate Professor and Chair
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Faculty Mentor of Preparing Engineers and Computer Scientist NSF-STEM Scholarship PI. & WiscAMP
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Wilkistar Otieno is an Associate Professor and Chair of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She holds a Doctoral degree in Industrial Engineering and Masters in Statistics degree both from the University of South Florida. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Production Engineering from, Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. Her research interests include sustainable manufacturing (remanufacturing), sustainable energy (solar power generation systems performance analysis), sustainable water systems reliability and overall systems optimization. She is has interests in Science Technology Engineering and Math education, particularly for female and underrepresented minority students. She is a member of IIE, IEEE, INFORMS, SWE and QSR.
Panel Speaker I
Professor Don Reimer
Director of Membership and Chapter Development – IEOM Society
President, The Small Business Strategy Group, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Adjunct Faculty – A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical Engineering
Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan, USA
Donald M. Reimer is an adjunct faculty at the A. Leon Linton Department of Mechanical Engineering in College of Engineering at Lawrence Tech in Southfield, Michigan. He coordinates the Certificate of Entrepreneurial Engineering Skills. Mr. Reimer holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management from Lawrence Technological University and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from University of Detroit/Mercy. He is a Certified Management Consultant with over 35 years of experience in working with closely-held businesses. He has taught courses in entrepreneurship, strategic management, corporate entrepreneurship and innovation for engineers. Mr. Reimer is a member of the Lawrence Tech Kern Campus Committee, Coordinator of the Lawrence Tech Innovation Encounter. He is faculty Advisor of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization. Mr. Reimer serves as a Kern Fellow of The Kern Family Foundation, Co-Direct of the Coleman Fellows Program, member of the National Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Faculty Advisory Council and is a member of the American Society of Engineering Education. He has operated his own consulting company – The Small Business Strategy Group for 23 years. He published numerous articles on small business, entrepreneurship and strategic thinking. He has received several awards and recognition by local, state and federal agencies for his work in entrepreneurship and minority business development. Mr. Reimer served as member of the Minority Economic Development Committee of New Detroit. Mr. Reimer is member of the Small Business Advisory Council of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Reimer is a member of Advisory Board of the Milwaukee Junction Small Business Assistance Center. He is also a member of the Applied Innovation Alliance. Mr. Reimer serves as a KEEN Fellow for The Kern Family Foundation and is a member of United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Panel Speaker II
Ms. Lourdes Matos-Rivera
Principal Systems Engineer
Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems
Orlando, Florida
Lourdes Matos-Rivera is a Systems Safety Engineer for Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems Sector, a premier provider of military aircraft, autonomous systems, aerospace structures and next-generation surveillance, strike and commercial solutions in Melbourne, Florida. Lourdes previously served as a Mechanical Design Engineer, and supported projects of ranging from mechanical design, modeling, system testing, manufacturing, and organizational process development.
Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Lourdes was a Ride and Show engineer with Universal Creative, where she provided master planning, creative development of ride products, design, project management, and research and development for various attractions.
Lourdes graduated from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Certificate in Engineering Leadership. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Engineering Management at UCF.
Lourdes is passionate about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and has made a big impact in this area through her leadership in the NG Hispanic Employee Resource Group ADELANTE, where she is the local chapter chair. Additionally, Lourdes holds a key leadership position within the trailblazing Mujeres Initiative, where she is a program developer.
Lourdes is a champion for STEM education and outreach. She mentors and coaches middle school, high school, and college students through her involvement in the Great Minds in STEM College Bowl, TRYENGINEERING, and the Brevard County Schools’ Innovation Games.
Panel Speaker III
Yazeli Cruz
Medallia Expert Services / Latinx@Medallia Lead
Medallia
Washington, DC, USA
Cruz is the current Latin America Medallia Expert Services Senior Analyst, where she coaches and supports sub-contracting partners that roll up to over forty accounts and a hundred Medallia software users. She is also the Latinx@Medallia employee resource group lead (ERG). The Latinx@Medallia is an affinity group for employees of Latin American descent and allies. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s in Industrial engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM). She started her work in diversity and inclusion in 2009 as part of the Industrial and mechanical engineering student mentor association also in UPRM. In 2012, she joined the Applied Optimization Group led by Prof. Mauricio Cabrera-Rios and Prof. Clara Isaza. She participated in research to unlock information about the origins of certain illnesses such as lung cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease. Thanks to her work in the Applied Optimization Group, she published a paper in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease titled: “A Selection of Important Genes and Their Correlated Behavior in Alzheimer’s Disease.” In addition, she was the only student chosen from Puerto Rico in 2013 to be part of INROADS. This non-profit organization creates pathways to careers for ethnically diverse high school and college students across the United States. She participated in co-ops in both Rockwell Aerospace and Amgen. She has won various awards, including INROADS 2014 Golf scholarship, DiscoverE’s 2016 New Face of Engineering: College Edition, SACNAS 2016 travel award, and AAAS 2017 Joshua Neimark Travel award recipient. In 2017 she co-founded the grassroots organization called “Copa Solidaria”, which aims to help underprivileged people who menstruate. After graduating with her master’s in 2018, she became a Technical Analyst for Accenture Federal Services plus service as one of the co-leads of the community outreach committee of the Washington D.C. chapter of Accenture’s Hispanic ERG. In 2020, she joined Medallia as a technical senior analyst and liaison between financial services accounts in Latin America. She also became the leader of the Latinx@Medallia ERG. Yazeli continues to service her community by mentoring the next generation of tech employees and supporting Latinx organizations throughout the Americas.
Panel Speaker IV
Charles W. Davis, Jr., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Valencia College
1800 S. Kirkman Road
Orlando, FL 32811
Dr. Charles Winfred Davis Jr., Professor at Valencia College since 2003 teaching various courses in Pre-Engineering, Mathematics courses, Mathematics for Engineering Technology, Quality Assurance and Test Methods, Engineering Management, Communications, and Ethics and Probability and Statistics for Engineering. Over 27 years of extensive experience in both public and private sector consisting of Project Management, Leadership and Quality Assurance. Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification with American Society of Quality and Dare to Lead Certification based on the research of Dr. Brene Brown. Earned bachelor’s degree in design engineering, Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering with a concentration in Engineering Management and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida. Dr. Davis has several related professional accomplishments and community involvement which includes Chair Florida Engineering Society (FES) Annual Conference and Florida Professional Engineers in Industry (FPEI), Co-Chair – Florida Engineers in Education, FES Engineering Faculty of the Year (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 & 2021), FPEI Industry Engineer of the Year (2016), FES Outstanding Service to the Engineering Profession (2021), Technical Director – National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Process Improvement Special Interest Group (PI SIG), Members of Tau Beta Pi Honor Society and Golden Key International Honor Society, authored and published 2 papers in Institute of Industrial Systems and Engineers (2018 & 2021), co-authored and published a paper in the Military Metaverse MOSES (2015) and co-authored a paper in the Journal on Systematics, Cybernetics and Informatics (2016).