Learn More: IOE Advisory Board

Joshua Aaron

President, Business Technology Partners

Joshua Aaron is the founder of Business Technology Partners, Inc. Since it’s founding in 1997, Josh has served as the President of BTP. Under his leadership, BTP has grown into a leading consulting practice with rich history of successful major client engagements. His vision and expertise in areas such as large-scale change management and IT project management have made BTP an industry leader in structured cable design, cable management, voice systems, data networking, security and audiovisual communications consulting. He has extensive large-scale change management and IT project management expertise in corporate relocation, consolidation, and merger projects. Mr. Aaron has been a part of specifying and managing large-scale network deployments and negotiating the procurement of technology systems for all our hospitality engagements. As the head of BTP, Josh has overseen projects for clients such as Morgan Stanley, Reuters, State Street Brokerage, ABN AMRO, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, The New York Board of Trade, Samuel A. Ramirez & Co., Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, PRIMEDIA, and Estée Lauder. Prior to founding Business Technology Partners, Mr. Aaron was a Technology Consultant at Constantin Walsh-Lowe (CWL). While at CWL, Josh worked on a variety of projects for various customers, including Credit Suisse First Boston, Reuters, and Morgan Stanley. Additionally, Josh has previously worked at Owens Corning and LaSalle Partners. Josh is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering. He holds a B.S.E. degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering.

Mike O’Connell

Mike O’Connell is the founder and President of The Woodmar Group, a California based winery. The Woodmar Group was started in 2004 in Napa, California with the focus of using Napa Valley winemaking skills to produce wines that retail in the $10 – $15 price point. The brands include Grayson Cellars, Block Nine, Five Rows, Ghostrider and Hanging Vine and are sold into 50 states and 15 countries. Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate has given Grayson wines Best Buy ratings for eleven consecutive releases. The company is run by Mike and his wife and is one of the larger family owned wineries in the United States. The company is named in tribute to Woodmar Country Club, a now defunct golf course in Mike’s native Indiana where he spent countless hours learning life’s lessons playing golf.

Prior to founding The Woodmar Group, Mike ran legendary Indy car driver Mario Andretti’s winery, Andretti Winery, in Napa California where he grew sales 300% in three years. The turn-around plan included renegotiating contracts, reducing the product line, improving product quality, redesigning packaging and building a national sales force.

Mike’s previous jobs include a role in the Bank of America private equity group, a $750 million fund. He was also one of the youngest to be promoted to the role of Manager in the strategy consulting group at Deloitte Consulting in Chicago. During business school, Mike worked for Guardian Industries in Kiev, Ukraine after the separation of Ukraine from the Soviet Union. Following his undergraduate education, he spent two years at Cummins Inc. in Columbus, IN, where he was named a Young Emerging Leader.

Mike is a husband and father of two terrific boys. At the age of 42, he completed a one week training course with future and former Navy SEALs outside San Diego, CA that was based on the ‘hell week’ portion of BUD/S. He is now a Certified Trainer at this facility. He has also driven an Indy Car around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at awesome speeds.

He has served on non-profit boards including Culver Academies Legion Board, Galactic Unite, and was Chairman of Culver Clubs International. He serves as a Board Member of Left Bank Wine Company. He has taught classes at University of California Berkeley, University of California Merced, University of Michigan College of Engineering and Ross School of Business at University of Michigan.

He holds a BSE in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Dann Engels

Chairman at Orchid Industries

Jill Feldman

President, Strategic Development Associates

Jill Feldman is the Founder and President of Strategic Development Associates, a strategic consulting and marketing research firm focused on the high technology sector. SDA works with high level managers to partner in strategic planning, marketing research and competitive intelligence efforts. Typical projects include executive one-on-one interviews, focus group moderation, meeting facilitation, online marketing research, competitive and new product analysis, best practices and benchmarking, pricing assessment, and messaging, brand and advertising testing. Prior to founding Strategic Development Associates in 1997, Ms. Feldman served as Market Research Director and Marketing Director for AT&T Wireless Services in Dallas, Texas and as Strategic Planning Manager for AirTouch Communications in Irvine, California. Prior to her tenure in the wireless industry, Ms. Feldman worked closely with financial buyers and corporations as an Associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions and Merchant Banking departments with Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in New York and Los Angeles and as a Business Analyst serving Fortune 500 clients with McKinsey & Company in their Chicago office. Ms. Feldman is on the faculty at University of California, Santa Barbara, teaching courses focused on the Telecom and Information Technology Sectors in the College of Engineering’s Technology Management Program. Ms. Feldman holds a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Kevin Gilligan

Chief Executive Officer, Governance Committee, Appvion, Inc

Kevin Gilligan was named chief executive officer of Appvion, Inc. and PDC on August 4, 2015. Mr. Gilligan served as president of Appvion’s paper division since joining Appvion, Inc. in June 2014. He began serving as a director on the boards of Appvion and PDC in January 2016.

Prior to joining Appvion, Mr. Gilligan served as vice president, global operations for H.B. Fuller Company since 2012. H.B. Fuller is a global specialty chemical company focused on adhesives.

During his 20-year career with H.B. Fuller, Mr. Gilligan also served as region vice president for Asia Pacific businesses; general manager of H.B. Fuller Window; North American operations director; e-business director; product line manager; and plant manager. He began his career as a manufacturing engineer for Texas Instruments.

Mr. Gilligan earned a master’s degree in business administration (marketing and operations management) from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan.

Somya Gupta

Management Consulting Associate, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Somya is a Management Consulting Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), within the Supply Chain Management practice. She has experience in project management, warehousing, logistics, and inventory optimization, with interests in network design and last-mile optimization. Before joining PricewaterhouseCoopers, Somya worked for Procter & Gamble as a Manufacturing Engineer, L Brands (Victoria’s Secret PINK) as a Brand Manager, Walt Disney World as an Internal Consultant, and JPMorgan as an Asset Management Analyst.

Somya was an executive board member of the University’s Institute of Industrial Engineers chapter for three years, serving as President during her senior year. She is currently a Core Member of the PwC Women’s Network and a mentor for Step Up in the Chicago market. Step Up is a non-profit organization that empowers girls from under-resourced communities to fulfill their potential and join the next generation of college-bound, career-focused, professional women.

Somya is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering. She holds a B.S.E. degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering. Somya currently resides in Chicago.

Andrea Haas

Vice President of Manufacturing, Summit Polymers Inc.

Andrea Haas is the Vice President of Manufacturing for Summit Polymers, Inc., a leading Tier I supplier to the automotive industry, specializing in the design, engineering, and manufacturing of interior kinetic and decorative components and systems. She is responsible for advanced manufacturing, manufacturing coordination, Summit’s Lean Manufacturing System, and ten manufacturing facilities located across China, Mexico, and the US.

After completing her undergraduate degree, Andrea began her career at the Toyota Supplier Support Center (TSSC) as an Operations Management Consultant. She spent two years learning the Toyota Production System from its source. She then spent a year as SCUBA diving instructor in Grand Cayman before heading back to business school. After business school, she began her career with Summit Polymers. She has held a number of roles and responsibilities throughout the organization. Points of interest include the Toyota Production System, facilities planning, talent management, and organizational communication & improvement (developing, sharing, standardizing, and implementing best practices, systems and technology across the organization).

She has a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering (1998) and an MBA (2003) from the University of Michigan. She, and her husband, Joe, have four children and live in Portage, MI.

Richard C. Jelinek

Retired, Personal and Family Investments

Richard co-founded Medicus Systems Corporation in 1969 and founded Mediflex Systems Corporation in 1983. As CEO of both companies, he took Mediflex and Medicus public in 1983 and 1986 respectively. Richard was also Chairman of the Board of Knowledge Data Systems, Salt Lake City, Utah and Lifemark Corporation, Phoenix, Arizona, both of which were spin-offs from Medicus. Richard served as Director of Evanston Bank, Evanston, Illinois; McNearney Heintz, Inc., Barrington Illinois; Spectra Medical Systems, Inc., Kankakee, Illinois, NeuColl, Palo Alto, California; Chicago Indoor Racing, Chicago, Illinois; and Collins & Aikman Corporation, Dearborn, Michigan. Richard sold his last company in 2001, and he now works primarily in overseeing personal and family investments.

In 1992, Computers in Healthcare Magazine recognized Richard as a Healthcare Pioneer. He was the 1993 winner of the KPMG Peat Marwick, Illinois High Tech Entrepreneur Award. Richard has been a consultant to numerous organizations including: Veterans Administration, Department of Health Education and Welfare, Westinghouse and General Electric. In addition he has worked on President Reagan’s Task Force (Grace Commission) on Automated Data Processing.

From 1964 to 1970, Richard was Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering and Director, Systems Engineering Group, Bureau of Hospital Administration at the University of Michigan. He published in excess of 30 refereed publications and monographs. He holds a BSE in Industrial Engineering, an MBA and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has been a member of American Institute of Industrial Engineering, Operations Research Society of America, American Hospital Association, American Public Health Association, Young Presidents’ Organization and World Presidents’ Organization. In 1975, Richard lead the establishment of the Department of Health Systems Management at Rush University, where he served as Professor until 1990.

Richard has been involved with a number of philanthropic organizations. At the University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Richard endowed the “Richard Carl Jelinek Professor of Health Management and Policy” Chair. He also served for 14 years on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the School of Public Health. In Aspen, he served on the Board and on the Executive Committee of the Aspen Valley Medical Foundation as well as the Aspen Valley Community Foundation.

Erica Klampfl

Technical Leader, Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford Motor Company

Erica Klampfl leads a Strategy and Sustainability Analytics Research Group at Ford Research and Advanced Engineering. Her research interests include the application of Operations Research techniques to manufacturing, workplace efficiency, logistics, supply chain management, strategic planning, sustainability, and intelligent vehicle functions. She received a Ph.D. in Computational and Applied Mathematics from Rice University in 2001. Dr. Klampfl is an active member of INFORMS and is currently the Chair of the INFORMS Prize Committee and a member of the 2011 INFORMS Practice Advisory Council and Edelman Gala Committee. In addition, Dr. Klampfl is a member of the University of Michigan’s Industrial and Operations Engineering Advisory Board, Ford’s representative for the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) and Michigan State University’s Industrial Math Program and has served periodically as Ford’s INFORMS Roundtable representative. She was selected to attend the 2005 National Academy of Engineering 11th Symposium on Frontiers of Engineering and is a 2008 INFORMS Daniel H. Wagner Prize finalist: her internal awards over the past few years include the 2010 Henry Ford Technology Award, the 2010, 2009, and 2008 Ford Technical Achievement Awards, and the 2007 Manufacturing Vehicle Design Research and Advanced (MVDRA) Smarter DNA award.

Jim Molloy

Managing Director, Citi

Jim is Head of the Not-For-Profit Health Care Group at Citi, where he has spent approximately 10 years as a senior member of the team. Before rejoining Citi Jim built a healthcare practice at Lehman Brothers and headed this same team when Lehman was acquired by Barclays. He has more than 25-years of experience in the healthcare industry, with the last 17 in investment banking. Before entering the investment banking arena, prior healthcare experience includes senior positions in the consulting division of a “Big 6” accounting Firm and a rating agency.

He has worked with some of the largest health systems in the country, executing billions of dollars of both capital markets and M&A transactions on their behalf. He has specific expertise in strategic advisory, capital structure and strategic planning. Industry activities have included leadership in promoting transparency and communication between not-for-profit health systems and the investor community.

Jim serves on the executive committee of the Board of Directors for the Parent-Child Home Program, an early childhood literacy and school readiness program. He received a BSE in industrial engineering from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Jim resides with his wife Lauren and three children in New York

Ray Muscat

Industry Director, Tauber Institute for Global Operations

Raymond Muscat is the Industry Director for the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan.

Mr. Muscat’s corporate career has spanned 37 years with a variety of global experiences in the Automotive, Defense Electronics, Aerospace and Office Furniture industries. His experience includes engineering, manufacturing, program management, mergers and acquisitions, global manufacturing strategy development and execution, and the implementation of the Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing principles.

Mr. Muscat’s career began in 1978 at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn MI in their Automotive Assembly Division which included projects at Ford’s assembly plants in Louisville KY, Wayne MI, Wixom MI, and Metuchen NJ. In 1980, he joined Raytheon Company’s Submarine Signal Division where he held a variety of manufacturing engineering and program management positions working on surface ship sonar programs. From 1984 – 1986 he worked at Ball Aerospace in Boulder CO developing manufacturing operations for military aircraft antennas. He joined Knoll-Shaw/Walker in Muskegon MI in 1986 and held the positions of Project Engineer, Product Engineering Manager and Director of Engineering – Midwest Operations. Mr. Muscat joined Herman Miller in 1991. He was responsible for engineering, new product development, operations management, corporate quality, mergers and acquisitions, and global facility strategy. He led a core team that developed and implemented the Herman Miller Performance System, Herman Miller’s adaptation of the Toyota Production System/Lean Manufacturing, worldwide. Mr. Muscat has overseen all new North American product launches in Operations since 2001, and was researching the development of new materials and manufacturing processes for the factory of the future. His responsibilities included all North American facilities along with numerous facility construction projects, consolidations and upgrades internationally. He currently serves as Principal, Muscat Consulting, LLC, a Lean Manufacturing, Engineering and Operations consulting firm.

Born in Detroit, Michigan Ray has a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Rhode Island. He is the Chairman of the University of Michigan IOE Academic Advisory Board, and has served on the College of Engineering Alumni Society Board among others. Additionally, he has lectured and consulted on the application of Lean principles at the University of Michigan, Michigan Lean Consortium, American Manufacturing Strategies Summit and for State of Michigan employees.

Allan F. Pfitzenmaier

CEO Bryllan, LLC

Allan Pfitzenmaier is Chief Executive Officer of Bryllan, LLC, a contract manufacturer of potent compounds and cytotoxic drugs. In addition, he has owned and managed Vectech Pharmaceutical Consultants, Inc. a successful consulting firm serving the regulated medical products industries for the past 30 years. During the course of those 30 years, he has guided the growth of the company to adapt to current industry needs and regulatory trends. Also during that time, he has started and managed a number of other associated businesses, including a successful staffing firm and a software development organization.

Mr. Pfitzenmaier serves as the Co-Chair of the North American Education Committee for ISPE, is an active participant in the GAMP Manufacturing Execution Systems Special Interest Group, and is a regular course lecturer for the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industries. Recent courses include a webinar on US Food and Drug Administration Good Importer Practice Guidance and a lecture on Cold Chain Management at the Asia Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Cold Chain Management Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mr. Pfitzenmaier has published a chapter entitled “Validation of Laboratory Information Management Systems” in Laboratory Validation, A Practitioner’s Guide as well as a chapter on “Unidirectional Airflow Devices” in Environmental Monitoring, A Comprehensive Handbook, Vol.1 and is a participating author of GAMP Good Practice Guide: Manufacturing Execution Systems – A Strategic and Program Management Approach.

Mr. Pfitzenmaier is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a BS in Industrial Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA).

P. Craig Russell

Managing Director, Goldman Sachs & Co.

Craig is co-head of Alternative Capital Markets and based in New York. He joined Goldman Sachs as a managing director in 2007. Prior to joining the firm, Craig was a managing director at Reservoir Capital Group, a private investment firm based in New York. Previously, he was a managing director and global head of sales, marketing and product development for DB Absolute Return Strategies, the fiduciary hedge fund business of Deutsche Bank AG. Prior to this, Craig was head of the foreign currency trading desk for Bankers Trust Company in New York. Before joining Bankers Trust, he was a foreign currency trader for J.P. Morgan in New York and Frankfurt, Germany.

Craig earned a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1988.

Brooke Silverstein

Vice President Demand & Inventory Planning, Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation

After completing her undergraduate degree, Brooke began her career at L’Oreal in their Management Development Program within the Luxury Products Division. Brooke held several positions at L’Oreal including Global Supply and Demand Planner along with several project responsibilities including an upgrade to the Logility forecasting tool. She gained experience working with various consumer products and with all areas of supply chain and manufacturing.

In 2015, Brooke joined Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, PVH Corp, as Senior Manager of Demand Planning for their Dress Furnishings Group. In this position Brooke oversees the Demand Planning function for all Department Stores, managing the team developing the forecast and leading monthly collaboration meetings with all cross functional partners. Brooke is also very involved in the JDA implementation for PVH Corp helping to develop, test and implement the tool.

Brooke graduated from the University of Michigan with a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering in 2010. While attending Michigan Brooke was the president of the student chapter of The Institute of Industrial Engineering, IIE. Brooke and her fiancé currently reside in New York, planning their wedding in fall 2017.

Anne Shen Smith

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Retired), Southern California Gas Company

Anne Shen Smith recently retired as the chairman and CEO of Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. SoCalGas is the nation’s largest natural gas distribution utility, delivering energy services to over 23 million consumers.

Smith started her career with SoCalGas in 1977 and held leadership positions in marketing, public affairs, strategic planning, environmental policy, regulatory affairs, customer care, support services, and operations. Smith received numerous awards for community service and environmental leadership. She served on appointed policy advisory commissions at the local, state, and Federal levels. She was a member of the board of directors for the American Gas Association, Coalition for Clean Air, Southern California Leadership Council, UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, Asian American Advancing Justice – LA, and California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. Smith currently serves on the board of directors of PG&E Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, as well as several community organizations. She is a member of The Trusteeship – an affiliate of the International Women’s Forum, and the Committee of 100 – a national organization devoted to promoting U.S.-China relations.

Smith immigrated to the United States from Taiwan in 1964. She received her bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, and has a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of California at Berkeley.

Elizabeth VerSchure

Vice President, Consumer Comfort, Parts and Service Support, GE Appliances

After receiving her engineering degree in 1982, Liz began her career as a quality engineer with IPM Corporation, a subsidiary of Allegheny International, a key supplier of powdered metal components to the auto industry. In 1984 she joined GE, and has 30+ years’ experience in the aircraft, marine and energy industries. She has held roles in supply chain, services, long-term partner management, product management and quality/Six Sigma. In 2003, Liz assumed leadership for small commercial services operations in GE Aviation, servicing 90+ long-term maintenance contracts and developing customer service and fulfillment strategies for the regional aircraft market. In 2006, Liz transitioned to GE Energy as the GM, LM2500/LM1600 Products, a diverse aeroderivative product, which serves the oil and gas, powergen and industrial plants segments. Subsequently, she was GM for aeroderivative services, an $1.2B MRO business unit encompassing field support and service, overhaul maintenance activities, remote diagnostics and long-term service agreements. Most recently, Liz joined GE Appliances, a Haier company, and serves as vice president for consumer comfort products and strategy development for parts and service support including GE Appliances’ connected and ownership initiatives.

Liz holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in business administration from Xavier University. She is a Metro United Way Tocqueville Society member and on the University of Michigan Industrial Engineering Advisory Board.

Bethany L. Weeby

Bethany Weeby is Senior Vice President, Provider Services for Care Credit at Synchrony Financial, serving more than 200,000 healthcare partners in dental, veterinary, cosmetic, vision and audiology. Synchrony Financial, formerly GE Capital Retail Finance, is the largest provider of private label credit cards in the US.

Until recently, Bethany was Senior Vice President & General Manager of the Chevron and Texaco consumer credit program. Prior to that she led the GE Capital Retail Finance call center transformation to Service & Sales as well as key Quality initiatives focused on growth. Before joining GE Capital in 2003, Bethany spent several years with GE Lighting where she held Product Management roles across multiple product lines, led Market Development for the Lighting Systems business, and earned her Six Sigma Quality Black Belt certification. Early in her career, she worked for GE Corporate in Sales Development to support enterprise selling with customers in the Midwest. Bethany joined GE on the Manufacturing Management Program after graduating from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors of Science degree in Industrial & Operations Engineering.

Bethany is active in the Women’s Network at Synchrony Financial following leadership roles with GE’s Women’s Network for many years. In addition, she sits on the Advisory Board for the Department of Industrial & Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. Bethany, an avid sports fan, is in the process of relocating to Orange County with her husband and daughter.