Jack Harris

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Jack Harris was the Director of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Rockwell Collins, with over 40 years and retired in September 2011.  In this capacity he was responsible for the strategic direction of manufacturing technologies and process development.  This included the alignment of business unit needs with manufacturing capabilities and implementation of Digital Manufacturing tools and technologies for over a dozen manufacturing locations, worldwide. Over this period, he held a number of executive positions in Operations, Engineering and Advanced Technology.

 

He has been engaged in economic development in manufacturing for over 25 years and has served as the Vice Chairman of the Iowa Innovation Council and was a member of the state’s Technology Commercialization Committee (TCC).  After his retirement, he launched the Iowa Innovation Corporation (IIC), which is a not- for-profit chartered to foster economic growth in Iowa through technology commercialization.  In this role, he served as the President/CEO of IIC. 

 

Today he serves as General Manager for the PDES Inc., an international consortium, whose charter is to provide enterprise business value through improved information interoperability and usage and is the CEO of Parametric Studio Inc., a start-up STEM software provider. Representing Aerospace and Defense, Mr. Harris is the Chairman of the Advanced

Manufacturing Committee for the Aerospace States Association.  His Advanced Manufacturing

involvement extends beyond the U.S. borders, where he is the Chairman and past U.S. Head of Delegation for the global Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) International. He holds an AAS and BS in Mechanical Engineering and a MS in Engineering Management. He served in the United States Air Force from 1969 to 1973, as part of Headquarters Command. In 1993, he was recognized with the Collins Pioneer Leadership Award for development and implementation of a computer aided engineering strategy for Commercial Avionics Engineering.

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Rebecca Taylor

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Rebecca R. Taylor is currently the Senior Vice President for the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), the largest not for profit research and development consortium in North America focused on Manufacturing. NCMS consists of more than 300 member corporations working toward the goal of improving the manufacturing competitiveness of the nation. In this capacity she is responsible for the operation of the organization’s government efforts, for liaison with Members of Congress and the Administration, oversight of all government programs, as well as overall management of the Washington, DC and Bremerton, WA offices until August 1991, Ms. Taylor served as an International Trade Analyst for the US Department of Commerce. In this position she served as a principal in the machine tool trade negotiations with the governments of Japan and Taiwan, representing the Bureau of Export Administration during the trade talks. In addition, she was the Bureau’s representative to the interagency working group on the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems program for multi-lateral R&D cooperation.

 

In addition to serving as an officer of the NCMS, Ms. Taylor is on the Board of the National Advanced Mobility Consortium and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering Committee on Manufacturing, Design, and Innovation. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the National Defense Industrial Association’s Manufacturing Division, the NASA Marshall Partnership Forum Steering Council and the International Women’s Forum. Ms. Taylor is a member the Advisory Board of the Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness and Economic Prosperity at the Association for Public and Land Grant Universities. She is the 2014 recipient of the STEP award which recognizes the role of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Production. Trained in Economics and Political Sciences, Ms. Taylor holds a Bachelors degree from the George Washington University and a Masters degree from the London School of Economics.

 

A native of Pennsylvania, Ms. Taylor resides in Washington, DC.

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Robert Mansfield

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Mr. Robert E. Mansfield Jr., is an Allied Associate in Solomon Bruce Consulting’s Atlanta, GA Office. His practice provides executive level advice and counsel on strategic planning, leadership, supply chain management, operational logistics and business transformation matters. Most recently, he served as Director, National Programs, for the Aerospace States Association (ASA). In this capacity, he managed ASA’s nation-wide programs and initiatives to establish and promote the aerospace objectives of the US states and territories.  He organized the first ever aerospace specific Foreign Direct Investment Exposition in association with the US Department of Commerce, facilitated the association’s Industry 4.0 activities, established the ASA national distinguished service award, and developed strategies to grow ASA membership.

He was the chief architect of the Air Force’s supply transformation initiative to improve weapons systems’ availability, thorough the innovative application of commercial practices.  He led the Department of Defense’s global surplus and excess property operations; reshaping the global organization incorporating best commercial business practices, leveraging information technology, and focusing on customer determined outcomes. Executive leadership roles in which Mr. Mansfield served include the following: Director, National Center for Aerospace Leadership (NCAL) and Principal Investigator, National Aerospace Leadership Initiative (NALI) for the Connecticut Center at the Advanced Technology ( CCAT), East Hartford, CT; Director of Global Supply Chain Services, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Division, Fort Worth, TX; Practice Area Leader, Supply Chain Management, Altaerum Institute, Ann Arbor, MI; Executive Director, Center for Aviation and Aerospace Leadership, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL. In community non-profit executive leadership roles, Mr. Mansfield served in the following positions:  Supply Chain Council’s Aerospace and Defense Special Industry Group (SIG); Member of the  Clarkson University Business School’s Board of Advisors; Emory Riddle Aeronautics University Worldwide Industry Advisory Board; Member of the Defense Science Board 2006 Summer Study on 21st Century Strategic Technology Vectors; Co-Chair, Michigan Governor’s BRAC Task Force in 2005; Connecticut Lt. Governor’s delegate to the Aerospace States Association; Member, Board of Directors of the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM); Member of the Board of Advisors for SecureRF, Westport, CT; Principal Advisor, ASD Global, Walnut Creek, CA; Principal Advisor, SEAM Aerospace, Norman, OK. The President nominated and the Senate confirmed him as a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force.  He served in a wide variety of key command and staff positions in the Department of Defense and Department of the Air Force. He has led and managed industrial production and manufacturing, acquisition, and academic organizations that were required to adapt to changing global economies and environments.

 

Mr. Mansfield has received numerous awards for his leadership and public service in insuring ethics/integrity, attitudes of excellence and strong organizational achievement were implemented in global organizational climates.

 

He holds earned degrees from Arizona State University, cum laude (B.S.), Air Force Institute

of Technology, (M.S.), Air War College (Diploma), Defense Systems Management College (Diploma). He holds Defense Acquisition Worker Improvement Act (DAWIA) certification in Acquisition Logistics Management (level III) and Program Management (level II), and is a fully qualified Joint Service Officer (JSO).

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Dan Nagy

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As Managing Director of the Inter-Regional Secretariat of Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, Mr. Nagy is currently responsible for oversight of activities related to the IMS international program including general management, marketing, finance, project portfolio, and outreach activities.

 

Mr. Nagy was a former manager of corporate accounts for Apogent Technologies, where he guided sales and marketing of microbiology, serology, immunology, pathology, drugs of abuse, and special chemistry products to large accounts. He developed and implemented contracts with major group purchasing organizations and large commercial laboratories, and pioneered group contracting with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and Department of Defense.

 

In his early career, he worked as a medical technologist and laboratory manager.Mr. Nagy holds a Bachelor of Arts from Lycoming College, and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Baker University. He also holds certification in medical laboratory technology and other certifications.

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Dr. Steve Ray

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Dr. Steven Ray is a Distinguished Research Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley, where he researches information interoperability and standards in application domains including smart electrical grid, medical devices, disaster management, and manufacturing. A common theme of his work is the use of ontologies and formal representations to ensure unamibiguous definitions of terms and relations. He has a twenty-seven year track record of initiating and leading technical R&D projects at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. For the past decade, he was responsible for the management of a $10-13M division of 60 staff and visiting researchers dedicated to the solution of national problems related to measurements and standards supporting systems interoperation in the manufacturing sector. He led the establishment of a new extramural program (TIMA - Technologies for the Integration of Manufacturing Applications) on assignment to the NIST Advanced Technology Program. He served for one year as Chairman of the IGES/PDES Organization that coordinated the U.S. participation in the creation of the STEP product data standard (STEP - Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data, ISO 10303). The STEP standard has yielded documented savings to manufacturers of $200M/year (2002), projecting to $1B/year. Dr. Ray has twice been awarded the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal since joining NIST as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow. He is a member of ASME and SME.

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Marco Taisch

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Marco Taisch is Full Professor at the Politecnico di Milano, where he teaches Advanced and Sustainable Manufacturing and Operations Management.

He is one of the coordinators of the Manufacturing Group of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, composed of about 40 people.

Member of the EFFRA Board (European Factories of the Future Research Association) and of the Board of the Italian Smart Factory Cluster.

He sits in the Control Room of the National Industry 4.0 Plan coordinated by the Ministry of Industry and Economic Development.

Since 2002 he has been particularly dedicated to the study of technological trends, carrying out for the European Commission some technological roadmaps and studies of Technologies foresight on Manufacturing.

He is the Scientific Chairman of the World Manufacturing Forum, a world event for the definition of the manufacturing agenda.

He is also a founding partner of Miraitek, spin-off of Politecnico di Milano that focuses on the Industry 4.0 matters.