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.