Location: The Pavilion

Continental Breakfast

Location: The Pavilion

Opening Welcome
Kim Tavares, Associate VP Alumni Relations

Introductory Comments
Beena Sukumaran, The Dinesh & ILA Paliwal Dean of the College of Engineering and Computing

Opening Keynote
Asha Montante, Director, Advanced Manufacturing and Automation at Swagelok

“Inspiring STEM education and careers through unity, purpose and collaboration”

Virtual Reality for the Detection of Postural Instability: Advancing Fall Prevention”

Consulting: A Path to Experience

Bridging the Gap: Strategies and Tools for Engineers Leading the Future of Business

Graduate Programs

Investigation of ZnO for Inhibitions of Pathogens and Viruses

Don’t Let GPA Define You or Your Hiring Practices

1809 Capital - Engaging Alumni and Supporting Entrepreneurship

Graduate Programs

How Engineering Disciplines Are Converging to Create the Smart Warehouse.

Embracing the Dualities of an Innovation-Driven Society: A Dialogue for Active Participants

Why Are There So Many Programming Languages?

Graduate Programs

Location: Pavillion

Lunch buffet: 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Keynote: 12:30 p.m. How Eli Lilly and Company brings Unity, Purpose and Collaboration to Tech Innovation

Presenters: Charlie Haddad ‘92 & Nora Winnestaffer ‘16
Moderator:  Tori Cheffer ‘20

Join Eli Lilly and Company’s Charlie Haddad and Nora Winnestaffer in a round table discussion about how Tech@Lilly is uniting caring and discovery through technology to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. Hear their thoughts on the importance of unity, purpose, and collaboration and the ways in which it is integrated into the work at Lilly. Learn how Tech@Lilly is leveraging cutting edge technology and innovation in the healthcare space and have the opportunity to ask Charlie and Nora any questions you may have.

Smart Manufacturing in Custom Fabrication

Forever Chemicals – An Introduction to PFAS Compounds and Efforts to Remediate Them

From Physical to Virtual: Medical Devices and Pre-Hospital Care

Graduate Programs

Crafting the Future: A Journey Through Intelligent Robotics

Engineering Into the Future of Aviation

Test Engineering in MedTech

Improving Factory Floor Efficiency By Leveraging Machine Data Monitoring

Building Big. Dreaming Bigger - It’s Not for the Faint-of-Heart! 

Evolution of an Engineering Major into a Financial Career

How Board Games can Help you and Miami be Better at Teaching and Learning

Professor in Chemical, Paper and Biomedical Engineering

Miami University

Dr. Catherine Almquist joined Miami University in 2001. Her research areas are in environmental catalysis, adsorption, and pollution prevention. Dr. Almquist enjoys investigating methods to clean air and water, and to utilize industrial, municipal, and agricultural wastes as raw materials for value-added products, such as energy, fuels, catalysts, and adsorbents. She has~30 publications in peer-reviewed literature and one US patent in the areas of her research interests. She is active in undergraduate and graduate student research and engineering education.

Director of Technology

Ferno

Chris graduated from Miami in 2013 with a degree in Communications and received his Master’s in Business in 2022 from Xavier University. His professional experience consists of international business, family business, start-ups, and technology across a variety of industries including after- market automotive, petrol and convenience, virtual reality, and emergency medical device manufacturing. Past roles have encompassed operations, business development, and product development. Currently, Chris is Director of Technology at Ferno, a family owned business, focusing on global technology initiatives to drive the organization to the next level by leveraging emerging technologies and the business’s global footprint.

Senior Director of Engineering

Ferno

Jacob Cartner is a Senior Director of Engineering and has been with FERNO for 7 years. He has a broad understanding of medical device design and commercialization. His responsibilities include Mechanical, Electrical, and Hydraulic New Product Development, Program Management, New Product Introduction, Research & Development, R&D Machining, and Global Standards. Prior to FERNO he was in R&D at Smith & Nephew Orthopaedics for 12 years. He has been a team member on more than 60 successful regulatory filings.

Group Engineering Manager

E Tech Group

Melissa Bruno is an Engineering Manager at E Tech Group and a 2018 Miami CEC alumni where she earned a B.S. in Computer Engineering.

E Tech group is a Cincinnati-based control system integrator that provides engineering consultation and services across numerous industry verticals including data centers, manufacturing, and metals.

With over 5 years of automation experience, Melissa’s focus has been in material handling warehouses such as distribution centers and parcel. Her career has consisted of PLC programming, electrical design, and on-site commissioning. As a manager, she oversees the execution of material handling projects and drives team success. Additionally, Melissa has managed the growth of E Tech’s IT/OT Assessment program, allowing her to access the operational and IT infrastructure of client’s existing facilities and assess vulnerabilities in their control equipment and cybersecurity.

Principal/Founder

5280 Resources

Mike Burgess is a graduate of the System Analysis (Computer Science) program in 1997. Mike has 25 years of experience working in the IT industry for companies such as Cintas, MolsonCoors, BMC Software,

Ball Aerospace, Otterbox, Colorado Rockies, etc. Mike has worked on a variety of projects across both application and infrastructure technologies, most recently helping clients migrate to Microsoft cloud based solutions, Office 365 and Azure. Mike is currently the Principal / Founder of 5280 Resources, a consulting firm that helps clients with technology strategy, selection, project management and implementation.

Mike currently resides in Denver, Colorado, with his wife and 11 year old twins.

CEO

Airo

Captain Joe Burns is a thirty-five year veteran of Aviation, Technology, and Communications industries. He is currently the CEO at The Airo Group – a mid-tier Aerospace and Defense firm. He was most recently the CEO at Airo Drone/Sensurion Aerospace – an Unmanned Systems manufacturer and technology operations firm. He was also an Officer at United Airlines as Managing Director of Technology and Flight Test responsible for over $250M in annual NextGen programs. At United Airlines, Joe held posi- tions as Managing Director – Flight Standards, FAA Certificate Director of Operations, Director Flight Standards, Chief Pilot FFDO Program, Manager Automation Systems, and Pilot Instructor. Joe was instrumental in the United-Continental merger as the operations lead. Type-rated on many large jet transports, he is current as International Captain on the Boeing 767.

His engineering and management experience also includes CEO positions at Xcelar, Inertia Technology, Chief Pilot and systems engineer for Coffeen Associates, Chief Systems Engineer for Ericsson, Inc.’s Fiber Optic Divi- sion, and Engineering Manager for Sprint.

He is currently on the President’s EXCOM Advisory Board for Position, Navigation, and Timing (GNSS); Board Member for Aspen Avionics; Board Member for Airo Group, Inc.; Prior member of the NextGen Ad- visory Council Subcommittee; Board Member Emeritus for EMS Tech- nologies (NASDAQ:ELMG); Board Member and CEO Emeritus of ATN Systems, Inc.; Former Advisory Board Member for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR/UCAR); Chairman Emeritus for the ATA Air Traffic Control Council and Operations Committees

Captain Burns holds an M.B.A. from the Miami University distinguished Farmer School of Business and a B.S. from Miami University. Joe has over a dozen patents in aeronautics, security, and communications technology applications.

Associate Professor

Miami University

Dr. James Chagdes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechan- ical and Manufacturing Engineering and Director of the Miami University Center for Assistive Technology (MUCAT). His research interests are in nonlinear dynamical systems, biomechanics, and controls, which he uses to examine the interaction of the neural, muscular, and mechanical systems to develop safe, balanced, and skillful movement. Dr. Chagdes’ research in- corporates simple everyday devices such as cell phones and clothing (shoe insoles, pants, shirts) with embedded sensors to provide valuable infor- mation for health monitoring. He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) Human Performance direc- torate, Toyota Motor of North America’s Collaborative Safety Research Center, and Miami University.

Senior Analyst, Product Delivery

Eli Lilly and Company

Tori graduated from Miami University in 2020, where she majored in In- formation Systems and Analytics and minored in Criminal Justice Studies. While at Miami, she was President of Miami Activities and Programming (MAP), a member of Alpha Xi Delta, and a Resident Assistant.

The summer between her Junior and Senior year, she completed a 12-week technology internship with Lilly, which turned into a full time offer. After graduation, she moved to Indianapolis to begin her first role as an Associate MES System/Business Integrator. She spent 2.5 years in the Manufacturing and Quality space, supporting process engineers and driv- ing digial innovation with Manufacturing Execution System (MES) data.

Recently, she as started a new role as a Senior Analyst supporting the technology needed to deliver clinical trails medications to patients around the world.

Tori lives in Indianapolis with her dog and roommate, who is a fellow Miami alum. They enjoy attending the many sports events and restaurants downtown.

Co-Founder & CEO

Apricity Robotics

Aaron Crookes, a visionary entrepreneur and robotics engineer, is the founder and CEO of a groundbreaking teleoperated medical robotics company. Aaron graduated from Miami in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in bioengineering and has been instrumental in the develpment of advanced robotic systems for various industries, ranging from healthcare to manufacutreing to consumer products.

Recognizing the potentail of teleoperated robotics to revolutionize health- care, Aaron launched his venture with a focus on providing innovative, accessible and cost-effective solutions for medical professionals worldwide. His company was awarded an NSF grant to develop state-of-the-art robotic systems that enhance physician precision, improve clinical outcomes, and reduce the burden on healthcare providers.

Driven by his passion for making a tangible impact on people’s lives, Aaron is determined to break down barriers and democratize access to quality healthcare. He is an active participant in industry conferences and has published research papers, sharing his insight and expertise with the broader scientific community.

AVP, Digital Health Products

Eli Lilly and Company

Charlie oversees the commercial digital product portfolio for the Digital Health organization at Eli Lilly and Company. In this role, he is responsi- ble for leading digital health solutions from ideation through delivery and managing teams to deliver clinically-relevant, high-quality and engaging solutions to support the people who need it most. As part of these efforts, Charlie partners with researchers, clinicians, marketers, developers and external innovators to help find the right digital solutions for patients suf- fering across a number of disease areas.

During his more than 30 years at Lilly, Charlie has been a software leader focused on delivering digital innovations in pharmaceutical drug develop- ment across many therapeutic areas. A bulk of that was in leadership roles in Medicines Development IT where he led the harmonization, integration and automation of clinical information managament and data flow. He also had senior leadership roles in our global infrastructure organization enabling digital platform solutions and employee enablement across our enterprise.

Charlie earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Analysis from Miami University. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and they have three grown children spread across the country.

Partner and Founder Crux Studio

Zach Hendershot is an experienced entrepreneur and startup expert who has spent over two decades bringing innovative products to market. Since graduating from Miami University in 2004, Zach has worked in various technical and leadership roles for large companies, such as Spectrum, Visa, American Express, and others, while also building new ventures and learning along the way.

in 2021, Zach founded Crux Studio, a company focused on accelerating the creation of new businesses that transform how digital products are built. Through Crux Studio, Zach provides mentorship, funding, and other resources to early-stage startups, helping them navigate the challenges of building and scaling a successful business.

Associate Professor

Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Miami University

Dr. Peter Jamieson is an Associate Professor at Miami University in the ECE department. Dr. Jamieson’s research focuses broadly on computation, education, and games and the intersections between these domains. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 2007 and had post- doc positions at both Toronto and Imperial College before joining the faculty at Miami University in 2009. He was also a visiting professor at UBC, Simon Frasier, and Boston University.

Assistant Professor Dept. of Computer Science and Software Engineering

Miami University

Dr. Eric Rapos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Software Engineering at Miami University, working primarily on research in Software Engineering. Dr. Rapos obtained his Ph.D. from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, in 2017, while also working as a Teaching Fellow for the University, instructing several classes. Dr.

Rapos’ research interests include model-driven engineering, model-based testing, software evolution, test co-evolution, and co-evolution of model-based tests, along with CS and SE education, recently combining technical and education-focused research into interdisciplinary projects.

Practice Manager-Modern Applications Insight

Parker Johnston is a 2012 Miami graduate majoring in Software Engineer- ing with a double minor from the Farmer Business School. He has spent over 10 years crafting software focused on the insurance, finance and logistics industries in jobs ranging from Developer to Enterprise Archi- tect. Parker is currently a Modern Applications Solutions Manager within Insight’s Consulting Services division supporting teammates and projects throughout the country.

Tsavo Knott

Co-Founder & CEO

Pieces

Mark Widman

CTO & Founding Engineer 

Pieces

Tsavo Knott (Co-Founder and CEO at Pieces) and Mark Widman (CTO and Founding Engineer at Pieces) have been at it since graduating Miami University building startups and pushing the envelope of whats possible with technology. Tsavo, Mark and the Pieces Team are building the world’s first AI-Native Micro-Repository for File Fragments. Pieces unlocks the ability for professional creators to save, search, share, reference, and reuse smaller, more granular resources with automatic material enrichment and context awareness. The company’s first product, Pieces for Developers, aims to dramatically improve developer productivity and is fine-tuned for technical workflows by including contextual metadata, related people, code snippets, scratch files, documentation, screenshots, related links, and more.

Director of Engineering

Enerfab Process Solutions & Fabricated Products

Mr. Koenig is the Director of Engineering for Enerfab Process Solutions & Fabricated Products, an industry leader in the fabrication of critical process equipment. Enerfab specializes in the utility and heavy industrial markets, including chemical, petrochemical, refining/power, food and beverage, along with numerous others. In addition to providing the technical guidance for the organization, Mr. Koenig is responsible for cost/personnel management, change implementation, and continuous improvement with- in the organization. Recent achievements include the implementation of a paperless fabrication facility along with an organizational value‐add offering for fermentation/bio‐fermentation integration with agitation and heat transfer.

Previously, Mr. Koenig worked as a Plant Engineer at Enerfab, providing engineering guidance and solutions to the craft personnel. His responsi- bilities have also included providing technical guidance to large chemical companies relative to Pressure Vessel best practices, value engineering opportunities, and rapid response plant outage support.

Mr. Koenig holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Miami University.

Professor in Chemical, Paper and Biomedical Engineering

Miami University

Dr. Shashi Lalvani earned his Ph.D., M.S. and B. Tech all in chemical engineering from the University of Connecticut (1982), University of New Hampshire (1979), and the Indian Institute of Technology – New Delhi (1976). He has also served as a design engineer at Polyplast in Bombay.

Shashi Lalvani came to Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 2003 after teaching at Southern Illinois University for 21 years. He is the founding chair of the chemical engineering and bioengineering majors at Miami University where he serves as professsor of the Chemical, Paper and Biomedical Engineering department since 2003. Currently, he is Graduate Program Director of Clinical Engineering, a master’s course of study that he developed with Dr. Lei Kerr.

Dr. Lalvani has developed and led study abroad programs in India. In addition, he has developed very successful online course for engineering economics.

He is well published and his research interests are in electrochemical engineering, and energy and environmental materials. He has also been credited with a patent,“Electrochemical Hydrogenation of Vegetable Oils.” He continues to expand his knowledge with involvement in scientific and professional societies such as the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, and the American Chemical Society

Assistant Director of Urban AI

City of Cleveland

Doug Meil is a career software engineer. Doug graduated from Miami University in 19mumblemumble with a degree in Decision Sciences, and received his masters in Engineering Management from Case Western Reserve University. He was the founder of the Cleveland Big Data Meetup in 2010, was an Apache HBase committer in the open source community back in the early Hadoop days, and was the founding engineer at

Explorys, a healthcare analytics company acquired by IBM. He was written 22 posts for the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) on a variety of software development topics, and has also published for the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS). Links to his publications can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/publications-doug-meil/

Director, LAUNCH the Center for New Ventures

Virginia Tech Innovation and Partnerships

Mark Mondry’s experience spans a spectrum of emerging technologies and companies racing at the front end of innovation. After graduating from Miami (BS, 1983), he started his innovation career from the technical perspective as an engineer in the defense electronics industry, focusing on advanced airborne radar systems. After completing a graduate degree in

business (MAS, Johns Hopkins) and a law degree (JD, Maryland) he shifted into the entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective as a patent attorney in Silicon Valley, working with highly innovative companies shaping entirely new markets. Eventually, he moved into the medical device industry and assumed executive leadership roles developing new life-saving products

in Fortune 500 companies then joining a very early-stage medical device company to help grow it into a successful IPO. Mark now works to inspire and mentor other technology innovators as the Director, LAUNCH: The Center for New Ventures at Virginia Tech where he focuses on technology commercialization from deeptech university research.

Director, Advanced Manufacturing and Automation

Swagelok

Asha Montante currently serves as Director of Advanced Manufacturing and Automation for Swagelok Manufacturing Company. Headquartered in Solon, Ohio, Swagelok is an industry manufacturer and leader of gas and fluid systems components, such as tube fittings, valves, tubing and hoses.

Since beginning her career with Swagelok, Asha has held a variety of roles in engineering and leadership. Her leadership experiences have included technical leadership and leadership experiences beyond engineering such as supply chain, procurement, and environmental, health and safety. She holds a Bachelors in Engineering from Miami University and a Masters in Business Administration from Cleveland State University. In her personal life, Asha enjoys spending time with her family: husband, Dave, and two children: Zoey (6) and Max (4), the kids take up quite a bit of energy! Asha and her husband enjoy gardening (vegetables and cut flowers) and cooking. She also serves as a board member for a non-profit, Journey Center for Safety and Healing, which provides information and services for domestic violence, child abuse and more.

Senior Client Success Manager

TechSolve

Ron Pieper joined TechSolve in 2010 to manage and develop TechSolve’s suite of machine monitoring solutions. Ron joined TechSolve with over 20 years of experience in the CNC machine tool industry, having held

positions with machine tool builders, distributors, and end users. His range of experience includes sales, product management, major account management, field service and technical support management. Ron currently serves as Senior Client Success Manager for TechSolve covering their Manufacturing Extension Partnership clients in Southwest Ohio.

Ron Pieper earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University in Ohio, majoring in Manufacturing Engineering, and served as President of the Student Chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). He has since earned a Masters Certificate in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Villanova University.

Partner

1809 Capital

Mark is an experienced technologist, executive, founder, and venture investor. He is a founding Partner of 1809 Capital, a growth stage fund leveraging the Miami University alumni network.

Mark is founder/Managing Director of West Capital Advisors, a corporate innovation and venture investment advisory firm and West Capital Partners, a venture investment vehicle for family offices. Current clients include Jumpstart Inc. in Cleveland where he advises corporate innovation services for Jumpstart’s sponsors in the region. West Capital also advised Fifth Third Bank, AECOM, UI Labs, and Maritz CVC programs. Mark previously served as Managing Director, Draper Triangle Ventures, a seed/Series A technology fund.

Mark has operationally been involved in many entrepreneurial ventures. He was founder/CEO of Synchrony Communications. In prior years he served in management roles with a series of venture backed Silicon Valley companies, including Gain Technology (sold to Sybase), Siebel Systems (IPO), and Genesys Telecommunications (IPO).

He is an observer on the Boards of ShareThis and is an Advisory Council member for the GreenLight Foundation | Cincinnati.

Mark holds an M.B.A. from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and a BS Systems Analysis from Miami University.

Managing Director, AMRS Head of Sales and Execution Futures & Options, OTC Clearing, FXPB and FIPB

BofA Securities, Inc.

Andee is the head of Americas Sales and Execution for Futures and Options (F&O), OTC Clearing, FXPB and FIPB. Andee has overall responsibility to drive revenues for both origination and organic growth across the platform. In this capacity, Andee is responsible for the Americas sales and execution strategy across all asset classes and tasked with creating a best in class culture. Andee is also a co-chair for BofA’s Women’s Leadership Council for AMRS.

Prior to joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2013, Andee spent five years at UBS where she focused on developing the bank’s F&O and OTC clearing relationships across all client channels. Andee had previously worked at the electronic trading services platform Trading Technologies (“TT”), managing the global technical sales team in expanding TT’s footprint across global financial institutions. She was also tasked with spearheading international expansion of exchange connectivity across Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Australia.

Andee holds a BS in Engineering and Management Information Systems from Miami University.

Outside of work, Andee spends time at her home in Westchester with her husband and two children. Andee volunteers for the WLC, mentors for Women Who Code and Student Sponsor Partners and sponsors her team for the Cycle for Survival challenge. She also is a guest lecturer at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania on the changing history of global markets.

Associate Test Engineer

R&D Ethicon

Nikki received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and graduated in 2020. During her time at Miami, she had numerous jobs on and off campus. One of which opened the door to combine her love for the medical world and physics. Nikki started to work at Ethicon in 2019 as a co-op and now works their full time as a test engineer, where she supports all product lines in market and in R&D. Nikki lives in Fairfield, Ohio with her Husband, Nathan, and two dogs, Maple and Mocha. In her spare time, she likes to volunteer with FIRST, walk the dogs and travel the world.

Associate Director, Product Development

Eli Lilly and Company

Nora graduated from Miami University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering. During her time on campus, she was heavily involved in the Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute (now the Lilly Leadership Institute), Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity, and Kode2Learn-an organization focused on teaching elementary school students how to code.

After graduation, Nora accepted a job at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis as an IT Analyst in the Medicines Development organization. Over the past 7 years, she led projects focused on the design, development, and execution of decentralized clinical trials and digital biomarkers.

Currently, she is an IT Associate Director in the Product Development space where she engages both business and IT leaders, project sponsors, scientists, and external strategic partners to managae the portfolio of application and development roadmaps.

Nora lives in Indianapolis with her husband Connor and their puppy Willow. She recently completed her dual Executive MBA and MS in Healthcare Leadership from Cornell University.