Industry 4.0 Experience

Steve Bieszczat
Chief Marketing Officer, Dassault Systemes

Bio coming soon.

Simone Bonino
VP of Business Development, Manufacturing Solutions, Altair Engineering, Inc.

Simone Bonini is vice president of business development for manufacturing solutions at Altair. He has an associate’s degree in mechanical engineering, has worked as a manufacturing engineer and tool and die project manager, and joined the Italian branch of Altair in 2001 as account manager for manufacturing. He subsequently moved to the Altair U.S. headquarters in 2006, taking the role of stamping technology manager. He later transitioned into a marketing position, overseeing global marketing for the HyperWorks brand and eventually taking the role of vice president of product marketing for Altair’s simulation products.

His current role includes developing, delivering and supporting successful global go-to-market strategies and tactical plans to achieve massive, sustained business growth for Altair’s manufacturing solutions, identifying proven and scalable solutions to replicate success globally across direct and indirect channels.

Mark Forth
General Manager, Industrial Manufacturing , Oqton

Mark Forth is the general manager for industrial manufacturing at Oqton, a global software company that helps manufacturers increase innovation and efficiency by intelligently automating production. 
 
Mark has worked in the manufacturing industry for more than 30 years in a variety of technical and commercial roles. Prior to joining Oqton, Mark worked for CGTech, Autodesk and Delcam leading international product management, marketing and industry strategy teams.
 
Mark holds a B.A.(Hons) degree in Industrial Design and Engineering from the University of Teesside.

Montez King
Executive Director, National Institute For Metalworking Skills (NIMS)

Montez King is the executive director of NIMS, the nationally recognized organization responsible for developing national standards and competency-based credentials in manufacturing industries. He is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the NIMS operation including administration, programs and strategic planning. In October 2017, Montez was appointed to the President’s Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion, formed by the Secretary of Labor “to identify strategies and proposals to promote apprenticeships, especially in sectors where apprenticeship progress are insufficient.” Prior to his promotion into the executive director role, he was the NIMS credentialing director and led all technical support, data analytics and quality assurance activities for global credentialing.

Before joining NIMS, Montez served as training and technology manager for Magna International, one of the world’s largest OEM automotive parts manufacturers. At Magna, he oversaw training and technology development for the organization’s manufacturing training facility in the United States. He directed overall planning, development and implementation of their curriculum and instructions. He also directed the training, coaching, mentoring, and evaluating of all instructors.

Mike Montgomery
Project Manager, Application Sensors, Keyence Corp.

Bio coming soon.

Pavan Muzumdar
Chief Operating Officer, Automation Alley

Pavan Muzumdar is chief operating officer of Automation Alley and an Industry 4.0 expert. He is responsible for facilitating smooth functioning of the organization and enabling execution of strategic goals. Blending his 20-plus years of experience in executive leadership roles with his love of financial analysis and entrepreneurial endeavors, Muzumdar brings a people-focused, fundamentals-based analytical approach to his work.

Muzumdar also is the founder of PCS Insight LLC, a company that teaches leaders of growing companies how to increase profits by intensifying happiness and reduceng friction in the workplace, resulting in greater productivity and long-term success.

Leveraging his experience with workplace cultural change, Muzumdar created Automation Alley's Competitive Industry 4.0 Transformation (ACT4.0) program and Industry 4.0 Assessments to help growing, forward-thinking advanced manufacturing and technology companies transform their businesses by adopting cutting-edge technologies associated with Industry 4.0.

Donna Peterson
CEO, World Innovators, Inc.

Donna Peterson is the CEO of World Innovators, a renowned B2B family-owned marketing agency with more than four decades of experience in the industry. Her passion for fostering authentic relationships among individuals and businesses is the cornerstone of her success. Donna firmly believes that building strong bonds with employees, vendors and customers is paramount to long-term growth and success.

With her extensive background in Business-to-Business marketing, Donna has helped countless companies achieve their marketing objectives. Her secret to success lies in her ability to dive deep into specific industries, understand their unique challenges and goals, and stay ahead of the game by forecasting future trends. Her exceptional leadership skills and unwavering dedication to her craft have earned her the respect and admiration of her peers.

Craig Rice
Director of Manufacturing Engineering, Clips & Clamps Industries

Craig Rice has worked in the automotive industry since 1994.  He worked 16 years at Clips & Clamps while earning his engineering degree from U of M, before briefly working as an automotive test engineer at Mitsubishi Motors and then returning to manufacturing at Neapco Drivelines where he specialized in laser welding of unitized center bearings.  In 2022 he returned to Clips & Clamps to join the executive management team.

Flavio Rudiger
Lead Digitalization Engineer, Schuler Incorporated

As lead digitalization engineer at Schuler North America, Flávio Rudiger is responsible for the management, development and support of Schuler’s Digital Suite solutions for the U.S. market. His 26 years of electrical engineering, technical design and automotive stamping experience is essential in developing controls, drive platforms and hardware upgrades for Schuler equipment and press systems from other press manufacturers.

Flavio has earned progressive promotions throughout his 24 years at Schuler. His career began as a senior project engineer at the Brazilian headquarters, Prensas Schuler, and he later moved to Germany to work for the Schuler Group as a senior controls software engineer. His performance eventually landed him the position of controls software engineer group manager at the Schuler North American headquarters. Flavio ensures on-time, local digitalization support for all Schuler customers—including troubleshooting equipment support and onsite training. His knowledge of drive platforms, including Siemens, Allen Bradley, Beckhoff and others, supports team commissioning efforts of new Schuler equipment for automotive OEM customers and other industries.

Bryan Sapot
CEO, SensrTrx LLC dba Mingo

Bryan Sapot is a lifelong entrepreneur, speaker, CEO and founder of SensrTrx Manufacturing Analytics and Datix. With more than 20 years of experience in manufacturing technology, Bryan is known for his deep industry insights and plain language explanations of the complex ideas and issues manufacturer's face today. Bryan has been featured in INC magazine, the St. Louis Business Journal, and the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and has won numerous technology awards.