Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Willy Shih is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He is part of the Technology and Operations Management Unit, and he teaches in the MBA and Executive Education Programs. His expertise is in manufacturing and product development, and he has written or co-authored numerous cases and teaching materials in industries ranging from semiconductors, information technology, consumer electronics, aerospace, transportation equipment, manufacturing processes and tools, and intellectual property. His paper, “Restoring American Competitiveness,” co-authored with Gary Pisano, won the 2009 McKinsey Award. His book, “Producing Prosperity – Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance,” co-authored with Gary Pisano, has called attention to the link between manufacturing and innovation. His paper on the challenges of reshoring was featured in the Fall 2014 issue of the Sloan Management Review.

Prior to coming to HBS in 2007, Willy spent 28 years in industry at IBM, Digital Equipment, Silicon Graphics, Eastman Kodak, and Thomson SA. He worked in product development and manufacturing in a wide range of areas including computer systems, scientific instruments, semiconductors, digital cameras, optical discs and software systems. Reporting to him have been major manufacturing operations in the United States, China, Ireland, Japan, and Mexico, as well as global sales and marketing operations.

Dr. Shih is on the Board of Directors of FLEX Inc., a large manufacturing and supply chain services provider. He has S.B. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Founder, FIRST Robotics; President, DEKA Research & Development Corporation

Dean Kamen is an inventor, an entrepreneur, and a tireless advocate for science and technology. His roles as inventor and advocate are intertwined-his own passion for technology and its practical uses has driven his personal determination to spread the word about technology”s virtues and by so doing to change the culture of the United States.

He holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents, many of them for innovative medical devices that have expanded the frontiers of health care worldwide. While still a college undergraduate, he invented the first wearable infusion pump, which rapidly gained acceptance from such diverse medical specialties as chemotherapy, neonatology, and endocrinology. In 1976, he founded his first medical device company, AutoSyringe, Inc., to manufacture and market the pumps. At age 30, he sold that company to Baxter International Corporation. By then, he had added a number of other infusion devices, including the first wearable insulin pump for diabetics.

Following the sale of AutoSyringe, Inc., he founded DEKA Research & Development Corporation to develop internally generated inventions as well as to provide research and development for major corporate clients.

Notably, Kamen was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 2000. Presented by President Clinton, this award was in recognition for inventions that have advanced medical care worldwide, and for innovative and imaginative leadership in awakening America to the excitement of science and technology.

In addition to DEKA, one of Kamen’s proudest accomplishments is founding FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization dedicated to motivating the next generation to understand, use, and enjoy science and technology. Founded in 1989, this year FIRST will serve more than 300,000 young people, ages 6 to 18, in more than 60 countries around the globe. High-school-aged participants are eligible to apply for more than $16 million in scholarships from leading colleges, universities, and corporations. Studies have shown that FIRST Alumni are highly motivated to pursue careers in science and engineering, thus fulfilling Dean’s goal of inspiring the next generation of technological leaders.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy

Appointed in October 2017, Mr. Eric Chewning currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy (MIBP). In this capacity, he is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L) for analyzing the capabilities, overall health, and policies concerning the industrial base on which the Department relies for current and future warfighting capabilities and requirements. The Office is also responsible for developing the Department’s position on the business combinations and transactions, both foreign and domestic, that shape and affect the defense industrial base.

Mr. Chewning has over 17 years of experience advising decision makers in military-industrial markets. Prior to his assignment with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he was a partner with McKinsey & Company where he worked alongside financial sponsors and corporate leaders in the global aerospace, defense, government services, and space industries. Mr. Chewning’s analysis of foreign policy, military strategy, and the defense industrial base has been featured in a variety of national media outlets, including: American Interest, Defense News, Military Review, and War on the Rocks. A former US Army officer, he is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and participated in the evacuation of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Prior to his military service, he was an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley & Co. focused on the industrial sector. He received a MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia where he was recognized as a Shermet Scholar. He also earned a MA in international relations and BA with honors from the University of Chicago.

Special Assistant to the President for the Defense Industrial Base, Office of Trade & Manufacturing Policy, White House National Economic Council (NEC)

Alexander Gray assumed duties as Special Assistant to the President for the Defense Industrial Base at the Office of Trade & Manufacturing Policy of the White House National Economic Council (NEC) on January 20, 2017. In this capacity, he focuses on the nexus between national security, defense manufacturing and industrial base resiliency, and U.S. trade and industrial policy.

Previously, Mr. Gray had been a Member of the U.S. Department of State “Landing Team” for the Presidential Transition Team since November 2016, focusing on Asia-Pacific issues.

From July to November 2016, Mr. Gray was Senior Defense Advisor to the Trump-Pence presidential campaign, based in New York City, where he advised the Republican presidential nominee on defense and national security, particularly the formulation of the candidate’s plan to rebuild the U.S. military.

Prior to joining the Trump campaign, Mr. Gray served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Congressman J. Randy Forbes (R-VA), the Chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower & Projection Forces Subcommittee and Co-Chairman of the Congressional China Caucus. Mr. Gray handled the Congressman’s portfolio focused on Asia-Pacific security, trade, and broader foreign policy issues.

Mr. Gray began his career as a Policy Analyst with the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

Mr. Gray’s writing on defense and Asia-Pacific issues has appeared in Foreign Policy, National Review Online, The Weekly Standard, The National Interest, Naval War College Review, Strategic Studies Quarterly, and the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings. He has appeared on the nationally-syndicated radio program The John Batchelor Show and Voice of America Radio, as well as radio and TV programs in India, Taiwan, and Japan, and guest lectured at the U.S. National War College, the Institute of World Politics, and the American Academy of Strategic Education.

Named a “Future Leader” by the Foreign Policy Initiative, Mr. Gray received degrees from Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University.

Executive Director, MForesight: Alliance for Manufacturing Foresight

Sridhar Kota is the Herrick Professor of Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, and the founding Executive Director of MForesight. Between 2009-2012 Prof. Kota served as the Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He played an instrumental role in initiating and launching National Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, National Robotics Initiative, and National Digital Engineering and Manufacturing Initiative.

Kota authored over 200 technical papers, 30 patents on mechanical and bio-inspired engineering systems. He is the recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Machine Design Award, Leonardo da Vinci Award, the Outstanding Educator Award, University of Michigan Regents Award for Distinguished Public Service and the Distinguished University Innovator Award. He is the founder and CEO of FlexSys Inc., that developed and flight tested the world’s first modern aircraft with shape-changing wings to improve fuel efficiency and noise reduction.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), U.S. Department of Energy

In his role as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Daniel Simmons leads EERE to achieve its vision of a strong and prosperous America powered by clean, affordable, and secure energy. He oversees technology development in the energy efficiency, renewable power and sustainable transportation sectors.

Daniel served as the Institute for Energy Research’s Vice President for Policy, overseeing its energy and environmental policy work at the state and federal level. He previously served as director of the Natural Resources Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council, was a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, and worked as professional staff on the Committee on Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives.

He is a graduate of Utah State University and George Mason University School of Law.

President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)

As founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Robert D. Atkinson leads a prolific team of policy analysts and fellows that is successfully shaping debate and setting the agenda on a host of critical issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. He is an internationally recognized scholar and a widely published author whom The New Republic has named one of the “three most important thinkers about innovation,” Washingtonian Magazine has called a “Tech Titan,” and Government Technology Magazine has judged to be one of the 25 top “Doers, Dreamers and Drivers of Information Technology.”

Atkinson holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was awarded the prestigious Joseph E. Pogue Fellowship. He earned his master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Oregon, which named him a distinguished alumnus in 2014.

Senior Commercialization Advisor, ARPA-E, Dept. of Energy

Sue Babinec is a Senior Commercialization Advisor at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and is responsible for the Energy Storage portfolio (both transportation and the grid). She helps lead ARPA-E’s Technology-to-Market effort, which focuses on preparing breakthrough energy technologies for the transition from lab to market. Prior to ARPA-E, Babinec served as Technical Director for A123 Systems, Inc., where she led research groups innovating in Li-Ion materials and cell technologies and also developed an analytical organization in support of the company’s global business.

Babinec spent the first 20+ years of her career at The Dow Chemical Corporation, where she was awarded the Inventor of the Year and was the company’s first woman Corporate Fellow. Her role also included Scientist Partner to the Dow Venture Capital Organization-Physical Sciences, leading technical analysis of investment opportunities and hands-on partnering in start-up investments. Babinec also co-invented a low-cost display technology that was spun out as the venture-funded Aveso Displays.

She holds 40+ patents and has authored or co-authored dozens of journal articles and book chapters on her areas of expertise. She is an active member of The American Chemical Society, The Materials Research Society and The Electrochemical Society.

Professor & Earnest F. Gloyna Regents Chair in Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

Professor Joseph J. Beaman joined The University of Texas at Austin faculty in 1979 after receiving his Sc.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Mechanical Engineering. His career work has been in both manufacturing and control. His specific manufacturing research interest is in Additive Manufacturing (AM).

Professor Beaman was the first academic researcher in the field. One of the most successful AM approaches, Selective Laser Sintering, was a process that was developed in his laboratory. He was one of the founders of DTM Corporation (now merged with 3D Systems), which markets Selective Laser Sintering.Professor Beaman has also worked extensively with the special metals processing industry to develop next generation process control for super alloys and titanium alloys. Dr. Beaman is a Fellow of both ASME and SME.

He is presently technical editor of the Journal of Dynamic Systems Measurement and Control of ASME. He was chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas from 2001 to 2012. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineers in 2013, received the FAME award in Additive Manufacturing in 2014, elected National Academy of Inventors in 2015, and received the SME Albert M. Sargent Award in 2016.

Lecturer, MIT

William B. Bonvillian is Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Science Technology and Society and Political Science Departments, and is a senior director at MIT’s Office of Digital Learning working on a workforce education research project. Prior to this position, from 2006-17, he was Director of the MIT’s Washington, D.C. Office. In this position he worked to support MIT’s strong and historic relations with federal R&D agencies, and its role on national science policy. He has assisted with major MIT technology policy initiatives on energy technology, the “convergence” of life, engineering and physical sciences, advanced manufacturing, online higher education and its “innovation orchard” project on startup scale-up.

Prior to that position, he served for seventeen years as a senior policy advisor in the U.S. Senate. His legislative efforts included science and technology policy and innovation issues. He worked extensively on legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, on Intelligence Reform, on climate change, on defense and life science R&D, and on national competitiveness and innovation legislation leading to the America Competes Act in 2007.

He is the author of three books, including the new MIT Press book (with Peter Singer), Advanced Manufacturing – the New American Innovation Policies (Jan. 2018).

Chief Technology Officer and Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, EWI

Chris Conrardy is the interim Executive Director of LIFT, a Manufacturing USA public-private partnership geared toward advancing America’s leadership in manufacturing technology. To join LIFT, Mr. Conrardy has taken a hiatus from his decade-long role as Chief Technology Officer and Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at EWI in Columbus Ohio.

Mr. Conrardy serves on multiple boards of start-up companies and university centers. Prior to joining EWI, he was a partner in a technology start-up company which develops software products for manufacturing automation, process monitoring, and quality tracking applications. He also worked as a researcher in a corporate R&D center for a company that built systems for the nuclear/fossil power generation and off-shore oil industries.

Mr. Conrardy holds BS and MS degrees in Welding Engineering from Ohio State University and has over 50 technical publications, presentations, awards, and patents.

CEO, Eccalon

André J. Gudger served in the Obama administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy (MIBP) and the Director of the Office of Small Business Programs at the Department of Defense (DoD). In his role at MIBP Mr. Gudger was responsible for ensuring a robust, secure, resilient, and innovative industrial base to meet DoD’s needs. Mr. Gudger supported the Office of the Secretary of Defense by providing detailed analyses and in-depth understanding of the complex industrial supply chain essential to our national defense, and recommending or taking appropriate actions to maintain the health, integrity and technical superiority of that supply chain. Additionally, Mr. Gudger was the DoD lead for President Obama’s National Network of Manufacturing Innovation.

Prior to this role, Mr. Gudger served as the Director of the Office of Small Business Programs in the Department of Defense. In this role, Mr. Gudger served as the principle advisor to the Secretary of Defense on all small business matters, overseeing more than $120 billion of annual awards to small business.

Mr. Gudger received his Bachelor’s of Science degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and performed his Master’s in Business Administration studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Tec de Monterrey in Mexico, FundacaoVargus University in Brazil, and Gdansk University in Poland.

Founder and Chair, Cascade Engineering

Fred Keller started Cascade Engineering in 1973 with a belief that business can complement financial performance with important work in the social and environmental arenas. Driven by this belief, a small team of six employees has grown to be a company of 1,700 people serving a worldwide customer base.

With a passion for making a positive impact, Fred is a trustee for the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and is an Executive-in-Residence at the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan – Ross School of Business. He has served as board chair for the U.S. Department of Commerce – Manufacturing Council and served 14 years on the W.K. Kellogg Foundation – Board of Trustees as a trustee and former chair. Fred has been part of many community organizations and change initiatives including Talent 2025 and K-Connect.

Fred has been a visiting lecturer at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University since 2002, where he currently teaches two courses on social entrepreneurship. Fred earned a B.S. in materials science and engineering from Cornell University and an M.S. in business management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Director, SCRA Entrepreneurial Programs, SC Launch

Jill Sorensen is a senior innovation manager with over twenty-five years of experience in emerging technology, intellectual asset, business, start-ups and economic development management. As the Director of SCRA’s Entrepreneurial Programs, Jill oversees entrepreneurship investments in the life science, IT, advanced manufacturing and material science sectors to promote innovation and economic development in South Carolina.

Prior to joining SCRA, Jill directed Bilyan, LLC, an innovation management consultancy. Jill has advised clients ranging from individual inventors and start-ups to national and international clients across the health, energy, transportation and manufacturing sectors. Jill co-founded and directed BEVI, the Baltimore-Washington Electric Vehicle Initiative, since 2008. BEVI is a division of the non-profit Electric Vehicle Association of the Greater Washington DC area (EVADC). In additive manufacturing, Jill co-founded for profit entities and provided strategic advisory services to non-profit entities promoting local advanced manufacturing capabilities.Before Bilyan and BEVI, Jill served as Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins University Technology Transfer (JHTT) office, now Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV). Jill continues as part-time faculty at Hopkins teaching innovation management. Before moving to Maryland to join Hopkins, Jill worked for 18 years at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), six years directing its technology transfer office and twelve years as in-house intellectual property counsel.

Jill earned her J.D. from DePaul University, her B.A. from Northwestern University, pursued graduate studies in chemistry at the University of Illinois, and was a visiting scholar to the University of Oxford in 2004 and 2007. Jill has served as a panel and sole arbitrator in commercial disputes for the past twenty-five years, is a registered patent attorney in the United States, and is registered in the US to practice law in Illinois.

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, University at Buffalo

An accomplished higher education leader and internationally recognized scholar, Charles F. Zukoski, PhD, has served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs since 2012. As the university’s second ranking officer, he is responsible for overseeing all academic and academic support programs.

A deep believer in the power of higher education to improve society, Provost Zukoski is committed to providing transformative educational experiences that prepare students for future success, growing UB’s impact through interdisciplinary excellence and meaningful engagement, and enhancing its strength as a truly global university. Under his leadership, the university has transformed its general education program, increased international and experiential learning opportunities, significantly improved graduation rates, grown and diversified the student body, and enhanced faculty research productivity and impact.

Provost Zukoski joined UB from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was a faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering for three decades and he served as vice chancellor for research. Prior to joining UB, he also was chairman of the Science and Engineering Research Council in Singapore.A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Provost Zukoski was named one of the “Hundred Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era” by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Reed College and a PhD in chemical engineering from Princeton University.

Master of Ceremonies

As a recognised mobile expert and thought leader, Oisin Lunny has hosted, moderated and given keynote presentations at over 200 conferences in every corner of the world. Oisin is Chief Evangelist at OpenMarket, helping the biggest brands in the world use mobile messaging to connect with their customers in the moments when it counts.

Oisin’s background of over 25 years in technology and media includes roles as UK Managing Director for the world’s largest social space for teens, and Global Product Manager for Media Services at Europe’s largest network operator. Oisin speaks and moderates at conferences globally, maintaining a parallel profile as a film composer, producer, and DJ.

Oisin has spoken at over 200 conferences, contributes to The Guardian and Digital Doughnut, is the music editor of PHOENIX Magazine, sits on advisory boards for SXSW and The Economist Big Think, and was named the #5 most engaged marketer in the UK by LinkedIn.