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Member Summit Speaker Bios

Keynote Speakers

Michael Idelchik, VP Advanced Technologies,  GE Global Research

Michael Idelchik is vice president of Advanced Technologies for GE Global Research, the centralized research and development organization of General Electric. At Global Research, some 2,500 people - including approximately 1,900 scientists, engineers and technicians from virtually every major scientific and engineering discipline - concentrate their efforts on the company's long-range technology needs. The organization has research facilities in the United States, India, China and Germany, working in collaboration with GE businesses around the world.

Michael oversees the company’s longest range, highest impact research endeavors. With major programs in nanotechnology, energy conversion, molecular medicine, advanced propulsion, organic electronics and sustainable energy, the Advance Technology office represents the most significant investments in emerging technologies.
 
Prior to assuming this role, Michael served as the managing director of GE’s China Technology Center, since its inception in 2002.  In this role, he founded and built GE’s first integrated technology center in China.

Michael first joined GE as an engineer at Aircraft Engines in 1978.  He progressed through a number of engineering positions with increasing responsibilities and in 1991 Michael was a recipient of the Aircraft Engines  ' Engineer of the Year  ' award. 

In January 2006, GE President and CEO Jeff Immelt presented Michael the Chairman’s Award for Technology Leadership in recognition of a lifetime achievement in driving innovation and growth for the future.

Michael received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University and a  Masters degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Michael holds 12 patents.

 

Robert Rosenfeld, Founder and CEO, Idea Connection Systems, Inc.

Robert “Bob” Rosenfeld is the President and CEO of Idea Connection Systems, Inc. For over 40 years, he has been a leader and practitioner in the human dynamics that make innovation happen inside organizations.  He is the author of Making the Invisible Visible: The Human Principles for Sustaining Innovation (2006) and co-author of, The Invisible Element: A Practical Guide for the Human Dynamics of Innovation (2011).

Bob created the first Office of Innovation ever to be successfully implemented in Corporate America in 1978 at Eastman Kodak. In 1985, he co-founded the Association for Managers of Innovation (AMI).
 
After working with many diverse people and organizations, in 2001, Bob developed Mosaic Partnerships™—an innovative process for breaking down barriers between races that has been implemented in cities around the United States and organizations around the world.

Because of Bob’s innovation experience, in May 2006, he was named the Center for Creative Leadership’s (CCL) first “Innovator in Residence” and in 2008, he was awarded Innovator in Residence Emeritus status.

In 2008, he created the ISPI® (Innovation Strengths Preference Indicator®), an innovation tool used to highlight how people prefer to innovate as well as how they prefer to innovate with others. The ISPI® is used to make the invisible elements of innovation visible to individuals, pairs, teams, departments and organizations.

Bob’s efforts in the human dynamics of innovation continue to impact organizations around the globe with clients in the U.S., India, Brazil, Singapore, South Africa, Canada and Europe.

Additional Speakers

 

2011 Maurice Holland Award Winner

William (Bill) Banholzer, PhD, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, The Dow Chemical Company

William (Bill) Banholzer is executive vice president, ventures, new business development & licensing and chief technology officer for The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan, where he has responsibility for driving innovation, value creation and Dow's research and development activities around the world. Banholzer joined Dow in 2005 following a 22-year career with General Electric Company.

In 2002, Banholzer was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest distinctions that can be accorded an engineer. He is one of only 105 active chemical engineers elected to the prestigious institution, which honors those who have made "important contributions to engineering theory and practice" or demonstrated "unusual accomplishment in the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology." In 2006 he was elected by the Academy membership to serve as one of 12 councilors comprising the governing body of the NAE.

Banholzer earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Marquette University and master’s and doctorate degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois. He is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt, holds 16 U.S. patents and has over 80 publications, which have received more than 1000 citations, for his work in the field of engineering and chemistry.

 

Justin Bell, Innovation Director, NewEdge

Justin has been involved with IRI since 2008, most recently as a Subject Matter Expert with the ROR group "Identifying Opportunities for Breakthrough Innovation."  His experience in innovation strategy spans a range of industries (energy, materials and chemicals, healthcare, sustainable packaging, food, consumer goods, outdoor and apparel) and areas of innovation (front end opportunity identification, opportunity development, go-to-market).  Justin holds an MBA in strategy and marketing from USC's Marshall School of Business.  He lives in Seattle with his wife and two sons and races in triathlons when he can fit it in!

 

 

Brian Buchert, Director, Corporate Strategy and M&A, Church & Dwight

Brian is the head of Corporate Strategy and M&A for Church & Dwight based out of Princeton, NJ. Church & Dwight is a manufacturer of consumer products and owns such iconic brands as Arm & Hammer, Trojan, OxiClean, First Response, Nair and Orajel.  Church & Dwight has grown dramatically through M&A over the past 10 years tripling revenue to over $2.6B since 2000.  Since joining Church & Dwight the company has acquired OxiClean, Orajel, Simply Saline, Toothtunes, Batiste and Feline Pine brands while also divesting four businesses.  

Brian joined Church & Dwight in 2006 after a 13 year career on Wall Street in Private Equity and Corporate M&A. Brian began his career working in the Investment Banking Group at Morgan Stanley providing M&A and Capital Structure advice to health care companies. Brian then went on to work in Private Equity at Columbia Capital in Washington, DC making over 20 direct investments totaling over $400 million in early stage Technology and Telecommunications companies. He also headed the M&A department at Lafarge North America which was the largest U.S. basic materials provider before being acquired in 2006. 

Brian received his BS in Finance from Georgetown University.

 

Daniel Carpenter, Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Energizer

Dan Carpenter became VP and CTO of Energizer Battery Manufacturing in 2004.  He has been with Energizer for 24 years with assignments in Engineering, Plant Management, Sales Leadership and R & D.  Dan has accountability for Research & Development, Engineering and Global Strategic OEM Sales for Energizer's Household Products Division.

Dan earned a B.S in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  He has been an active member of IRI since 2004.  Dan just recently completed a two year assignment on the IRI Board of Directors and has co-chaired two ROR working groups - Critical Skills and the Retirement Bubble and R & D Leadership Skills and Styles.

 

John D. Evans, PhD, MBA, Corporate Vice President, Business Innovation, Lockheed Martin

Reporting directly to Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Evans is responsible for leveraging innovation as a key tool to enabling growth, driving affordability, and maintaining the relevance of Lockheed Martin’s products in a rapidly changing global security environment.  In this role, Dr. Evans has led the corporation in defining and launching successful initiatives in diverse areas such as Human Terrain, Autonomous Systems and Health Care. Through these initiatives, Lockheed Martin is transforming its approach to innovation, creating and implementing a repeatable set of processes for defining and executing growth initiatives.

Before joining Lockheed Martin, Dr. Evans served as a Program Manager for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).   Prior to DARPA he served as Chief Technical Officer for west-coast micro-technology start-up Microfabrica; lead MEMS scientist for New Jersey based Fortune 500 medical device firm Becton Dickinson; and as a renewable energy consultant for the United States Congress Office of Technology Assessment (OTA).

Dr. Evans earned a B.A. degree in Physics from Carleton College; a M.S. degree in Civil Engineering and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley; and an M.B.A. from Duke University.  Dr. Evans is a Member of Sigma Xi and the American Society for Mechanical Engineering (ASME), and is a Senior Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).  He serves as a member of the University of California Berkeley External Advisory Board for the Department of Mechanical Engineering.  He has received numerous recognitions and is an inventor on ten issued United States patents.

 

Ted Farrington, Senior Director of Food Processing Technology, PepsiCo

Ted Farrington is currently Senior Director of Food Processing Technology in PepsiCo Advanced Research, located in Plano, TX.  Ted has over 30 years of industrial and academic research experience having held positions at Procter and Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and Johnson & Johnson, among others prior to joining PepsiCo in 2007.  He also taught at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology in the 1980’s.  Ted has been active in the IRI, having chaired plenary sessions, panel discussions and co-sponsored 2 ROR projects.  He holds 18 U.S. patents and has published a book on servant leadership called “What Do I Do Now? – Becoming a 21st Century Leader”.  Ted lives in McKinney, TX with his wife Gail, where they enjoy playing chess and staying out of the 100⁰ heat!  When the temperature is below 100⁰ he enjoys swimming, bicycling and jogging.

 

Alan R. Fusfeld, President and CEO, The Fusfeld Group

Alan Fusfeld focuses on technology strategy, technology planning (alignment of technology plans with business plans), technology transfer, innovation effectiveness, R&D productivity, R&D metrics and corporate new ventures.  Over the last several years, his papers have focused on R&D metrics, the ‘technology value pyramid, ‘anchored scales’ for determining R&D project risk, and R&D portfolio optimization.

Some of his most important contributions include the technological progress function for forecasting, the technology planning framework for linking science to business, technology performance parameters, linking price/performance curves with technology substitution analysis, key expert panels, and the "black & white' theory of management dynamics. Most recently, he has developed global network theories for managing multinational laboratories, paradigms for external technology strategies and the 'strategic planning period' paradigm for technology strategy.

Alan received his B.E.S. degree in Mechanics from The Johns Hopkins University in 1970, and was a member of MIT’s Ph.D. Program in Management of Technology (1970-75).

 

Louis Gritzo, PhD, Vice President, Research, FM Global

Dr. Louis Gritzo is VP of Research at FM Global, a mutual-owned, research and engineering-based industrial and commercial property insurance company.  The research division includes scientists with expertise in fire, explosions, natural hazards and risk and reliability as well as FM Global’s $125-million, 1,600 acre, one-of-a-kind Research Campus for property loss prevention research. Previously, Lou had the position of Manager of Fire Science and Technology, and a member of the Advanced Concepts Group think tank at Sandia National Laboratories.

He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering, with a Minor in Applied Mathematics, from Texas Tech University. He serves as chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Heat Transfer Division Executive Committee, on the Governing Board of the Global Earthquake Model, on Research Advisory Committees for the National Fire Protection Association and Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, the Research Leadership Committee of the Industrial Research Institute, and several university advisory boards.  

 

Pam Henderson, PhD, Co-CEO, NewEdge

Dr. Pam Henderson is co-CEO of NewEdge, an innovation firm with global offices, providing end to end innovation services including innovation, strategy, award winning design and rapid commercialization. She and partner, Paul Stead, MA, have built a new kind of consultancy bringing together design and business thinking to create new approaches to strategy, market research and design; consulting with companies such as Procter & Gamble, John Deere, VF Corporation, Kraft, Pepsico, Microsoft, Motorola, Eastman Chemical, DSM, Kellogg and Lockheed Martin to name a few.

Henderson received her PhD in market strategy from the University of Texas at Austin and began teaching at Carnegie Mellon. She has taught, published and lectured extensively about predicting the impact of design on consumer response, identifying, prioritizing and sizing markets that do not exist, focusing on opportunities rather than ideas and creating organizational structures that deliver breakthrough innovation. Her work for the U.S. National Labs led her to develop Disruptive Market Research™ which was responsible for sizing the market need for anthrax sensing equipment in the early ‘90s.

Dr. Henderson is a subject matter expert for IRI on delivering breakthrough innovation and has received recognition in top journals including the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal and Marketing Science.

 

David Horsup, PhD, Vice President of R&D, Energy Services, Nalco Company 

David Horsup is the Vice President Research & Development for the Energy Services Division of Nalco Company.  He was appointed to the position in 2010 after holding several R&D managerial and individual contributor roles.  He leads a global team of scientists and engineers to provide technology based solutions to challenges faced in the oil production, refining and petrochemicals sectors.  He has 20 years of research and development experience in the oil and gas industry. 

David holds a degree in Chemistry from the University of Hull, UK and a PhD in Surfactant and Colloid Chemistry from the same university.  He resides in Houston, Texas with his wife Stella and two children.

Nalco Company is a $4.2 B corporation based in Naperville, Illinois.

 

Edward Hummel, PhD,  Director, Global Innovation, Alcatel-Lucent

Dr. Hummel has been involved in setting up numerous research programs with government agencies, universities and industrial partners throughout the world.  He supports open innovation initiatives for Bell Labs, the research center of Alcatel-Lucent.  Previously Dr. Hummel performed research in distributed multi-processing networks, simulation and modeling of physical processes, and high energy interactions of hadronic particles.

Dr. Hummel received his Ph.D. in Particle Physics from New York University and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has served on the board of directors of the Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Technology Alliance and the Industrial Research Institute.

 

Dan Kussman, Senior Manager R&D, Boston Scientific Corp.

Dan Kussman is Senior Manager R&D. Previously Dan was Knowledge Driven Product Development Program Lead responsible for transforming Boston Scientifics’ business system from a stage gate approach to a continuous product development process driven by knowledge. Responsibilities also included the development and implementation of a Product Lifecycle Management system. Previously at Honeywell, Dan started as a Research and Development engineer and then held positions as both a Technical and Core Team Leader for developing technology and product development products. He also served as one of Honeywell’s original fourteen employees to implement Six Sigma for the corporation.

 

Carl Loweth, Manager, Technology Innovation Strategy, John Deere

Carl Loweth is Manager, Technology Innovation Strategy, at the Deere & Company Moline Technology Innovation Center in Moline, Illinois. In this role he helps to plan and coordinate the Advanced R&D agenda with business units.  He has over 30  years experience in R&D and technology strategy, product engineering and manufacturing, and project management.

He holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and in business administration from Purdue University.

  

Scott Mathews, Technical Fellow, The Boeing Company

Scott Mathews is a Boeing Technical Fellow and technical lead for the Business Engineering initiative within the Chief Engineer’s office of the Boeing research and development division. At Boeing he provides technical consulting to business units for developing investment and risk models for new products, strategically significant projects, and innovation portfolio management. He is an internationally recognized expert in complex financial and investment decision modeling that feature real option valuation. Scott holds more than 20 patents and patents pending in the field. For the past 20 years he has been engaged in stochastic modeling, capital markets investment and financial and strategic analysis.

Previously, Scott was employed in the United States, Europe, and Asia as a design engineer in robotic control systems, artificial intelligence, and systems and software development. His academic background spans computer engineering, digital control systems, artificial intelligence computer science, and computational finance.

Paul Nakagaki, PhD, Head, New Innovation Models, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

Paul Nakagaki has 23 years of diverse experience in the pharmaceutical industry.  His role in Roche Partnering is to explore alternate innovation models to the conventional models used in Pharma.  In this role, he has been pursuing Open Innovation approaches in Pharma as well as working with the Roche Open Innovation Network to establish an open innovation mindset within Roche.

He joined Roche Partnering from Roche Group Research Strategy whose mission it was to build innovation strategies across the interfaces in the Roche Group. 

Prior to this, he was the Head of the Pharma in 2015 Project Office.  Pharma in 2015 was initiated in late 2005, and focused on the creation of the new R&D model that will provide sustainable innovation and productivity for Roche Pharma.  Paul has been working on R&D strategies supporting the corporate Winning for the Future agenda since 2001.

Until July 2007, Paul was Head of Pharma Research Strategy reporting to Dr. Jonathan Knowles, President of Roche Research, a position he held since 2000. In this capacity, he was responsible for establishing and implementing the Research strategy and Research portfolio strategy.

 

David Pustai, PhD, Program Manager, Innovation and Advanced R&D, Lockheed Martin

Dr. David Pustai leads a team that develops breakthrough technologies and business models, resulting in significant growth opportunities for Lockheed Martin. As the Program Manager for Innovation and Advanced Research and Development for Lockheed Martin, Dr. Pustai is passionate about driving innovation through all aspects of the corporation. A champion of innovation and collaboration, he identifies and leads successful initiatives to leverage innovative ideas and expertise from organizations within and outside Lockheed Martin to help the corporation achieve strategic business objectives.

 Dr. Pustai earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from The College of New Jersey and a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Delaware. He has authored more than 30 publications, holds a U.S. Patent, and has been an invited speaker at numerous technical and academic conferences.

 

Karl Sanchack, Senior Manager, Innovation, Lockheed Martin Corporation

Karl Sanchack leads a global research & development team focused on leveraging new ideas to generate shareholder value for Lockheed Martin. His organization encompasses a team of company-wide managers, academia, and national laboratories across the country.  This team creates and advances the state-of-the-art in innovation management and executes with an objective of maximizing return on R&D investment. Mr. Sanchack infuses the resulting capabilities into an evolving corporate strategy for emerging and adjacent markets.
Mr. Sanchack has over 20 years of experience in high technology industries with significant executive management roles. Mr. Sanchack received a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Technology Management from the University of Phoenix.

 

Ann C. Savoca, PhD, Global Vice President, Technology & Innovation, Sealed Air Corporation

Dr. Savoca joined Sealed Air Corporation in July 2008. Before joining the company, Dr. Savoca was Vice President, Technology, of the Specialty Polymers Group of Akzo Nobel, a manufacturer of paints, coatings and specialty chemicals.  Ann also served as Corporate Vice President, Research and Development for National Starch and Chemical Company  and led a team  responsible for specialty polymers technology strategy, and coordinated the Innovation Program for National Starch.
Ann also held a variety of research and technology management positions  at Air Products and Chemicals.

She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Trinity College in Hartford, CT and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

Randall (Randy) Schiestl, PMP, Vice President R&D, Global Operations and Technology, Boston Scientific Corp.

Randall (Randy) Schiestl currently leads a team of talented R&D engineers and technicians focused on New Product Development of minimally invasive medical devices within the Boston Scientific Corporation. Specific responsibilities include: product life cycle process improvement, design services, packaging, labeling and sterilization engineering; new product development facilities and labs; test method development; R&D information systems; knowledge driven tools and methodologies; and sustaining engineering. He leads the newly formed Engineering Services Group at BSC with teams located across multiple facilities both US and OUS.

 

Gene Slowinski, Director of Strategic Alliance Research, Graduate School of Management, Rutgers University

Gene Slowinski is also Managing Partner of the Alliance Management Group, a consulting firm devoted to the formation and management of strategic alliances.

For the last 25 years Dr. Slowinski has consulted and conducted research on Open Innovation. His book, Reinventing Corporate Growth is the leading book on growing the corporation.  His articles on managing strategic alliances can be found in Business Horizons, Research-Technology Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, les Nouvelles, Cooperative Strategies in International Business, The Journal of Advanced Management, and Managing the High Technology Firm.

 

 

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