Patrick Abrami maintains total responsibility for an operations consulting practice, AMS, which includes information systems, performance improvement, and FTE benchmarking. In his 36 years with AMS he has participated in and managed projects at over 400 clients in 30 states. He served in positions of staff associate, senior staff associate, manager for the Southeast Massachusetts region, and regional director of both the Northern New England and Atlantic regions, prior to his becoming a partner. Mr. Abrami has much “grassroots” knowledge of hospital operations at the departmental level, which clients find extremely useful. Prior to AMS, he served as technical specialist in the Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of Buffalo, as well as a part-time instructor in Operations Research in the Department of Industrial Engineering.

Mario Adams-Campos was born in the Texas Hill country in New Braunfels, TX, raised by his single mother, Yolanda Reyes, who instilled in him sense of independence and ambition, while his father Alejandro Campos counseled him as he entered the corporate world after graduating from college. He attended University at Buffalo, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering in 1985. Mario furthered his education at Butler University in Indianapolis, earning a Master’s in Business Administration in 1991.  Mario is married to Kelley, residing in Ferndale, MI; they have 4 adult children.

Work Experience

Mario has had a 28-year-long career with Ford Motor Company, currently working in Ford’s Program Management Office, leading engineering efforts related to production-channel accessories for Trucks & SUV’s. His engineering work experience ranges from automotive regulatory matters, engineering design & release, program management, export programs, and planning. He has held key positions during foreign assignments in Brazil and German, adding Portuguese, German, and Spanish to his skillsets. Mario has (2) patents with Ford Mo., with (2) more patents pending, and he has also authored (2) technical papers on automotive lighting and regulatory matters.  Mario’s other work experience includes heavy-duty truck lighting systems with Federal Mogul, watt-hour meters with Landis & Gyr, contactors & transformers with United Technologies, and injection-molding of thermoplastics with Ultra Tool & Plastics. He has had experience in translation services (mainly Portuguese and Spanish) and has traveled overseas extensively during his Ford Motor and military careers.

Military Experience

In the military arena, Mario retired in 2012 after (22) years of service, with his assignments ranging from Combined Joint Operations from the Sea/ Center of Excellence (CJOS COE) to his command of “Delta" Company, Cargo Handling Battalion Seven (CHB7). He was mobilized to Iraq for (2) deployments, both combat logistics tours and supporting on land the US Army and US Marine Corps. He supported the Iraq Assistance Group from 2008-09 and the Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Force from 2004-05. Notably, Mario graduated from the Naval War College in 2010 and was an honor graduate from the Navy Supply Corps School in 1996. His awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal (with “M” & Bronze Hourglass), Navy Achievement Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, and Marksmanship Medals (Rifle & Pistol).

Community Involvement

Mario has been active in Ford Motor’s Veterans Network Group (since 2007) and Hispanic Network Group (since 1997), and he is also a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (since 1997). He has had leadership roles in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1407 in Ferndale, MI and American Legion Post 232 in Dearborn Hts, MI; he is also an honorary member of the DAV Detroit Chapter 19. Mario recently became a certified Reserve Police Officer in Ferndale Police Dept, MI, graduating from Oakland Community College Reserve Police Academy in December 2019.

Linda Ng Boyle is Professor and Chair of the Industrial & Systems Engineering Department at the University of Washington, Seattle. She has a joint appointment in Civil & Environmental Engineering. Her BS degree is from the University of Buffalo and her MS and PhD are from the University of Washington.  She is an associate editor for the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention and a recipient of the National Science Foundation Career Award. She is also one of the organizers for the International Symposium on Human Factors in Driving Assessment. Her area of expertise is in human factors and transportation safety, with a specific focus on quantifying user behavior and performance as they engage in technology while driving.    

Sean Cunningham works for Intel Corporation in Santa Clara, California, where he leads a team of supply chain analysts and software developers responsible for delivering advanced analytics and supply chain management apps. He is a 1989 graduate of the UB ISE Department with a BS in Industrial Engineering. Sean has a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research and an MA in Statistics, both from UC Berkeley. He is currently editor-in-chief for the IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing. Sean lives on the San Francisco Peninsula with his wife and two athletic kids.

Patrick Dempsey is a Certified Professional Ergonomist from Venetia, PA. After 11 years in various roles at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, including Director of Experimental Programs, Patrick G. Dempsey joined the Office of Mine Safety & Health Research of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in December 2007. He served previously as Team Leader of the Musculoskeletal Disorders Prevention Team, and as Senior Scientist (Detail) in the NIOSH Associate Director for Science Office (Washington, DC). He is currently Chief of the Workplace Health Branch of NIOSH’s Pittsburgh Mining Research Division. He has a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo (1990), and M.S. (1993) and Ph.D. (1996) degrees in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University. He is a Fellow of the Ergonomics Society (UK), a Certified Professional Ergonomist, and Editor-in-Chief of Applied Ergonomics.

David Frankenfield has spent the last eleven years improving the effectiveness of the healthcare industry. While majoring in industrial engineering and minoring in mathematics at UB, David participated in The Center for Industrial Effectiveness (TCIE) Student Six Sigma program. While practicing with TCIE David worked with a local medical device manufacturer where he focused on implementing six sigma and lean manufacturing principles. After leaving UB in 2006, David pursed his Master’s degree in industrial engineering at Purdue University where he was a member of the Healthcare Technical Assistance Program (HTAP). During his tenure as a HTAP consultant, David had the opportunity to work with hospital facilities to implement industrial engineering fundamentals and explore the use of RFID technology for the purpose of optimizing patient flow.

In 2007 David joined the United Healthcare team as a Six Sigma Consultant. In 2009 David transitioned from the six sigma arena and is accredited for creating some United Healthcare’s technical competencies to include United Healthcare’s industrial engineering competency and the Advanced Research and Analytics team that he currently resides over. David has worked on solutions in healthcare administration back office optimization, customer and provider service optimization, provider network optimization, payment integrity, and big data analytics. Throughout this journey David has had the opportunity to work with several global partners on both business process outsourcing (BPO) as well as knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) while pursuing the leading edge of the industry. David’s research interests include process optimization, multisource data fusion, process mining, and predictive analytics. His belief is that a complex healthcare system requires complex engineered solutions. David’s focus on creating innovation internally for United Healthcare as well as across the industry exemplifies the mission of helping people live healthier lives.

David currently resides in Denver, Colorado, with his wife Jeany, who he met at UB, and his two sons Trenton and Davin. David is also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and enjoys coaching youth athletics.

Shri earned his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune, India in 2003, and then a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University at Buffalo in December 2006.

After graduating from UB, Shri worked as a Safety Engineer for 4+ years with Stryker Corporation, supporting operations at their divisions in Portage, Michigan and San Jose, California.

Shri joined Tesla, Inc. in Fremont, California, in 2011, where he has held several roles focused on operations support and program development. Currently, Shri leads a team of EHS professionals which supports Tesla's Sales, Service and Delivery operations across the Americas. Over 12+ years, Shri’s experience and contributions span employee engagement, education and training, equipment safety, information systems and data analytics and regulatory compliance.

Shri lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and 6-year old daughter.

Brian Kleiner is the Bogle Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech.  He directs the Myers-Lawson School of Construction and is interested in the socio-technical work systems issues to improve safety, health and performance.

Steven E. Little is the Director of the Emerson Innovation Center – Human Centered Design in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he leads the Corporate Innovation Center chartered with building competency in Human Centered Design across Emerson Electric Company. Emerson is a $24B global corporation with major business groups in Process Management, Industrial Automation, Climate Technologies, Network Power and Commercial & Residential Solutions. Steve began his career at General Electric Aerospace, and then joined MAYA Design holding positions as Director, Human Sciences Group and Managing Director of Relationships where he worked with clients including Merrill Lynch and Dun & Bradstreet.  He was Vice President of Research at the architecture and engineering firm Astorino, and also Principal at CohesiveForce, LLC working with Johnson & Johnson as a client. He is a graduate of the UB ISE department with BS and MS degrees in Industrial Engineering.

Amanda Marchetti grew up in Western New York and attended the University at Buffalo obtaining a B.S. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering. Following graduation, Amanda worked as a Manufacturing Engineer for Northrop Grumman for five years. Amanda then took a position with Integer Holdings Corporation (formally Greatbatch Medical) as a Lean Facilitator. Amanda has held progressive roles from Lean Facilitator, Continuous Improvement Manager, Senior Manager of Lean and Supply Chain and most currently Senior Manager of Operations for the local medical implantable power source manufacturing plant located in Alden, NY. Amanda’s core experience and passion centers around operational excellence, lean manufacturing and building a culture of continuous improvement. 

Larry Megan is currently a Corporate Fellow and manages the Advanced Process Control and Operations Research R&D group for Praxair, a Fortune 300 company chemical company that provides industrial gas products to a wide variety of manufacturing operations. Larry was been with Praxair since 1993. His team is responsible for developing new technology supporting Praxair’s business and operations worldwide. The group is a longtime collaborator with the UB IE department in the areas of supply chain logistics, and more recently, business analytics and associated decision support. Larry received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1988 and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1993.

Mr. Myones is an Operating Executive and advisor to the ACON Investments PE firm in the Environmental Services, Waste Management, Industrial Services and related peripheral industry spaces, pursuing buy side investment and value creation opportunities. In addition, as President of Ridge Consultants LLC he serves as advisor to Waste & Environmental, and Industrial Services business enterprises providing strategic, commercial, financial, technical, operational and expert witness consulting services.

Mr. Myones also served as non-executive Board Member for Fenix Parts, Inc. (NASDAQ:FENX) and non-executiveBoard Member for Liberty Tire Recycling, LLC as well as an Operating Advisor for private equity firm Pegasus Capital Advisors, on its recycling & environmental services portfolio companies and related industry opportunities.

Prior to May 2015, he was employed at Covanta Energy Corporation (NYSE:CVA) for twenty-five plus years in P&L leadership roles and member of the Senior Executive team over the last fifteen years with roles as Chief Operating Officer, President - Covanta Americas, and Senior Vice President of Business. His senior tenure responsibilities at Covanta included all commercial aspects of the environmental services, merchant waste, power sales, and scrap metal revenue segments as well as global P&L and operations, market strategy & execution, business development, M&A, engineering, construction, R&D, supply chain & logistics, government affairs, asset management, and customer relations.

Covanta (formerly Ogden Corp.) had faced insolvency in 2001. Mr. Myones figured prominently in guiding the Company through bankruptcy, full-scale reorganization, and ultimate sale to Danielson Holdings Corp and emergence in 2004. The Company achieved significant growth of equity value, from $30M to 2.5B and 50% US market share, as well as relist on the NYSE over the subsequent seven-year period. He was a pivotal player on the senior management team to lead and create this growth through $2.7B of accretive acquisitions & integrations, greenfield business development & execution, asset management, new service offerings, continuous value chain improvements, operating cost efficiencies, and innovative capital projects to grow organically. 

Mr. Myones started his career at IBM as Industrial Engineer for various computer related manufacturing processes. Mr. Myones earned an MBA from New York University-Stern School of Business, a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from University of Buffalo, and received a CPA license from the State of Maryland.

Robert Tom, MS ’90, MBA ’97, is Senior Director Product Engineering at Fisher-Price. Fisher-Price is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of children’s products.

Robert earned his BS from the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University). His industrial experience and achievements span across a number of diverse industries including automotive, medical products and consumer hardgoods.

Michael T. Ulbrich is the past President of Buffalo Manufacturing Works, a non-profit engineering and applied research and development company that works with manufacturers to develop, commercialize, and implement leading-edge manufacturing technologies. Michael joined EWI following 10 years with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co in New York City and London, United Kingdom. He most recently served as the Vice President of J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Nordic Region. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Michael was at Walt Disney World & Co. in Orlando, Florida, working on operational planning, forecasting and productivity and process improvement projects. Michael received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University. Michael also serves as an active member of Empire State Development’s Western New York Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) and Insyte Consulting’s board of directors.

John leads the North American electrical components engineering team of MAHLE supporting HVAC Business from business acquisition to series production. This includes developing specifications based on customer requirements and lessons learned, technically evaluating and selecting suppliers, and following their development activities through to product launch. Prior to Joining MAHLE in 2015, he worked for Delphi for over 20 years in various roles including Reliability Engineering Manager, Lean Engineering Manager, Validation Competency Leader, and Engineering Manager of Electrical Components. John’s specialties include new product development, product validation, statistical analyses, reliability engineering, quality systems, lean thinking, value stream mapping, A3 & 5 why problem solving, Six Sigma methodology, work content evaluation, training development & delivery, strategic analysis, situational leadership, procedure writing, and communication. 

Ann M. Wegrzyn, Industrial Engineering BS ’85, MBA ’91, is Chief Information Officer at National Fuel Gas, an integrated energy company headquartered in Williamsville, New York. Ann has distinguished herself professionally in the energy sector while dedicating her volunteer time to her alma mater and the community-at-large with a focus on STEM education. 

Ann began her career at National Fuel as an industrial engineer, and over the following 30 years has held various positions in field construction, customer service and information technology. She currently has responsibility for information technology and cybersecurity, and for engineering services, which is a team that supports natural gas pipeline design and maintenance activities for the Utility, Midstream and Gas Pipeline segments of the company.

Ann is a proud supporter of the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. In the past she served on the Dean’s Advisory Council and on the Board of Directors of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Alumni Association. Ann is currently a Board Member of the UB Alumni Association and serves on the Nominating Committee. She also feels privileged to be on the team that selects the recipients of the UB Alumni Association’s student scholarships.

Tom Wilde is a Principal in KPMG’s Advisory Practice and a member of KPMG’s National Advisory Leadership Team.  Tom currently serves as the Service Group Leader for all Advisory managed services solutions where he is responsible for the strategy, go to market approach, solutions portfolio management and innovation, and delivery center operations.

Tom has held a number of leadership positions with the firm.  Most recently he served as Government Advisory Line of Business Leader where he was responsible for the Advisory strategy and go to market approach for the federal, and state and local markets.  He also served as the Chief Operating Officer for Advisory’s Management Consulting practice where he was responsible for all operations for the $1B+ unit providing business and technology advisory services to leading commercial companies and government agencies.

Prior to rejoining KPMG, Tom held a number of leadership roles at BearingPoint including global CIO and managed services leader.  He holds an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University at Buffalo.