Commonwealth Center For Advanced Manufacturing

Steve is a Chartered Engineer with 30+ years experience in Surface Engineering focusing on the Thermal Spray process . Steve joined Sulzer Metco in 2006 for a second time and now has a specialist role supporting Rolls-Royce from a technical perspective. This current position involves both the development of new surfacing applications and the ongoing support of current processing technologies. A key part of this role has been the creation and provision of “Best Practice” training on a global basis. Over the years, Steve has gained experience in Production Engineering, Applications Development, Key Account Management and Business Development with a number of key companies in the Surface Engineering sector. At time of writing, Steve also holds the position of Chairman of the Thermal Spray and Surface Engineering Association in the UK

Dr. James M. Fitz-Gerald is an associate professor at the University of Virginia in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Fitz-Gerald’s expertise encompasses materials processing, soft and hard materials characterization and particulate engineering. At this time he is a co-author on more than 100 refereed journal and conference proceedings, three books, 40 invited talks, 8 patents and 125 presentations. Fitz-Gerald also is engaged as an engineering consultant in legal, corporate / private research, and currently serves on advisory boards for several companies including Nanotherapeutics, where he is also a co-founder. Fitz-Gerald received his advanced degrees from the University of Florida after preparatory studies in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lowell.

Dr. Peter Howard is vice president of Technology and Quality Assurance for Chromalloy. His career with Chromalloy has spanned 20 years and numerous engineering and management positions, including president of OEM Services, vice president and general manager, vice president of Coating Operations, process engineer with Chromalloy UK, and plasma process manager. He also has served as a director of various Chromalloy joint ventures, including Advanced Coating Technologies (Chromalloy / Pratt & Whitney), Turbine Airfoil Coating and Repair (Chromalloy / Siemens), TurboCare (Chromalloy / Siemens), Turbine Repair Technologies (Chromalloy / Rolls-Royce) and Turbine Surface Technologies (Chromalloy / Rolls-Royce). Howard holds a Ph.D. in Metallurgy from Manchester University, England.

Dr. Dawit Dawit joined VSU in 1997 after 10 years of teaching at various colleges, including Xavier University and Southern Illinois University (SIU). He received his MS in Computer Science from VCU and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from SIU. At VSU, he has served as the chair of Math and CS department for six years and led the development of a graduate program in computer science. Haile received VSU’s Bank of America Outstanding Faculty award in 2007. He serves on a committee of MAA on Minority Participation in mathematics.

Mr. David Madeley is senior strategist in the Component Manufacturing Solutions group at Siemens PLM. He is responsible for helping the CMS team define, develop and market leading-edge solutions for part manufacturing involving NXCAM, Siemens Teamcenter Portfolio and integration to other Siemens software products and CNC controller technologies and hardware. Madeley also manages some special industry projects such as adaptive milling for blade and blisk repair. He joined Siemens in 2001 and has been involved in many of Siemens major worldwide manufacturing technology accounts. Madeley began his engineering career in the gas turbine industry where he worked in design engineering and manufacturing positions.

Dr. Gary Pickrell received BS and MS degrees in Ceramic Engineering from Ohio State University in 1985 and 1987, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering Science from Virginia Tech. in 1994. He is an associate professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department, director of Surface Engineering for the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, director of the Nano-Bio Materials Laboratory and the associate director for the Center for Photonics Technology, in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. He was named a Faculty Fellow (2007-2010), Outstanding Assistant Professor (2005), and an R&D 100 award winner (2004). He serves on the Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, the Journal of Nanotechnology and Energy, the New Journal of Glass and Ceramics and the Journal Sensors. His industrial experience includes Owens Illinois, Corning, Selee, Porvair Advanced Materials and Prime Photonics in various industrial positions from process engineer to member of the Board of Directors. Pickrell has authored or co-authored more than 150 publications including 14 issued patents. His current research is focused on surface engineering, plasma spray coatings, random hole optical fibers and optical fiber sensors, nano-medicine, nanotechnology, nano-biotechnology, glass, ceramic, and various other aspects of materials science and engineering. He is a consultant on business systems implementation including process control, experimental design techniques and new product development.

Mr. Kevin Smith has more than 28 years of experience in aerospace, starting at NOS/Indian Head prior to joining DSC in 1989 as manager of Propellant Development responsible for R&D and production of solid propellant devices. He joined Aerojet in 1991, and has worked as a test engineer, manager of Test Operations, program manager and director of Energetic Manufacturing before taking on his current position of executive director, Manufacturing & Process Engineering. Smith has a BS in Chemistry from Duke University, a MS in Chemical Engineering from the University.of Maryland, a PE in Chemical Engineering and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Mr. Terry Tyler manages the Aircraft Carrier Technology department at Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding. He leads aircraft carrier-related research and development, including research into future aircraft carrier concepts, improvements to current aircraft carrier classes, manufacturing process improvements and the Company’s involvement in CCAM. Tyler has been with NNS for more than 27 years, with experience in Submarines, Commercial Ships, Aircraft Carrier Overhaul and New Construction Engineering. He holds a BSCE from Virginia Tech, an MBA from the College of William and Mary and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Virginia.