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M.E.M. Program
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Corporate Collaboration Council
The Corporate Collaboration Council, founded in 2004, helps M.E.M. students as they pursue their degree and as they plan their career paths.
- Council members give M.E.M. students an industry perspective.
- The Council helps find academically challenging projects and internships for M.E.M. students as well as offering mentoring as students prepare for their first placement after graduation.
- The Council works with M.E.M. faculty and staff to improve program recruitment, admissions, and structure.
R. John Fletcher (Chair)
CEO, Fletcher Spaght
John Fletcher founded Fletcher Spaght, a 22 year old strategy consulting firm focused on new ventures in technology and life sciences. He is also a Managing Partner of Fletcher Spaght Ventures, a venture capital fund.
Prior to launching FSI in 1983, Mr. Fletcher was a Senior Manager at The Boston Consulting Group, managing global client relationships with healthcare and high technology companies.
Mr. Fletcher was a Ph.D. candidate and instructor of International Business at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to his career at Wharton, he was a Captain and jet pilot in the U.S. Air Force.
Mr. Fletcher holds an M.A. in Finance from the Wharton School, an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University and a B.A. from George Washington University.
Brett Buatti
Vice President of Supply Chain, Campbell Soup
Brett Buatti is a graduate of Dartmouth College, receiving his A.B. in Engineering Sciences modified with Economics in 1992, followed by a B.E. and M.E. in 1994.
He started his career as a management trainee at General Mills, then moved to Dole Food Co. for 3 years, first as an analyst, and ultimately as a plant manager of a small apple packing plant.
Before returning to General Mills, he spent a year doing operations consulting work. At General Mills, Mr. Buatti worked in multiple plants, locations and business units, ultimately working as the Plant Manager for an 800 employee soup and meals facility in Southern New Jersey.
Mr. Buatti currently works at Campbell Soup company as a Vice President of Supply Chain. Mr. Buatti serves as the key link between the Beverage and Sauces business unit, Supply Chain functions, World Headquarters and field plant locations.
Don Castle
VP & Chief Information Officer, SGS North America
Don Castle is Chief Information Officer for SGS North America, an engineering firm based in Rutherford, NJ. He joined SGS in August 2008.
From 2000 through mid-2008, Don held CIO positions at Johnson & Johnson, first for Ethicon, Inc., a manufacturer of surgical devices, and then as Group CIO for J&J's six global medical device companies.
Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Don spent eighteen years with Nabisco where he was most recently Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Nabisco International. Don's career at Nabisco spanned senior level positions in Finance, Marketing, and Sales Technology.
Don received a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Jessica Duda
Project Director, Third Rock Ventures
Jessica Duda joined Third Rock Ventures in 2008. She is responsible for overall project management of the convergence effort, which includes investigating the space and driving the firm and efforts towards creation of new medical device companies in this area.
Prior, she was initially involved with corporate development, and later, product operations, at Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems, Inc., a company developing neural stimulation, sensing and processing technology designed to improve the lives of those with severe paralysis resulting from spinal cord injuries, neurological disorders and other conditions of the nervous system.
From 2001-2004 she was an associate at Polaris Venture Partners, a venture capital firm located in Boston, MA where she focused on investments in life sciences. Prior, she was an associate at The Parthenon Group where she developed strategic business plans for companies in a variety of industries. She was also a research analyst for DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson & Johnson Company.
Ms. Duda earned an M.E.M. and an M.S. in 1999 and a B.E. in 1997 from Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. She graduated cum laude with an A.B. in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College in 1996.
John Harris
Manager, IBM Systems & Technology Group
Since receiving his A.B. in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College, John has spent the entirety of his 30-year professional career with IBM, primarily in the semiconductor business. He has been in management for over 25 years and has held a variety of senior management positions including managing Worldwide Test Engineering, a 250-person division responsible for development and worldwide manufacturing Test for all semiconductor products manufactured by IBM Microelectronics for IBM Systems as well as a broad range of OEM customers including Cisco, Sony, Ericsson, Microsoft and Qualcomm. In this role he was responsible for procuring and developing manufacturing equipment, proprietary hardware and software technology and IT systems, as well as for developing and supporting product specific test processes for both product development and volume manufacturing at IBM and subcontractor locations in North America, Europe and Asia. Currently, he is manager of Product and Test Engineering for the ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) business unit within IBM Microelectronics where he is responsible for Test development, manufacturing support and yield engineering.
Robert Hauck
General Manager, Office of the Chief Engineer, GE Healthcare Surgery
Bob grew up in Western Pennsylvania and attended Villanova University outside Philadelphia where he graduated with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation he worked in Florida for a small engineering consulting firm before joining the U.S. Volunteer Service Peace Corps. His Peace Corps assignment was in Sierra Leone, West Africa, where for 6 months he taught Secondary School Math and Science and for the next 2 years he was assigned to the international aid organization C.A.R.E. building roads. On his return to the US he completed a Dual Focus Masters of Science degree in Bio-Medical/Mechanical Engineering from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
Bob continued his engineering career with the Ford Motor Company in Product Engineering at Dearborn, Michigan before joining GE's Medical Systems Business. He has worked for GE now for over 28 years and has had numerous global assignments in the U.S and Europe in Design Engineering, Product Development and Engineering & Service Management. He has held positions of diverse responsibility across GE Healthcare globally, including Product and Service Productivity, Service Engineer Training, Design and Testing Technology, Technology Quality & Documentation and Safety & Regulatory Engineering.
Bob also led the GE Healthcare Commercial Training and Development business and had the opportunity to expand and develop it from a Cost Center to a fast growing Service Business.
He has held Global Modality Engineering Manager positions in Diagnostic X-Ray, Radiation Therapy and recently in the Surgery business.
In his position within the GE Healthcare Surgery Team he had global responsibility for all GE Healthcare Surgery Product Technology and Development. He led a global team of 350 engineers. His direct staff was located in four countries on three continents.
Bob is currently the Global General Manager of the Office of the Chief Engineer for GE Healthcare.
William E. Jacobson
President, Triumph Aerospace Systems – Newport News
Bill graduated from Dartmouth College with an A.B. in Engineering Sciences in 1971 and from Thayer School with a B.E. in Metallurgy in 1972.
After graduation, Bill went to work for General Electric for fourteen years, beginning on the two year Manufacturing Management Program, then progressing through a number of management positions in manufacturing and aftermarket services in the aircraft engines business.
Bill then spent the next eight years with Textron Lycoming Turbine Engines, first starting up the Commercial Engine Overhaul business, and finally as VP of the Turbine Services Group. In 1994 Textron sold Lycoming to AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) where Bill spent the next six years, first managing product overhaul services in Europe, and finally as VP of Commercial Overhaul for all aerospace products.
In 2000, Bill moved to New Zealand as CEO of Ansett Australia & Air New Zealand Engineering Services, Ltd which provided engineering and maintenance services to both Ansett and Air New Zealand Airlines as well as third party work for a number of other international airlines. In 2001, Bill became Senior VP of Airline Operations, responsible for all airline operations and technical functions.
After returning to the USA, Bill became engaged as President & CEO of Allied Aerospace Industries, a private equity owned company providing engineering services, prototype development and low rate production for major aerospace OEMs, NASA and the US Government. After rebuilding Allied Aerospace Industries, the company was sold to the Triumph Group and is now called Triumph Aerospace Systems – Newport News. Bill has remained with the company as President.
Kristen Morrow Johnson
Platform Planning Supervisor, Ford Motor Company
Kristen Morrow Johnson is a Platform Planning Supervisor at Ford Motor Company in Cologne, Germany. Kristen moved from engineering to a business role at Ford so that she could work part-time after the birth of her first son. Kristen joined Ford back in 1994 as part of their Ford College Graduate training program. After two years of rotational assignments she joined the Body Sheetmetal design group. That work lead to a position with the advanced B-car team in Dearborn which moved to England for product design and Germany for production in 2002. Since returning from her first international assignment she has worked in a Volvo lead Quality/Dimensional Control group for the Ford Freestyle/Five Hundred, and in Technology and Feature planning in both Product Development and the Ford Research Laboratories.
At Thayer School, Kristen was involved in the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the Women in Science Project (WISP). She ran events at the college and enjoyed making visits to local area schools to talk about engineering. Kristen graduated from Dartmouth in 1992 and the Thayer School M.E.M. program in 1994.
Andrew Lackner
Assistant Vice President, Venture Capital Group, GE Energy Financial Services
Andrew Lackner is a member of the venture capital group at GE Energy Financial Services, investing in emerging energy and water-related technology companies. With over $19 billion in assets, GE Energy Financial Services invests more than $5 billion annually in two of the world's most capital-intensive industries, energy and water. As a member of the venture capital team, Mr. Lackner evaluates prospective equity investments in companies developing game-changing technologies and services throughout the energy and water value chain, from natural resources to clean technology. The venture capital team is one of the most active investors in the energy technology markets, with presence in San Francisco, Munich, Boston and Stamford, CT.
Prior to joining GE Energy Financial Services, Mr. Lackner was an associate at Columbia Capital, a venture capital firm in Washington, DC, specializing in the communications, media, and information technology industries. He also served as an associate consultant at Fletcher Spaght, a strategy consulting and venture capital firm in Boston, a product manager for MicroStrategy, a business intelligence software company in Washington, DC, and as a process engineer for MacLean-Fogg.
Mr. Lackner received an A.B. in Engineering Sciences in 1997, a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering in 1998, and an M.E.M. in 1999 from Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.
Duncan MacLean
President, MacLean Vehicle Systems
After graduating from Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College in 1995, Duncan MacLean worked as a manufacturing engineer and project supervisor for Reliable Power Products. He then worked in Germany as a project leader and design engineer for Neumayer, where he ensured that the projects and designs were properly priced and manufactured. Three years ago, he created a German company for MacLean-Fogg, taking over from a former joint venture partner. This start-up proved very profitable. Mr. MacLean is currently managing the entire suspension division of MacLean Vehicle Systems, including the German company and a similar start-up facility in the US.
Satin Mirchandani
President and CEO, MessageOne
Satin Mirchandani serves as MessageOne's President and CEO, a position he has held since 2002. He is responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction of the company.
Mirchandani is a General Partner at Impact Venture Partners, whose Austin office he cofounded in 2000. Prior to Impact, Mirchandani was Vice President and General Manager at Trilogy/pcOrder where he was responsible for leading pcOrder's IPO process (NASDAQ: PCOR) in 1999 and launching the company's reseller business and channel. Previously, Mirchandani spent several years in McKinsey & Company's technology practice, where he focused primarily on product/market strategy and M&A. He also worked as an analyst at AEA Investors, a New York-based private equity investor. He began his career as a Software Design Engineer at Microsoft Corporation, working on Microsoft Mail.
Mirchandani received an A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, in Computer Science and Economics from Dartmouth College, and an MBA with Honors from the Harvard Business School.
Augustus Moore
Optical Technologies Program Manager, Logos Technologies
Gus was a member of the Dartmouth class of 1999 and completed his B.E. and M.E.M. at Thayer School in 2001. He joined Lockheed Martin's Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory in Palo Alto, California after graduation, where he developed mechanisms and optics for NASA space telescopes, eventually moving to the Washington, DC area to manage projects for the Hubble Servicing Mission. He is currently an Optical Technologies Program Manager at Logos Technologies, Inc., based in Arlington, VA.
While at Thayer School, Gus was a founding member of the DARTSAT student aerospace engineering project and interned at both Cessna Aircraft and Parsons Brinckerhoff.
Sue Roberts
Director of Product Testing & Engineering, Reebok International
Sue Roberts is currently the Director of Product Testing & Engineering at Reebok International in Massachusetts. She oversees global product testing for all Reebok footwear and manages the Human Performance Engineering Lab, a biomechanics research and testing facility. In 1995, Sue joined Reebok after completing the M.E.M. degree and deciding to enter a non-traditional engineering field that fit her athletic interests and background. She has held various research, product development and advanced technology development roles at Reebok and New Balance. One of those positions was leading a product development team at a manufacturing facility while residing in ShenZhen, China.
Sue participated in the dual-degree program between Colby College and Dartmouth, spending her junior year and a 5th year at Thayer School. She earned a B.A. in Physics from Colby College in 1992, her B.E. from Thayer School in 1993 followed by the M.E.M. in 1994.
Richard Tabors
Vice President, Charles River Associates, Energy & Environment Practice
Richard Tabors is Vice President of Charles River Associates in the Energy & Environment Practice. He founded the engineering economics consulting firm of Tabors Caramanis & Associates in 1989 to provide economic, regulatory and financial analytic support to the restructuring of the US and international electric power industry. TCA was sold to CRA in 2004.
After graduating with a B.A. in Biology from Dartmouth in 1965, he received an M.S. and Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University in 1970 in Geography and Economics. From 1970 to 1976 he was a researcher and member of the faculty at Harvard University and from 1976 to 2004 he was at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Senior Lecturer in Technology Management and Policy and a research director in power systems. He is a visiting professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. His research and development activities while at MIT led to being author or co-author of over 80 articles and books including Spot Pricing of Electricity on which the economic restructuring of the electric utility wholesale and retail markets is based.
Richard continues his work directing consulting activities in regulation, litigation and asset evaluation in the power industry with a focus on development of the future platforms and pricing structure of the "smart grid."
Samantha Truex
Senior Director, Corporate Development, Biogen Idec
Samantha is currently head of M&A for Biogen Idec, a mid-cap biotech company with biologic drugs for multiple sclerosis, non-hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis. Prior to joining Biogen Idec in 2006, Sam spent eight years with Genzyme in a variety of corporate and business development roles. Sam was most recently Director of Business Development for Genzyme Genetics, where she led multiple acquisition, collaboration and licensing transactions. Prior to Genzyme, Sam was in Business Development at Chiron, where she worked on the sale of the diagnostics business to Bayer, and in management consulting at Health Advances.
Sam earned a A.B. in Biology in 1992 from Dartmouth, a B.E. in 1993 from Thayer and an MBA in 1995 from Tuck.
Philip John Venables
Managing Director and CISO, Goldman Sachs
Philip is the firm's chief information risk officer. He leads the Information Security, Technology Risk/Compliance and Business Continuity Programs. Additionally, he is part of the Core Infrastructure Management Team. Philip joined Goldman Sachs as a vice president in 2000. He transferred to New York in 2001 and became a managing director in 2003.
Prior to joining the firm, Philip was chief information security officer at Deutsche Bank. He also functioned as the global head of Technology Risk Management for Standard Chartered Bank and served in various technology and network management positions at Barclays Bank.
Philip serves as a board member of the SIA Information Security Committee and the International Board of Referees of the journal Computers and Security. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the London School of Economics Computer Security Research Center. In addition, Philip is an associate editor for the Information Security Bulletin.
Philip earned an MSc in Formal Methods and Cryptography from The Queen's College at Oxford University in 1990 and a BSc in Computer Science from York University in the United Kingdom in 1989. Additionally Philip was awarded the designation of Chartered Engineer in 1995 and Chartered Scientist in 2002. In 2005, he was elected a fellow of the British Computer Society.
Dennis Webster
Director of Business Development, Moog
Dennis Webster is the Director of Business Development at Moog Inc., a $2B company based in Buffalo, NY specializing in the design and production of custom motion control technology for a broad range of aerospace, industrial and medical applications. Since 2001, his experience at Moog has involved sales leadership, strategic planning and business development roles in core industrial markets including wind power, automotive and oil exploration.
After graduating from Dartmouth's Thayer School in 1993 with a B.E. degree, Dennis started his career with Monsanto as a chemical manufacturing engineer at an integrated fiber manufacturing plant in Pensacola, FL. During his 8 years at the company, he advanced through a number of engineering and technical service roles before transitioning to sales management. Since that time, his focus has been on developing processes to successfully commercialize highly engineered products across a broad range of markets with a strong customer focus.