Bio

I retired in early 2023 and now enjoy reading, pickleball, beach walks, traveling, and exploring new ideas including lean methodologies, AI, and consciousness research. My wife and I live in Morro Bay, California and have visited over 65 countries.

I remain active as a partner and investor at Central Coast Ventures, work with the SLO Hothouse startup incubator, and serve on boards of a few small companies and organizations. I occasionally guest lecture at CalPoly and Rensselaer on lean, leadership, and supply chain topics, though I prefer meaningful one-on-one discussions.

For over thirty years I held executive engineering and operations leadership roles primarily in medical devices, with additional experience in telecom, automotive lighting, and food processing. My engineering and operations background focused on lean manufacturing and leadership. I co-founded Gemba Academy in 2009, providing online lean and six sigma training to over 1,500 organizations worldwide. Forum Media Group purchased Gemba Academy in 2022.

Prior roles included President of Specialty Silicone Fabricators, where I led an eight-year lean transformation before the company was acquired by Trelleborg AB, and Director of Operations at Newport Corporation's photonics division, rapidly scaling output from $500k to $5M monthly in nine months. I spent a decade at Abbott Laboratories in various operations and engineering positions, and began my professional career at Sylvania where I earned four patents for automotive lighting products.

I hold a BS in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with additional studies at Stanford and the University of Michigan. For additional details about my background and experience, please visit my LinkedIn profile.