Speakers

Below are speakers who will be participating in the conference. Please note that we will be adding to the listing as speakers are identified and confirmed.

Keynote

Don T. Jones
Director of Global Parts Supply, Quality and Packaging
Caterpillar

Don is the Director of Global Parts Supply, Quality and Packaging for Caterpillar’s Industry Solutions, Components and Distribution Division.  In this role, he manages a department responsible for collaborating with all Caterpillar manufacturing facilities and over 8,500 external suppliers to ensure demand for aftermarket parts is met through world-class performance of the global supply base.

Jones, who joined Caterpillar in 1988 from Motorola, has held various positions in the areas of international telecommunications, information systems development, supply chain solution implementations, logistics sales and general manager roles.  He left Caterpillar in 2004 to own and operate a residential construction corporation, returning to Caterpillar in 2008 as Global Quality General Manager where he led the company to record levels of quality control.  He was named to his current role in 2012 and has since led aftermarket parts supply to record and Best in Class performance.  Jones holds a degree in Business Management from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science degree in International Logistics and Supply Chain Management from The Georgia Institute of Technology.

Alain Louchez
Managing Director, Center for the Development and Application of Internet of Things Technologies (CDAIT pronounced sedate)
Georgia Institute of Technology

Alain Louchez is the Managing Director of the Center for the Development and Application of Internet of Things Technologies (CDAIT pronounced sedate), at the Georgia Institute of Technology. CDAIT’s purpose is to expand and promote the Internet of Things (IoT)’s huge potential and transformational capabilities through research, education and industry outreach. The Center is sponsored by global companies headquartered in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In December 2015, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the United Nations, and Georgia Tech announced an agreement (MoU) to be implemented by ITU’s SG 20 and CDAIT whose goal is to monitor global Internet of Things activities. Alain was recently selected by Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Guadalajara) as an international advisor to “Centro de Innovación, Desarrollo Tecnológico y Aplicaciones de Internet de las Cosas” (a.k.a. “Center of Innovación in Internet of Things or CIIoT”) after bid approval by the government of Mexico in June 2016. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Alain held various executive positions including member of the board of directors of leading companies in the high tech industry, in Europe and the United States.

H. Don Ratliff
Executive Director - Georgia Tech Panama Logistics Innovation and Research Center
Partner - Supply Chain Ventures, LLC

Dr. Ratliff is a supply chain and logistics expert with more than 30 years of experience as an educator, researcher, consultant, and technology business executive.

As Founding Executive Director of the Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistics Institute, he has provided leadership for the largest research program in the world devoted to the study of supply chains and logistics. As founder and President of the software company CAPS Logistics, Dr. Ratliff helped to pioneer the development of software tools to design supply chain networks and optimize logistics processes. He is also co-founder of Scientific Logistics, Inc., a pioneer in the development of cloud-based optimization methodology to plan delivery routes.

He has worked with a wide range of companies and government organizations to recognize and evaluate opportunities for supply chain design and logistics optimization, to develop strategies for exploiting these opportunities, and to develop the processes and technologies necessary to execute on these strategies. Dr. Ratliff’s research into new logistics concepts and optimization algorithms has resulted in the publication of more than one hundred refereed journal articles and articles in popular trade magazines. He has given more than two hundred invited presentations at national and international meetings.

Dr. Ratliff is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the Johns Hopkins University. He has held a number of editorial positions including being Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Operations Research. He is Chair of the World Economic Forum Council on the Future of Supply Chains and Logistics. He was awarded the “Outstanding Research Award” of the Institute of Industrial Engineers for his work in logistics and is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and a Fellow of INFORMS. Dr. Ratliff was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his work in developing network optimization methodology for use in the design and operation of logistics systems. More than 200 companies and government agencies have implemented concepts developed by him and his colleagues.

His current research focus is on logistics performance and international trade.

Edward Rogers
Senior Director of Global Sustainability
UPS

Edward Rogers is the Senior Director of Global Sustainability for the logistics company UPS. His responsibilities include coordinating and communicating the company’s sustainability vision, objectives, goals, strategies, initiatives, and reporting activities. His UPS career includes strategic planning, industrial engineering, program management and internal consulting.

Prior to joining UPS he served as a U.S. Air Force officer managing defense industry modernization programs. After his military service he worked as an engineering management consultant performing manufacturing and logistics systems improvement projects for more than twenty clients, including UPS.

He holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Dayton, and an Executive Masters in International Logistics also from Georgia Tech.

Panelists

Eric Ballot
Professor
Mines Paris Tech

Graduated from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, 1988-1993, Agrégation 1991, Master from Panthéon-Sorbonne university 1993, Phd from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (Mechanical Engineering) 1995 and Habilitation à Diriger des Recherche Institut Polytechnique Grenoble 2009.

Research areas: Simulation and optimization of industrial and logistic operations, Models for sustainable supply chain and logistic, Physical Internet, Theory and models for utility, choice and inventory management in supply networks.

"My research, done in collaboration with the industry and supply chains, is based on the analysis and development of mathematical optimization and simulation models to design and improve actual and future supply chains. Thanks to the new possibility in optimization and data availability, operations research techniques are now applied to large-scale systems such as a food supply chains at country level. However as a member of the center for management my research also pays a great attention to organization, management aspects and consumer behavior. Recent work is focused on the development of the Physical Internet as a leading member in France of the international Physical Internet Initiative."

Adrian Grigg
Director of Business Development
FLEXE

Adrian Grigg is a Director of Business Development at FLEXE. Prior to joining FLEXE, Adrian spent 10 years at OHL where he held various roles focused on all aspects of the global supply chain; including facilities/process engineering, domestic and international transportation management and directing multi-client campus warehousing operations. Most notably, Adrian was Director of Business Development for OHL’s retail vertical where he focused on contract logistics solutions within the retail and eCommerce sectors. Adrian has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, is a Six Sigma Green Belt and resides in Los Angeles.

Irv Grossman
Executive Vice President, Americas
CHAINalytics

Irv Grossman is Executive Vice President of the Americas at Chainalytics, a leading global supply chain consultancy. Grossman is responsible for the delivery of strategy, design, and transformational consulting efforts for many of the top-tier global supply chains. His extensive industry and consulting experience that spans Retail, Consumer Product Goods and Hi-Tech, includes supply chain operations, logistics, strategic sourcing, procurement, and enterprise transformation.

Prior to its merger with Chainalytics, Grossman founded and managed Chainnovations, a consultancy focused on supply chain transformation. Previously, he served as vice president of Supply Chain Operations for Cingular Wireless (now AT&T Mobility). In this role, Grossman managed all forward and reverse logistics operations and concurrently championed the development of a supply chain competency.

Additional past experience includes Accenture, American Honda Motor Company, and Kraft Foods Group, Inc.

Irv holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Logistics from The Pennsylvania State University and received advanced business management education at The Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University.

Irv was honored in 2011 as a Supply Chain “Pro to Know” by Supply and Demand Chain Executive.

Irv also currently serves on Penn State’s Inaugural Center for Supply Chain Research Corporate Advisory Board.

Kevin Gue
Professor, Industrial Engineering; LoDI Director; Duthie Chair of Engineering Logistics
University of Louisville

Kevin Gue is Professor of Industrial Engineering at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville.  He holds the Mary Lee and George F. Duthie Endowed Chair of Engineering Logistics, and is Director of the Logistics and Distribution Institute.  Prior to his service at Louisville, Dr. Gue held appointments at Auburn University and the Naval Postgraduate School.  He received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, and is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Dr. Gue teaches courses in manufacturing and logistics systems design and operations at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. He was three times voted Professor of the Year in industrial engineering at Auburn University, and received the Louis D. Liskin Faculty Award at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Dr. Gue's research addresses the design and control of logistics systems, including distribution, warehousing, and material handling.  He has published in leading journals of his field and is co-inventor of several innovative warehouse designs which have been implemented in practice. His work on warehouse design has received multiple best paper awards and the Technical Innovation in Industrial Engineering Award in 2009. Dr. Gue's ongoing reseach addresses order fulfillment for e-commerce and high-density, puzzle-based material handling.

Ron Kyslinger
‎Executive Director - Worldwide Operations Engineering, Design & Innovation
Amazon

Ron has been with Amazon since June 2015 where he has been involved in the design of 15 new Amazon Robotics (formerly Kiva) facilities with 50 more planned over the next year.

Previously, Ron held the role of Vice President of Automation at C&S Wholesale Grocers. During this time, he was named a Worldwide Branding Professional of the Year in Engineering.

Ron has 24 years of professional experience. In his last role as the Vice President of Automation for C&S Wholesale Grocers he was responsible for managing operations of the company's recently installed automated systems and converting the company's older conventional warehouses by introducing and implementing automated solutions. He was also responsible for establishing a corporate strategy for automating the company's 60 warehouses and determining the company strategy to best leverage automation. Mr. Kyslinger facilitiates strategic partnerships that can be leveraged to define, design, and implement automated systems that improve facility throughput; and improve customer service and quality levels while ensuring operator safety. Mr. Kyslinger also defines process and integration standards for the corporation.

Sandy Lake
Associate Director
Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics

Sandy Lake is the Associate Director for the Center of Innovation for Logistics. The Center provides technical industry expertise, collaborative research and partnerships to help the state’s logistics industry connect, compete and grow. The Center also hosts the annual Georgia Logistics Summit, which convenes close to 2,000 attendees each year.

Sandy's focus is on the logistics technology sector and on developing key relationships with logistics education and research partners to advance workforce competitiveness and innovation.

Lake is a Certified Supply Chain Professional and currently serves on advisory boards for the Technology Association of Georgia’s Supply Chain and Logistics Society and Clayton State’s Supply Chain Council.

Russ Meller
VP Research & Development
Fortna

Dr. Russell D. Meller is a recognized expert in helping companies achieve distribution excellence through the use of warehouse design methodologies. He has been honored by the Institute of Industrial Engineers and MHI for multiple awards relating to his contributions to the fields of industrial engineering and material handling and is the co-inventor of innovative non-traditional aisle designs for unit load warehouses.

As VP of Research & Development for Fortna, the global distribution services and engineering firm, Meller leads the development of tools and processes that drive efficient service delivery and innovative solutions for Fortna clients. Prior to joining Fortna, Meller served as a faculty member in the engineering colleges at Auburn University, Virginia Tech and the University of Arkansas where he held the Hefley Professorship in Logistics and Entrepreneurship. He also served as the Director of CELDi, the Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution, the largest applied research consortium focused on logistics and distribution in the U.S.

Meller holds a Bachelor's, Master's and Ph.D. in Industrial & Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Siobhan O’Bara
Senior Vice President of Industry Engagement
GS1 US

Siobhan O’Bara, Senior Vice President of Industry Engagement for GS1 US, is an accomplished leader with over 20 years’ experience in supply chain, logistics, and operations management. She is responsible for building long-term industry relationships through strategic and meaningful collaboration and serves as lead ambassador to the Consumer Packaged Goods/Grocery, Healthcare, Foodservice, Fresh Foods, Apparel, and General Merchandise industry sectors. Previously, she served as Vice President of Healthcare for GS1 US.

Prior to joining GS1 US, Ms. O’Bara was Vice President of Customer Operations and Supply Chain Systems and Solutions for Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products. While there, she managed supply chain functions at multiple Covidien divisions, including medical supplies, retail, imaging, pharmaceutical, and respiratory technologies.

Ms. O’Bara is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, the University of Connecticut, and Babson College.

Jim Stollberg
EVP Research & Development
Dematic

Jim Stollberg joined Dematic in 2010 by means of the acquisition of HK Systems, a competitor in the North American market. Upon acquisition, he served as Vice President, Global Product Management before being promoted to Sr. Vice President, Global Research & Development in November 2012.

Jim received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Marquette University. He spent his first 10 years with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), a global leader in management consulting where he advanced to a senior management position. He then went on to the position of VP, Professional Services for EXE Technologies, a supply chain software provider before joining HK Systems in 1999. During his tenure at HK Systems, Jim held several leadership positions, including VP and General Manager of the irista software subsidiary, VP and General Manager of HK Logistics and VP of Strategy & Business Development.

Larry Sweet
Associate Director Institute for Robotics & Intelligent Machines
Georgia Tech

Larry M. Sweet is professor of the practice in robotics and associate director of technology transition in the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines. He focuses on establishing a new Technology Transition Laboratory, taking IRIM research with high-impact potential to successful industrial deployment.

Sweet received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from MIT, and a B.S from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a tenured faculty member at Princeton University, where he received a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the Rheinstein Outstanding Faculty Award, and the ASME Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control “Best Paper of Year” award with his courses twice recognized as the “Ten Best” at Princeton.

Most recently he was CTO at Symbotic, leading the conceptualization, design, and implementation of transformational warehouse automation technology using fleets of high-speed autonomous mobile robots in dense three-dimensional structures. This technology provides fully automated product handling and palletizing without human contact — from initial project startup to a pipeline of operational systems — for leading customers in four vertical market segments. During his time at Symbotic, Sweet was recognized for his achievements with numerous awards, including the 2013 Edison Award for Productivity and the 2015 Manufacturing Leadership Supply Chain High Achiever Award.

Panel Moderators

Tim Brown
Managing Director for the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute (SCL)
Georgia Tech

Tim Brown serves as the managing director of the Supply Chain & Logistics Institute (SCL), a unit within the Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech.

Brown is responsible for the strategic planning and development of executive education programs as well as serving as the liaison to on and off-campus professional associations, organizations and individuals regarding the recruitment and delivery of such programs in support of expanding SCL's global mission to enable supply chain professionals, businesses, and international governments to transform complex supply chains, improve logistics performance, and increase competitiveness by applying education, innovation and solutions (emerging practices).

Brown is also engaged in discussions with industry to evaluate opportunities for collaboration on research, consulting, and student team projects.

Brenda Hambleton
Chief Strategy & Customer Officer
ES3

Brenda has been with ES3 since inception in 2002. She is responsible for managing all aspects of customer interactions, developing new products and services, analyzing strategic opportunity, and managing all marketing and communications activities. Additionally, she helps to develop the long-term strategy for the company.

Brenda was the Executive Vice President for Information Resources, Inc. Brenda established and managed IRI’s $80 M commercial development organization. She managed teams responsible for developing, testing and support, including call center, distribution, training and product management. Brenda also developed IRI’s website and established electronic commerce, online ordering and online delivery systems.

Brenda has a BS in Chemistry and a Masters of Science with concentrations in Marketing & Strategy from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At the 2015 IPIC she received the Physical Internet Pioneer Award.

Margaret Kidd
Project Director, TAACCCT LINCS Grant, San Jacinto College
Instructional Assistant Professor, Supply Chain, College of Technology, University of Houston

As Project Director of the TAACCT LINCS Grant at San Jacinto College, Margaret is charged with participating with LINCS Consortium members in developing and implementing a series of eight stackable and latticed credentials that will provide workers with skills suitable for entry and middle level employment in supply chain management. The eight newly created industry recognized certificates are based on an evidence based design endorsed by the Council on Supply Chain Management Professionals. Targeted populations to be served by San Jacinto College and the LINCS Consortium include TAA-eligible workers, Veterans, long-term unemployed, traditional students and dual-credit students from area high schools.

In addition to producing an educational film in 2015 for careers in Logistics, Margaret has most recently organized a conference held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Houston Branch, titled “Developing a Sustainable Supply Chain Workforce for America’s Distribution Hub for the Next Generation”. While, Margaret is transitioning into a full-time instructional role in Supply Chain at University of Houston she continues to be actively engaged with the logistics and transportation industry in terms of regional workforce development.

Margaret has a BBA in General Business, MA in Cross-Cultural Studies, and is pursuing a Doctorate in Urban Planning & Environmental Policy with an emphasis on port-city inner face, sustainability, and security.

Walid Klibi
Professor of Supply Chain Management, Department of Operations Management and Information Systems, France
Associate Member of the CIRRELT, Interuniversity Research Center on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation, Canada
KEDGE Business School

Walid Klibi, Ph. D., MBA, is a professor of supply chain management at KEDGE Business School in Bordeaux, France, where he is the head of the Supply Chain Center of Excellence. He is actively involved in supply chain management research, and is an associate member of the CIRRELT in Canada. He is the author of several scientific papers on the design of effective and robust supply chain networks. He is also involved in teaching activities with the ISLI programs and in executive training with private organizations, and he is invited to speak to professional and scientific audiences on a regular basis. He contributed to the development of SC-Studio, a commercial supply chain network design tool.

Fernando Liesa
Secretary General, ALICE European Technology Platform/ Logistics Innovation Leader
ENIDE/SETRIS project end-to-end logistics Work Package coordinator
ENIDE / ALICE

Dr. Fernando Liesa is Logistics Innovation Leader at ENIDE and Secretary General at ALICE European Technology Platform on Logistics. Fernando holds a PhD by University of Zaragoza (Spain) since 2004. Since then, he has worked in the field of knowledge transfer and research management linked to chemical engineering, process industries, manufacturing and lately (last 9 years) to logistics and supply chain management. Fernando worked in Zaragoza Logistics Center (one of the MIT Global Scale Network centers and the only one in Europe) from 2006 to 2014 as Knowledge Transfer Director, from 2007 to 2014 as General Manager of the Spanish Center of Competence in Logistics, CNC-LOGISTICA and Coordinator of the Spanish Technology Platform in Logistics, Logistop. Dr. Liesa has coordinated and participated in several national and FP7 projects such as WINN, SECURESCM, SoCool@EU, CASSANDRA, CO3, SAFEPOST, LOGICON, CORE and EUROSKY and some projects linked specifically to corridors and hubs such as: FUTUREMED, INTERNODAL and RELOG. Contributions in these projects ranked from developing research to doing technology and knowledge transfer aiming innovation and industry take up. Fernando Liesa led the creation of the European Technology Platform in Logistics, ALICE through the WINN project acting as coordinator of the former. Currently, Fernando is coordinating End-to-End Logistics Work Package within SETRIS project. The purpose of the SETRIS project is to deliver a cohesive and coordinated approach to research and innovation strategies for all transport modes in Europe. SETRIS seeks to identify synergies between the transport European Technology Platforms’ (ETPs´) in all modes including logistics and mobility strategic research and innovation agendas (SRIAs) and between these and relevant national platforms.

Fernando cooperated with EIRAC in the definition of the EIRAC Strategic Agenda 2010‐2030+, and with ERTRAC in the definition of the Research and Innovation Roadmap: Sustainable Freight System for Europe: Green, Safe and Efficient Corridors (2011). Fernando is appointed member of the Digital Transport and Logistics Forum launched in 2015 by European Commission (DGMOVE).

Benoit Montreuil
Coca-Cola Material Handling & Distribution Chair
Professor
Georgia Tech

Dr. Montreuil is leading the International Physical Internet Initiative, engaging academic, government leaders worldwide into research and innovation projects on smart, hyperconnected and sustainable logistics, supply chains, transportation, businesses and regions. His main research interests generically lie in developing concepts, methodologies and technologies for creating, optimizing, transforming and enabling businesses, supply chains and value creation networks to thrive in a fast evolving hyperconnected world. From 2000 to 2014, Dr. Montreuil has held the Canada Research Chair in Business Engineering.

He is a founding member of the CIRRELT Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation. He is also past president of the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education and its Liaison to the Board of Governors of MHI, the North American industry association of material handling, logistics and supply chain solutions and technology providers. Dr. Montreuil graduated in 1978 from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). He earned a master’s and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1980 and 1982 respectively. After serving on the industrial engineering faculty of UQTR and Purdue University, from 1988 to 2014, he was a Professor of operations and decisions systems in the faculty of Business Administration at Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada.

Mike Ogle
Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Director
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Mike Ogle, Ph.D. is on the faculty of the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management at UNC Charlotte as an Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Director. Prior to UNC Charlotte, Mike was Vice President of Educational & Technical Services for the MHI trade association (www.mhi.org). At MHI, Mike served as the Managing Director of the Order Fulfillment Solutions Council, the Conveyor and Sortation Systems industry group and the College Industry Council on Material Handling Education.

Mike is currently on the Board of Directors of the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC) and on the board of the Logistics and Supply Chain (LSC) Division of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). He has been both speaker and session chair at CSCMP, WERC, and IIE conferences. He earned a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University. Mike's teaching and research interests are focused on material handling and order fulfillment.

Workshop Leaders

Eric Ballot
Professor
Mines Paris Tech

Graduated from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, 1988-1993, Agrégation 1991, Master from Panthéon-Sorbonne university 1993, Phd from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (Mechanical Engineering) 1995 and Habilitation à Diriger des Recherche Institut Polytechnique Grenoble 2009.

Research areas: Simulation and optimization of industrial and logistic operations, Models for sustainable supply chain and logistic, Physical Internet, Theory and models for utility, choice and inventory management in supply networks.

"My research, done in collaboration with the industry and supply chains, is based on the analysis and development of mathematical optimization and simulation models to design and improve actual and future supply chains. Thanks to the new possibility in optimization and data availability, operations research techniques are now applied to large-scale systems such as a food supply chains at country level. However as a member of the center for management my research also pays a great attention to organization, management aspects and consumer behavior. Recent work is focused on the development of the Physical Internet as a leading member in France of the international Physical Internet Initiative."

Doug Bodner
Principal Research Engineer, Tennenbaum Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology

Doug Bodner is a principal research engineer with the Tennenbaum Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he leads a research program focusing on computational analysis and decision support for design, operation and transformation of systems and enterprises.  This work combines systems engineering, operations research and interactive computational models to seek novel solutions to large-scale problems and to leverage education technology for new learning paradigms.  His work has been funded by variety of government agencies and companies, including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, U.S. Navy, GE Energy and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, and his research has spanned a number of industries, including aerospace and defense, automotive, electronics, energy, health care, paper, semiconductors and telecommunications.

Yan Cimon
Professor and Director, CIRRELT
Université Laval, Faculty of Business Administration

Yan Cimon, Ph.D. (HEC Montreal) is a Professor of Strategy at the Faculty of Business Administration at Universite Laval (Quebec City, Canada) and Director of CIRRELT (Quebec), the Interuniversity Research Center on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation. He is also an associate member of HEI, the Quebec Institute for Advanced International Studies. Keenly interested in North America’s firms and business environment, his research focuses on strategic and network-related issues in several industries (aerospace and defence, automotive, technology, biotech among others) that face a globalizing economy.

He held the Fulbright Visiting Chair in Innovation at the University of Washington (Seattle) in the Fall of 2012 where he studied the integration of North American value chains. He trained executives on four continents and regularly teaches in the Executive Master in Global Supply Chain Management at EPFL (Switzerland) and at the College des administrateurs de societes (Canada). His work has had a significant impact on academia and practice earning him a 2010 Star Researcher Award at the Rendez-vous du Savoir. Prior to his academic career, he worked in the Real-time Embedded Systems division of a major multinational firm in the Defence industry. An author of numerous papers and conferences, he was elected to Alpha Iota Delta.

Kevin Gue
Professor, Industrial Engineering; LoDI Director; Duthie Chair of Engineering Logistics
University of Louisville

Kevin Gue is Professor of Industrial Engineering at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville.  He holds the Mary Lee and George F. Duthie Endowed Chair of Engineering Logistics, and is Director of the Logistics and Distribution Institute.  Prior to his service at Louisville, Dr. Gue held appointments at Auburn University and the Naval Postgraduate School.  He received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, and is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Dr. Gue teaches courses in manufacturing and logistics systems design and operations at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. He was three times voted Professor of the Year in industrial engineering at Auburn University, and received the Louis D. Liskin Faculty Award at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Dr. Gue's research addresses the design and control of logistics systems, including distribution, warehousing, and material handling.  He has published in leading journals of his field and is co-inventor of several innovative warehouse designs which have been implemented in practice. His work on warehouse design has received multiple best paper awards and the Technical Innovation in Industrial Engineering Award in 2009. Dr. Gue's ongoing reseach addresses order fulfillment for e-commerce and high-density, puzzle-based material handling.

Marcel Huschebeck
Manager Logistics Research
PTV Planung Transport Verkehr AG

Marcel Huschebeck (47) received his Diploma in National Economics at the University of Freiburg, Germany. He has gained more than three years' experience in the field transport, logistics and transport policy as officer for the German association Bundesverband Güterkraftverkehr Entsorgung und Logistik (BGL). Since 1999 he is involved in research and consultancy projects in the field of freight transport and transport telematics at PTV Planung Transport Verkehr AG. Today he has the position of a Manager responsible for the Logistics Systems group within the Research & Innovation unit at PTV. As project co-ordinator he has managed several EU research projects: IRIS, IDIOMA, AIMS, BESTUFS, BESTUFS II, PROMIT, BESTFACT, MODULUSHCA.

Margaret Kidd
Project Director, TAACCCT LINCS Grant, San Jacinto College
Instructional Assistant Professor, Supply Chain, College of Technology, University of Houston

As Project Director of the TAACCT LINCS Grant at San Jacinto College, Margaret is charged with participating with LINCS Consortium members in developing and implementing a series of eight stackable and latticed credentials that will provide workers with skills suitable for entry and middle level employment in supply chain management. The eight newly created industry recognized certificates are based on an evidence based design endorsed by the Council on Supply Chain Management Professionals. Targeted populations to be served by San Jacinto College and the LINCS Consortium include TAA-eligible workers, Veterans, long-term unemployed, traditional students and dual-credit students from area high schools.

In addition to producing an educational film in 2015 for careers in Logistics, Margaret has most recently organized a conference held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Houston Branch, titled “Developing a Sustainable Supply Chain Workforce for America’s Distribution Hub for the Next Generation”. While, Margaret is transitioning into a full-time instructional role in Supply Chain at University of Houston she continues to be actively engaged with the logistics and transportation industry in terms of regional workforce development.

Margaret has a BBA in General Business, MA in Cross-Cultural Studies, and is pursuing a Doctorate in Urban Planning & Environmental Policy with an emphasis on port-city inner face, sustainability, and security.

Walid Klibi
Professor of Supply Chain Management, Department of Operations Management and Information Systems, France
Associate Member of the CIRRELT, Interuniversity Research Center on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation, Canada
KEDGE Business School

Walid Klibi, Ph. D., MBA, is a professor of supply chain management at KEDGE Business School in Bordeaux, France, where he is the head of the Supply Chain Center of Excellence. He is actively involved in supply chain management research, and is an associate member of the CIRRELT in Canada. He is the author of several scientific papers on the design of effective and robust supply chain networks. He is also involved in teaching activities with the ISLI programs and in executive training with private organizations, and he is invited to speak to professional and scientific audiences on a regular basis. He contributed to the development of SC-Studio, a commercial supply chain network design tool.

Christian Lafrance
President
Clear Destination

Christian Lafrance is the CEO of Clear Destination. Founded more than 10 years ago Clear Destination has completely automated the attended home delivery process of major home fashion goods like furniture, appliances and bedding. Clear Destination was created to help customer not wait at home all day because a delivery.  Consumers have the freedom to book their delivery date and windows when purchasing items online or in the store.

As president and founder of the company, Christian Lafrance has established a new standard for transportation efficiency, and led his software and scientific team to become one of the best vehicle routing engine in the industry and in the Operational Research world.

Prior to Clear Destination, Christian was co-founder at Ywait inc., where the team developed automatic incident detection and live traffic data feed through video image processing.  Christian was involved in many software startup developing Maintenance Management Software, Telehealth platform, Quality Management System, Point of Sales Software, Interactive Voice Response.

Suzanne Marcotte
Professor, Dept Management and Technology
l’École des Sciences de la Gestion (ESG), Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

Suzanne Marcotte is professor at l’École des Sciences de la Gestion (ESG), Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Canada where she teaches operations management and logistics. She is an academic member of the College Industry-Council on Material Handling Education (CICMHE). She is also a member of the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT). Her current research focuses on modeling and optimization of dynamic and stochastic networks more specifically on hyperconnected modular and mobile production and on reverse logistics. She is co-author of the book “Sustainable Reverse Logistics Network” written with other members of CIRRELT.

Maximo Martinez Avila
SNIC Research Manager
Procter & Gamble

Member of the P&G Global Supply Network Innovation Center since March 2012. Coordination team of Modulushca, a European innovation funded project aimed to develop a set of Standard Reusable small logistic units (<=Pallets) to enable the creation of a “Physical Internet” (see www.physicalinternetinitiative.org ) Maximo has a background in Economics with specialization in Logistics. From January 2004 to February 2012 he worked for a Packaging, Transport and Logistics technological institute being involved in several European innovation funded projects. In that period he participated in the establishment of the Spanish Technology Platform in Logistics, LOGISTOP and PACKNET, Spanish Packaging Technology Platform.

Dima Nazzal
Executive Director of Academic Administration and Student Experience, Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering
Georgia Tech

Dr. Dima Nazzal is on the faculty of the Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech as Executive Director of Academic Administration and Student Experience. Dr. Nazzal received her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2006. Her research focuses on the development and application of analytical models to guide decision making in discrete event logistics systems, including semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities, pharmaceutical order fulfillment and distribution centers, energy infrastructure systems, and fresh supply chains.  Current research projects include electricity infrastructure development in Sub Saharan Africa, resource allocation and control policy decision-making in semiconductor manufacturing, and control and design of pharmaceutical order fulfillment systems. Relevant recent work has addressed production planning and inventory decisions in fresh supply chain systems aiming to reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions. 

Marc Poulin
Assistant Professor
Canadian University Dubai

Dr. Marc Poulin holds a PhD in Sciences of Administration and an MBA in Manufacturing and Logistics Management from Laval University, Canada. He also obtained a BEd in Mathematics and Economics from McGill University, Canada.

Prior to joining CUD, Dr. Poulin was an Assistant Professor in the College of Business at Zayed University. He has extensive experience in industry as a Business Consultant, Mass Customization Consultant and Senior Supply Chain Consultant.

Dr. Poulin’s research interests are in mass customization, operations management, supply chain management and operations simulation.

Oliver Schauer
Professor
University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria

Prof. Dr. Oliver Schauer, born 1974, studied law at the Johannes Kepler University Linz (diploma 1997, doctorate 2001). In addition he completed an executive postgraduate program at LIMAK Johannes Kepler University Business School (MBA, 2005). Since 2012 Oliver works as a full research professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, School of Management. Oliver heads the department of “Transport Logistics and Mobility” and has research interests in the fields of the Physical Internet, sustainable transport systems and telematics. Prior to his actual profession, Oliver gained strong experience in the executive management of leading Austrian logistics providers.

Jeffrey Smith
Professor
Auburn University

Jeffrey S. Smith is currently the Joe W. Forehand Jr. Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Auburn University.  Prior to his position at Auburn, he was an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University.  In addition to his academic positions, Dr. Smith has held professional engineering positions with Electronic Data Systems and Philip Morris USA.  Dr. Smith has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University and MS and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University.  His primary research interests are in manufacturing systems design and analysis, logistics and distribution, and discrete event simulation.

Iris F.A. Vis
Professor of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Economics and Business
University of Groningen

Iris F.A. Vis is a professor of Industrial Engineering at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Groningen. She holds an M.Sc. in Mathematics (specialisation Operations Research) from the University of Leiden, and a PhD from the Erasmus University Rotterdam. She was an Associate Professor at the VU University Amsterdam before joining the University of Groningen. The research interests of Vis are in the design and optimisation of sustainable transportation networks, port network design, container terminals, and supply chain management. Vis has performed numerous projects in cooperation with companies, resulting in a blend of rigorous academic work with practical applicability. Vis is currently Associate Editor of OR Spectrum. She acts as a project leader in the NWO project “Towards virtual ports in a physical internet”, Dinalog (Dutch Institute for Advanced Logistics) project “Design of LNG networks”, and as a work package leader in three other projects funded by Dinalog and NWO on respectively integrated transportation networks, internet logistics and service logistics for offshore wind farms. Several awards have been given for her scientific work, including the INFORMS Transportation Science Section Dissertation Award 2002.

Workshop Panelists

Norm Kukuk
Executive Vice President of Marketing
ORBIS Corporation

With nearly 20 years of experience in the reusable packaging industry, Norm Kukuk has developed and shared reusable packaging expertise with leading industrial, consumer goods, food and beverage companies.

Kukuk currently provides executive leadership for ORBIS’ marketing and product development efforts, including the planning, development and implementation of strategic marketing plans and goals. He drives initiatives and pricing strategies that result in improved market share, increased revenue and enhanced profit margins. During his time with ORBIS, he has led efforts to develop innovative new packaging products, expand into international markets and drive operational efficiency.

As a member of the Executive Leadership Team for ORBIS, he has a strong focus on creating, deploying and executing the strategic vision for the company. As a veteran of the reusable packaging industry, he has strong relationships with trade associations, industry leaders and key customers.

Georg Simhandl
Founder and Managing Director
Adaptivia GmbH

Dr. Georg Simhandl is founder and managing director of Adaptivia GmbH, based in Vienna, Austria. Adaptivia develops sensor and control devices connected via Internet to device management and application servers. Adaptivia’s solutions are applied in environmental and structural health monitoring as well as telematics.  Since the beginning in 2008, Adaptivia has been pioneering Internet-of-Things technologies. Georg led many research projects, funded by governmental funds and companies. His field of research includes robust wireless communication, innovative capacitance sensors, real-time locating systems and data analytics. In his recent research, Georg focuses on Security of Internet-of-Things and Trust in the Physical Internet.  Before funding Adaptivia, Georg was with big-5 consulting companies, industrial companies and startups in different roles like software architect, consultant or product manager. Georg holds a PhD in Information Systems Research and a MBA both from Vienna University of Business Administration and Economics.

Horst Treiblmaier

Professor of Supply Chain Management
LOGISTIKUM Steyr

Horst Treiblmaier is a Full Research Professor of Supply Chain Management at the Logistikum Steyr (University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria).  Previously, he was a Visiting Professor at Purdue University, UCLA and UBC.  His research interests include the Physical Internet, Supply Chain Resilience, and Supply Chain Forecasting.  His work has appeared in journals such as Information Systems Journal, Structural Equation Modeling, Information and Management, Communications of the AIS, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research and Schmalenbach Business Review.

Mark Windisch
Strategic Account Manager
ORBIS Corporation

Mark Windisch, Strategic Account Manager for ORBIS Corporation, has developed and shared reusable packaging expertise with leading customers in a wide variety of industries, including automotive, industrial and consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturing. 

With nearly 12 years of experience in the reusable packaging industry, Windisch currently collaborates with CPG companies to implement system-wide reusable packaging programs to reduce costs and environmental impacts. He looks holistically at the supply chain and helps companies think about their supply chain differently, with reusable packaging.

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