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Session Description

Ticketed event: UEC Lunch - $70.95 advanced registration and $80.95 on site registration
Making Partnerships Work: Practical Approaches to Industry and Government Collaboration: Engineering deans and associate deans are increasingly expected to build meaningful partnerships with industry and government, yet many collaborations stall due to misaligned expectations, unclear agreements, or lack of institutional infrastructure. The program for our gathering will begin with lunch with tables discussing topics of contemporary interest. We will then delve into the manufacturing USA program with Dr. Rudnitsky, reflecting on a strong example of K-12, community college, university, industry, government and non-profit collaboration. Then we will have an interactive panel that brings together experienced industry and government partners who regularly work with universities to demystify what actually works. Panelists will share concrete examples of successful collaborations, common failure points, and the specific structures that make partnerships sustainable. Designed as a facilitated dialogue, the session will equip academic leaders with practical ideas they can immediately adapt for their own institutions.
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch and Table Talk Topics
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Speaker: Robert Rudnitsky, Manufacturing, Automation, Robotics, Controls and Data-Interdisciplinary Workforce Needs for Undergraduate Readiness
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Interactive Panel Discussion: Making Partnerships Work: Practical Approaches to Industry and Government Collaboration

Moderated by

1. Dr. Katy Snyder, Dr. Nandika D'Souza P.E., and Dr. Gwen Lee-Thomas

Speakers

1. Mrs. Dora Smith

   Siemens Digital Industries Software

   I’m a strategic and authentic leader with more than 25 years of experience in the engineering industry with specific passion and focus on engineering and technology education.

   My career spans corporate journalism, user advocacy and academic and workforce development advocacy. My personal and professional mission to make an impact in improving the quality of and access to education around the world. That’s my ikigai.

   I’m a lifelong learner and accredited business communicator who continues to re/upskill in emerging technologies as well as market enablement and engagement best practices to drive company and societal impact.

   Specialties: engineering education, communications, brand journalism, community development, public and media relations, technical writing, speaking

2. Dr. Kaitlin Tyler

   ANSYS, Inc.

   I am currently the Academic Content Lead in the Academic Development Team at Ansys. In this role, I coordinate project work and pipeline for academic-focused content created at Ansys, with a special emphasis on content for use in the classroom during teaching. I am also the course lead for the materials Ansys Innovation Courses.

3. Joseph Veranese

   Joe is the Vice President and Chief Information Officer of NCDMM. His corporate responsibilities include information management, technology, industrial control systems, cybersecurity, internal-external networks, hardware/software solutions, and budget analysis.

   Joe joined NCDMM in 2013 as the Business Systems Manager and oversaw the organization’s information systems and technologies. He later advanced to Corporate Services Director, assuming broader responsibilities such as providing program management oversight for corporate resources and initiatives, driving operational improvements.

   Before NCDMM, he spent 20 years in the financial sector and served as the Operations Manager of a bank services organization. During his tenure, Joe seamlessly migrated an on-site data management system to a data center for three service locations, streamlining operational control of a multi-site environment. The project, which was deemed highly successful, led to the commercialization of the process and application, generating additional revenue streams.

   Joe holds a bachelor’s in accounting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

4. Dr. Gwen Lee-Thomas

   Quality Measures

   Gwen is the CEO of Quality Measures, LLC--a consulting firm specializing in comprehensive evaluation services and capacity building. She has been an external consultant for 27 years serving businesses and private & public colleges and universities across the country. Gwen has conducted dozens of workshops and presentations, and has assisted colleges & universities in accreditation efforts with ABET, SACS-COC and NCA-HLC.

   As the CEO, Gwen oversees multiple projects with various public and private companies across North America and has served as an evaluator or consultant for over $120 million in grants and contracts with state and federal agencies and organizations. Prior to full-time at QM, Gwen was the Assistant to the President and Provost for Special Projects at Old Dominion University where she provided executive level support by coordinating cross divisional activities and working with internal and external constituents.

   From July 2005 - May 2011, Gwen was an Assistant Professor in the Higher Education graduate program in the Darden College of Education at ODU. Prior to ODU, she was the Executive Assistant to the President from 2004 – 2005 and Director of Assessment from 1998 through 2004 at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She has also served as the editorial associate for the African American Review and office manager of a multi-million dollar construction company.

   Gwen’s leadership service has included State Board Chair of the Indiana Minority Health Coalition and Commissioner on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Other service included community relations board for the U.S. Penitentiary of Federal Bureau of Prisons, United Way Grants Sub-Committee of Vigo County, and Academic Business Council of the Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce in Indiana.

5. Robert G. Rudnitsky

   NIST

   Robert Rudnitsky is a Physicist and is the Division Chief of the Strategy and Planning Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO). Robert received a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University, where he was a Hertz Fellow, and a B.A. from Yale University. At Stanford, his research was at the intersection of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), nanotechnology, and biotechnology. He designed and fabricated advanced MEMS sensors to measure the binding forces between pairs of protein molecules, and developed thermodynamic models of the molecular interactions.

   Prior to coming to NIST as Scientific Advisor to the Director the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Robert worked as a Physicist in the U.S. State Department in the Office of Space and Advanced Technology, where he chaired the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Global Issues in Nanotechnology Working Group, which coordinated United States Government international activities related to nanotechnology. He has served as Chair of the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Advisory Committee, which evaluated and recommended the allocation of foreign assistance resources for programs in NATO partner countries and Afghanistan. He was also elected the founding chair of the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Party on Nanotechnology. His private sector experience includes working in New York as an investment banker specializing in acquisitions of privately held companies, including manufacturing companies, and as president of a small company.

   Robert has research experience in microelectromechanical systems, device fabrication, nanotechnology, biophysics, biotechnology, microfluidics, and sensors. As Division Chief, Robert provides scientific and technical guidance for the Manufacturing USA program, and develops strategy for new programs, including the planning for the CHIPS Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program.