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William Schmitz (2009 Inductee) Our 2009 inductee is
Mr. William Schmitz, who graduated from the Mechanical Engineering
department at RIT. As of 2009, he is currently Chief Operating Officer
of Ultralife Corporation, which began as a battery company, and now
offers products and services ranging from portable and standby power
solutions to communications and electronics systems. Through its
engineering and collaborative approach to problem solving, Ultralife
serves government, defense and commercial customers across the globe.
Bill joined the Company in December 1999 as Vice President,
Manufacturing, Primary Batteries, and became Vice President and
General Manager, Primary Batteries in 2001 and Chief Operating Officer
in 2002. Before this, Mr. Schmitz worked for Bausch & Lomb from 1985
to 1999 in several positions, most recently as Director, New Product
Development in the Eyewear Division from 1995 to 1999. Mr. Schmitz has
an M.S. in Operations Management from the University of Rochester and
a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of
Technology.
Britta I. MacIntosh
(2007 Inductee)
Ms. Britta I. MacIntosh graduated from the Mechanical Engineering
department at RIT. At the time she was inducted, Britta was the Vice
President of Business Development for NORESCO, LLC, Westborough, MA
the nation's premier energy service company. She directs the sales and
development staff to win, negotiate, and execute performance contracts
in the Federal and Public Housing markets, with a focus on renewable
energy projects. As a senior-level point of contact to clients and
agencies, Britta has accountability for overall customer satisfaction.
Prior to this, Britta was the Vice President of Federal Programs
for Sempra Energy Services, Inc. in San Diego, CA and Hopkinton, MA.
There, she was in charge of setting Sempra's direction and strategy to
secure business within the Federal marketplace. Britta holds a
Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rochester
Institute of Technology and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering from Northeastern University.
After graduating from RIT, Britta worked for Select Energy Services
(formerly HEC Inc.) as a project engineer/manager whose projects
included high efficiency chiller and boiler plants, energy management
systems, and air handling system improvements. She then became manager
of design and construction, overseeing engineering and construction
efforts for company's largest projects. Next Britta became the
director of business development, where she closed over $270 million
in project bookings in three years, including contracts for facilities
such as Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the Marine Corps Base at
Quantico.
Britta has had prior experience as an HVAC engineer designing new
construction in museums, prisons, and U.S. Embassies. She was also a
mechanical engineer for OAO Corporation at Goddard Space Flight Center
working on the Hubble Space Telescope Program. Britta holds the
Professional Engineer's license in NY, MA, CT, ME, and NH. She is Past
President and member of the Board of Directors of the Boston Chapter
of ASHRAE. She is a frequent speaker and moderator at energy and
engineering conferences and associations. Britta is a former volunteer
firefighter, an avid cyclist and a triathlete.
Michael G. Field
(2006 Inductee)
Mr. Michael G. Field is the
Vice President of Engineering for The Raymond Corporation, the market
leader for electric material handling vehicles, headquartered in
Greene, NY. The Raymond Corporation is a member of the Toyota Material
Handling Group. Previously, Michael served as Vice President of Global
Program Management for Brooks-PRI Automation in Chelmsford, MA, which
led the semiconductor automated material handling industry with state
of the art controls, vehicles and robotic solutions. Prior to that
assignment, he was Vice President of Systems Integration at PRI
Automation where he led their engineering systems organization.
Mike began his career with Carrier Corporation in Syracuse, NY,
where he had a progression of product development leadership positions
in compressor design and manufacturing. He holds 4 US patents in
compressor design. A graduate of Rochester Institute of
Technology, Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering, a Master of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering
from Boston University and an MBA with a concentration in
International Operations from Boston University. He lived and studied
in Japan while attending the International Management Program at
Boston University.
Dr. Charles W. Haines
(2006 Inductee)
Dr. Charles W. Haines is
Professor Emeritus of the Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics
departments at RIT. Dr. Haines earned dual Bachelors degrees in
mathematics and physics from Earlham College, and went on to earn his
Masters and PhD from RPI. Dr. Haines has a long and distinguished
career here at RIT, dating back to 1971. He has taught courses in
mechanical engineering and mathematics throughout his career, and has
played an important role in growing the mechanical engineering
department into what it has become today. Dr. Haines has served RIT as
a faculty member, as a Department Head (of both M.E. and Mathematics),
as Acting Dean of Engineering, Associate Dean of Engineering,
Assistant Provost, and as Associate Department Head of M.E. Since the
beginning of his career, the ME Department has grown in size, depth,
and national recognition. Dr. Haines has served as a reviewer for the
National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research, along
with consulting to Xerox Corporation and conducting research at NASA
Langley. Dr. Haines was responsible for developing and growing the
BS/MS program in mechanical engineering, which became a role model for
other programs around campus. Dr. Haines initiated, supported, and
grew our international student exchange program whereby students from
INSA, in France, study here at RIT, and students here are able to
study abroad. Dr. Haines had a global vision of our ME department long
before globalization was a household word.
Mr. Bart G. Guerreri
(2006 Inductee)
Mr. Bart G. Guerreri is a
1967 graduate of Mechanical Engineering at RIT. Bart's career has been
a full one, and he has a wealth of personal experiences to share.
Bart's professional career includes experiences ranging from design
engineering, to business trouble-shooter, entrepreneur, and inventor,
to successful businessman. Bart Guerreri is a devoted husband and
father whose thought provoking ideas continue to provide the
Information Technology world with exemplary services, products and
training. Bart Guerreri's creative innovations in broadband tele-communications
played an integral part in the IT world's evolution. Following
graduation from RIT in 1967, Bart went to work for Raytheon Company in
Massachusetts, where he excelled as a design engineer and in program
management for 13 years. He also worked at IBM's research laboratories
in East Fishkill and Yorktown Heights, New York, on the advanced logic
units for the IBM Mainframe computers.
Bart's creativity in development served the companies that he
worked for very well, however, he needed to express himself on a more
personal level so he left the Fortune 500 corporate world and started
his own consulting firm, initially part time from his home in
Framingham, Massachusetts in 1976. Bart was the only employee for
three years as he worked in the field now known as commands and
control. DSD Laboratories was incorporated on November 6th, 1978, and
Bart remains there as President and Chairman of the Board today. In
his early days at DSD, Bart designed interface systems for sensors,
radars & satellites and their custom designed digital systems and
displays. He would then add the custom software and hardware and plan
out the usage.
Times were hard for Telecommunication entrepreneurs in the 1970's.
After all, there were not that many computer savvy people, in fact, a
very select few even endeavored to buy home computers. Keep in mind
that this was long before the advent of the IBM personal computer. It
truly took dedication and determination, not only from Bart, but also
from his wife, Andrea, to nurture and support this start up company.
Over time, Bart's company migrated into a prototype production company
with DSD's first contract to design and manufacture a dual port memory
system. Bart started production of this dual port memory system in the
basement of his home while his wife recruited some of her friends to
assemble the printed circuit boards. Ten people, including Bart, were
producing the boards on top of sawhorses and plywood sheets in his
basement. These systems garnered enough attention to warrant a
published interview and feature article in Electronic Magazine. Two
weeks following the appearance of the article, major interest sparked
over 320 requests for technical information. As his company began to
grow, Bart was busy developing and creating new products as well as
writing and publishing articles. In late 1982 Bart began to develop a
broadband Local Area Network (LAN) to enable the passing of video as
well as voice and data thru the same cable buss. By 1983 DSD was
growing with contracts. As the company gained momentum, word got out
about Bart's latest broadband development and venture capitalists
began to advise Bart of their interest.
To keep DSD focused on the projects at hand, Bart started another
company in Westboro, Massachusetts, called Link Telecommunications,
Inc. (LTI). LTI devoted itself exclusively to the development of
LINKNET, a broadband local/wide are network system using buss
interface unit (BIU) that would allow dissimilar computers to
communication. Utilizing a broadband Cable TV based technology;
LINKNET became a multi channel system capable of simultaneous data,
voice and video transmission. LINKNET was so successful, that the
House of Representatives and US Department of Defense adopted it. By
1984, with just over 50 employees, sales forecasts for LTI products
were estimated to be in excess of $50 million by 1986. In addition,
predictions indicated for the overall U.S. market for wideband
networks would surpass $3 billion by 1990. LTI was fulfilling all of
the stockholder's requirements and there was no way the venture
capitalists could resist. In November, all the venture capital
milestones were met, which triggered a second round of venture
capital, funding for expansion. LTI was gearing up for a major market
announcement and full production to commence in January 1985.
On Christmas Eve, 1984, at 2:20PM, Bart received the venture
capital call that still rings in his ears today. The venture capital
firm that had promised the January funding was going bankrupt, and
Bart had to layoff all of his employees that very day. In the state of
Massachusetts the CEO was personally liable for employee salaries.
Bart contacted every company and investor he knew to offer for sale
all of LTI's assets, including proto-types, designs, etc. Due to
legalities, the company that bought Bart out will remain nameless,
however, they became one of the largest suppliers of local area
networking equipment in the industry.
With his assets sold and his employees paid, Bart came home from
the office, put his children to bed, picked up the old shoe box
containing all of his business and personal bills, and he and his wife
began adding up the remainder of their debt. Bart found that he still
owed over $273,000. Bart contacted every one of his suppliers,
advising them of his situation and assuring them that he would pay
every single dollar owed. Time dragged on as Bart was hit with 26
bankruptcy related lawsuits. On February 28, 1985, Bart declared
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy closing the door forever on LTI. Two years later,
with numerous consulting jobs, and working virtually seven days a
week, sixteen to seventeen hours per day, and with the support of his
Wife, Andrea, and employees from DSD Labs, all debts were paid in
full. It was time to grow DSD.
That time in their lives evokes many memories for Bart and his
family. Bart will tell you, however, that what is more important are
the many lessons learned as a result of that experience. Bouncing back
from bankruptcy in 1985, Bart led DSD Labs on to become one of the
most successful and well respected IT firms in the nation, attracting
federal government attention with it's ability to fulfill a contract
above and beyond obligation and customer expectations. As DSD gained
momentum, Bart branched off into locations throughout the US that
specialized in specific areas like domain engineering, security
engineering, system engineering and program management.
In 1999, Bart began to develop a new computer security company to
address the growth of computer vulnerabilities. Bart incorporated
"Backbone" security on September 11, 2000, and was able to bring the
notably successful and accomplished computer security expert, Mr.
Glenn Watt, to the team. At that time, it was obvious to Backbone,
that there was a lack of highly trained computer security specialist
in the United States. Not one school in America was training students
in Security Engineering - Backbone quickly moved to fill that need,
and developed and offered computer security courses. In 2000, Bart was
named to the Dean's Committee for International Development at Harvard
University's John F Kennedy School of Government.
By 2001 Bart garnered national notice and approval for Backbone's
development of the nation's first Bachelor of Science degree in
security engineering curriculum taught at East Stroudsburg University.
That accomplishment was preceded by having the National Security
Agency (NSA) evaluate and rate the qualifications and ability of his
company to execute the NSA's assessment methodology. Many companies
throughout the country were evaluated and most were rated as
inadequate; in fact, only seven companies in the nation received a NSA
approval rating and Bart's company Backbone Security is one of them.
Bart received even more notoriety when, within hours of the September
11th terrorist attack, utilizing his company's secure virtual private
network product, RibcageŽ, Backbone, made a rapid response to the
needs of the FBI, tightening and insuring cyber security by providing
the FBI with secure links from it's intelligence sources to the Hoover
building in Washington D.C.
In 2002 Ribcage(r), Backbone's Secure Private Network, won Bart
honors as a security product of the year in one of the world's largest
healthcare challenges for providing a HIPAA compliance solution for
securely transporting patient information. He also received honors for
Backbone receiving the "Company of the Year" award by academia's
internationally renowned Association of University Research Parks (AURP)
whose mission is to promote and support the development and operation
of university research parks worldwide. In 2003, Bart proudly accepted
security curriculum certification from the NSA and the Committee on
National Security Systems (CNSS) for Backbone's security training.
Bart has been recognized with the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award,
and holds over 30 patents and publications.
Recognized and honored for his contributions to his community and
country, both philanthropic and as an active volunteer, Bart continues
to play an integral lead role in the development of his community, of
the IT world, and of his country. He is an adviser to the US
Congressional Armed Forces Committee, a member of the Armed Forces
Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), The Board of
Directors of The Kennedy School of Government - Harvard University,
Association of Old Crows, American Electronics Association (AEA) and
Security Affairs Support Association (SASA). He lives by the lessons
taught to him by his parents and his life and he continues to give
every task performed a quality of effort, believing a man is only as
good as his word, and that a hand shake is as good as any written
contract.
GILBERT JAMES
HATCH
(2005 Inductee)
The first 2005 inductee into the ME
Academy is a 1972 Bachelor of Science and 1980 Master of Science
graduate of the mechanical engineering department here at RIT. Gilbert
James Hatch was formerly president of Xerox Corporation's Production
Systems Group. He passed away on August 26, 2004 after a long battle
with cancer. Gil's wife, Bernice, his son, and daughter-in-law
accepted the award on his behalf.
Gil Hatch had a long track record
not only of professional accomplishment, but also of service to the
community. He was a member of the RIT board of trustees and of the
Monroe Community College Foundation. He served as a board member of
C-E-D-P-A, a non-governmental organization dedicated to empowering
women in global leadership. He was awarded three patents in xerography
and digital imaging.
During his 35-year career with
Xerox, Gil held a number of senior technical and general management
positions in both the United States and the United Kingdom. In his
last position, he had worldwide responsibility for high-end monochrome
and color systems for the production publishing and transaction
printing markets, including the DocuTech, DocuPrint, DocuColor and
Nuvera product lines. |
