Board of Directors

Mike Allen is a Principal Control Systems Specialist for LyondellBasell. He has worked at the company’s La Porte, Texas facility since 1991. The first half of his career was spent working in instrumentation, first as an Instrument Technician, and later as an Instrumentation Specialist. In 2004 he moved into the Control Systems Engineering group, supporting automation projects and control system upgrades.From there Mike spent some time in the company’s central engineering automation group, supporting Alarm Management and Operator Interface work for the company’s North American plants. Most recently Mike served as the plant’s control systems lead for a brownfield HDPE plant that started up in 2020. Mike currently resides in Houston, TX and is an avid, yet long-suffering Houston sports fan reluctantly making the transition from basketball to golf. 

Todd Kifer is an Instrumentation & Controls (I&C) Engineer for Dominion, one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy.  Todd has approximately 22 years of experience in engineering, and 17 of those are pertaining to I&C.  He supports multiple sites for Dominion, but mainly focuses on three facilities Mount Storm Power Station, Bath County Pump Storage Station, and Warren Co Power Station.  He has been a Lead Engineer on many modernization projects, which include migrating from Provox to DeltaV.  Also he has completed many projects incorporating systems/devices controls into the existing DCS, including design from field all the way to HMI.  Todd holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering & Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University.  Todd currently resides in West Virginia, with his wife and daughter.  He enjoys spending time with family & friends, and is an avid outdoorsman.

Sarah Beadle is the Executive Sponsor for the Emerson Global Users Exchange and the Vice President, Brand Marketing and Communications for Systems and Solutions at Emerson. She is the key liaison between the Exchange Board and the Emerson Executive Management team. Sarah is also responsible for branding and marketing communications for the Emerson control systems and reliability portfolio which includes the DeltaV, Ovation and AMS brands. She has been with Emerson for over 30 years, and previously worked within the former Network Power business as a Marketing Director and Product Manager. She also has experience within Emerson’s Corporate Marketing Brand and Communications organization in St Louis. Sarah graduated from New York State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Marketing. She lives in the Austin area with her husband, and has three stepchildren. Sarah enjoys travel, reading and spending time with her family and friends, which often takes her back to the Upstate New York area.

Carmen Chang is the Director of Events for Emerson.  With over 17 years of experience in the process control industry, her background includes engineering roles in automation projects, hardware, software and proposals, and business roles as project controller, commercial business analyst and strategic pricing manager. During her professional tenure, she has simultaneously held various creative roles, including starting and managing her own custom gifts and embroidery business. Her current role as Director of Events allows her to knit her diverse skillsets together, creating a rare combination of technical, business, and creative innovation. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a MBA from Kennesaw State University.  She currently resides in Austin, Texas, with her son Carter, where you will frequently find her crafting, doing do-it-yourself projects around home, planning parties for friends, and volunteering in the community.

Zachary Bullinger is the Electrical & Control Systems Manager for American Crystal Sugar (ACS). He has been employed with ACS for nine years. His first four years were in ACS’s East Grand Forks factory, where he was in charge of control systems reliability and the design, installation, and commissioning of projects. For the next three years, he was located at ACS’s technical services building, where he was responsible for designing & implementing new projects, process control enhancements, and promoting the overall control systems at five facilities. Most recently, he was promoted to the role of Electrical & Control Systems Manager. In this role, he leads a team of engineers to effectively maintain, optimize, and implement electrical and control systems throughout all of ACS. He has participated in a wide range of projects varying from implementing a first of its kind natural gas lime kiln, virtualizing control systems, overhauling a steam turbine, redesigning a central control room, creating and implementing policies and procedures, and performing multiple migrations from RS3, Allen Bradley, and Modicon to DeltaV. Zachary holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from North Dakota State University and is in the process of acquiring his MBA from the University of Mary. Zachary resides in Fargo, ND. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing sports, traveling, skiing, and attending NDSU Bison games.

James (Jim) Haw, Vice-President Automation and Digital Strategy for PureCycle Technologies, Inc, has over 32 years of industrial automation experience in the paper, plastics, refining, and upstream oil & gas industries.  Jim holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the state of Texas.  He has been a career leader of the International Society of Automation having served at the local, regional, and national levels.  Jim also serves as Automation and Electrical advisor to Emerson’s Global User’s Exchange Board of Directors.  He holds certifications as a Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP), and Project Management Professional (PMP).

Joel Holmes is the Site Electrical Reliability Engineer at the Bayer U.S. – Crop Science Manufacturing Facility in Muscatine, Iowa. In addition, he promotes and provides enterprise support for AMS. He has been employed with Monsanto (now Bayer) over 24 years and prior to his current role has held a variety of positions, including maintenance, project, and controls engineering.  Joel holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from California State University, Long Beach. He has experience with multiple control systems including DeltaV™, PRoVOX™, Allen-Bradley, and Modicon. Joel and his electrical reliability team are the proud recipients of the 2012 HART Plant of the Year award, an international recognition for their demonstrated ingenuity and advanced capabilities in the application of HART Communication for real-time operational improvements, including lower costs and increased availability. In addition, he and his reliability team have been identified as finalists for the 2018 Reliability Program of the Year. This is a global recognition sponsored by Emerson and the University of Tennessee RMC towards identifying companies that best demonstrate the effective application of integrated maintenance best practices, including the leadership in implementing a “best in class” reliability program, the application of reliability-based technologies and ultimately the creation of quantifiable returns. Joel currently resides in Muscatine, Iowa with his wife, twin boys and daughter.  Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, kids sporting activities, outdoor activities, and being an assistant high school varsity football coach.

Rich Izard is a Chief Engineer & Area Manager for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions located at the United States Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, SC.  Rich’s organization is responsible for providing process control and automation engineering services for various nuclear production facilities and projects across the site. Originally from Rochester, NY, Rich has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University, and was an Engineering Co-Op with Eastman Kodak Company before starting work as a Process Control Engineer with E.I. duPont at SRS in 1984. Working primarily with distributed control systems early in his career, Rich gained an appreciation and affinity for human factors engineering and human centered / user experience design principles.  Rich also spent seven years as a program manager with responsibility for risk management, technology management, strategic planning and voice of the customer. Rich and his wife, Linda, reside in Aiken, SC with their two rescue Labs.  They are both active in their church, and enjoy hiking in nearby Hitchcock Woods—one of the largest urban forests in America.  They are blessed with three grown children, and six grandchildren—all residing just a short drive upstate.

Richard is the Lake Charles Manager of Automation at CITGO Petroleum – Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex in Lake Charles, LA.  Richard has been in the Lake Charles facility for over 28 years and has held various positions including Instrument Engineering Manager, Subject Matter Expert for Instrumentation, and site Safety Instrumented Systems Engineer.  In his current position, Richard manages the Automation Department consisting of Basic Process Control, Advanced Process Control, and OT Networking and Security.  In previous positions, Richard has managed and been part of the group that serves as Instrument Engineering support for Capital and Expense Projects, performs programming and maintenance duties on all DCS, PLCs, and SIS systems.  Richard holds a B.S. in Agri-Business, A.S. in Instrumentation Engineering Technology, A.S. in Electronics Engineering Technology, B.S. in Electrical/Electronics Engineering Technology, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA.  Richard is in good standing with the Louisiana State Board holding a PE License in Control Systems.  He has experience with field instrumentation as well as multiple control systems such as Emerson DeltaV DCS, Emerson DeltaV SIS, Honeywell TDC 2000, Honeywell TDC 3000, Honeywell Experion, Triconex, and Allen Bradley PLC’s. Richard currently resides in Lake Charles, LA with his wife.  Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, sporting events, outdoor activities, and woodworking.

Janine is the North America Nuclear Business Unit Director for Flow Controls products within Emerson. She started her career over 16 years ago with Emerson as sales engineer and later as an industry manager, working in multiple industry groups over the years. She spent two years as the Director of the Special Products Group within Flow Controls at Emerson. In her current role, she is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the Emerson’s nuclear control valve and safety relief valve business in North America with direct responsibility for the nuclear teams in Marshalltown, Iowa; Mansfield, Massachusetts; and Hamilton, Ontario. Janine has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA from University of Iowa. She also serves on the board for Emerson’s Women Impact Network employee resource group as the Vice-Chair of Global Regions and Membership. Janine lives in Marshalltown, Iowa with her husband, Nate, and her two sons (4 and 6). She enjoys traveling, reading, and golfing.

Brett McCutcheon is the Industry Applications Business Unit Manager at Spartan Controls. This organization at Spartan provides solutions to customers and develops new products leveraging technologies sold by Spartan Controls. Prior to this role, Brett has worked in a number of sales roles include Sales Management in Spartan’s Oilsands Segment and served as Strategic Account Manager for Suncor, Canada’s largest integrated energy company. Brett has also work in various technical positions spanning a broad basket of the Emerson family of products with experience including oilsands, conventional oil and gas and pipelines. Prior to joining Spartan Controls, Brett worked at TC Energy in a number of roles as part of a new engineering grad program. Brett is a Professional Engineer and holds bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Brett and his wife Rebecca live in Calgary, Alberta with their two active daughters.

Before retiring on March 31, 2021, Armando served as Vice President of Systems and Solutions, as well as Reliability Solutions for Equipment & Controls, Inc. (ECI), Emerson’s Impact Partner in the Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, West Virginia, and Western Maryland. Armando started his automation career in 1988 with Computer Task Group & Scientific Systems Services in Pittsburgh, PA.  In 1989 he was contracted to ECI and began working in the software engineering group, joining ECI as a full time employee in November of 1991. While working at ECI, Armando has held a variety of automation roles including, systems engineer, PSS outside sales engineer, Account Manager, Dir. Of Business Development, and Vice President of Systems and Solutions, and Reliability Solutions.  These roles enabled Armando to combine his passion for both people and technology to bring value to the industrial automation business. Armando has been a regular attendee of the Emerson Exchange for 20+ years and has not missed an Exchange since 2000.   Armando holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Computer Science & Math from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as two associate degrees in Computer Science & Business from CCAC.  He also studied Mechanical Engineering while attending “La Universidad del Zulia” in Venezuela before moving to Pittsburgh in 1983 and starting his new life. Armando has two wonderful children, Armando & Amanda, and resides with Donna, his wife of 31+ years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.   Outside of family & work, he enjoys boating, being a beach bum, and travelling the world.  One of the many bucket list items includes walking Camino de Santiago (France to Spain).

Michael Olivier works for Emerson as the Director of Product Management for Rosemount Temperature products.  Michael started his career with Emerson as an engineering co-op student in 2003 and has been with the company full-time since 2005.  During his tenure, he has spent time in various marketing and product management roles with Rosemount DP Flow, DP Level, and Pressure Transmitter products.  He has lead and supported numerous new product launches over the years including Rosemount 3051S Electronic Remote Sensors and the Rosemount Wireless Pressure Gauge.  His current role includes leading a great team of product managers that oversee the product lifecycle of the Rosemount Temperature products.  Michael has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from North Dakota State University and an MBA from the University of Minnesota.  He lives in Minnesota with his wife (Heather), two young children (Ingrid and Peter), and two rescue dogs.  

Ellis Sampson is a Product Supply Senior Expert and is currently the Technical Lead for the Process Controls team at Bayer’s Luling Facility. He has been employed with Bayer (legacy Monsanto) for 23 years. His worked as a Production Engineer over the Glyphosate Intermediate facilities at Luling before transitioning into the Process Controls group, primarily supporting the legacy PRoVOX systems.  Over the years working as a Process Control Engineer, he was involved in the PRoVOX to DeltaV migrations on both logic solvers and I/O.  He has also supported several new unit startups (1 GI Unit, 2 boilers) as a process controls engineer.   He has been the technical lead of the Luling Process Controls team for 9 years, leading 4 other engineers, 5 process controls technicians, 1 cybersecurity analyst, and 1 system administrator.  That team is currently finishing up the migration of over 30k I/O from PRoVOX to CHARMs, as well as an plantwide upgrade of the Safety Instrumented Systems from AB PLC’s and Relays to DeltaV SIS.
When he isn’t working, he enjoys cooking and playing tournament golf; Ellis holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University and an MBA in Human Resources from the University of New Orleans.

Bridget Spencer, P.E., is the Department Manager Instrument Engineering and Design for Wood based out of Houston.  She has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M and a PE in Control Systems Engineering, registered in Texas.  She has 16 years of experience in oil and gas engineering working for Wood, where she has been a lead engineer on capital projects in various business units, ranging from refinery units such as Delayed Cokers, FCCs, and HF Alky units to offshore drilling and production units, as well as cryogenic gas units onshore.

Allison is the Director of Integrated Marketing for Measurement Instrumentation products at Emerson.  
Allison began her career at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where she held various role driving the digital marketing and demand generation strategies. She joined Emerson in 2015, leading the Micro Motion integrated marketing programs, then broadened her role to all of integrated and digital marketing for flow measurement, then moved to her current role in 2020, leading integrated marketing for measurement instrumentation. Allison has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado.  She lives in Colorado with her husband and two sons. Allison enjoys running, reading and spending time with her family skiing, hiking or biking.

Bill Thomas is an instrumentation and controls engineer working in 3M’s PI&CS group. He graduated with a BS in Electrical  and Electronics Engineering from Auburn University in 1995 and is a Certified Automation Professional (CAP). Prior to college, he spent four years in the Navy as an Electronics Technician and two years with the Coast Guard as an Electronics Mechanic. In 1995, he joined Kimberly Clark as a Controls Systems Engineer working on Consumer Products automation projects. In 2005, he moved to 3M, first as a maintenance engineer then as a project engineer. He has implemented and managed automation and control system projects for a variety of businesses throughout the world with both KC and 3M. He is currently a resident engineer at 3M’s Decatur Chemical Plant. Bill lives in Madison, Alabama with his wife and two sons. Bill enjoys many outdoor activities including fishing, hiking, woodworking and camping. 

Derek is the vice president of marketing and strategy for Emerson’s machine automation solutions business, which provides innovative industrial automation and control solutions that serve the global factory automation, process automation and industrial machinery market.  Since joining Emerson in 2012, Derek also served as vice president of marketing and brand officer for Emerson’s discrete and industrial business, and as an analyst for Emerson’s Perfect Execution initiative. He is responsible for global marketing, strategy, and product management for industrial automation and controls products and services, as well as market strategy and analysis for supporting the growth of Emerson Automation Solutions into hybrid and discrete markets. Key market segments include food and beverage, life sciences, metals & mining, electronics, automotive and industrial machinery.  Prior to Emerson, Derek worked as an engineering leader at Procter & Gamble’s Air Care and Dish Care business, where he led cross-functional teams responsible for new product launches, and as an engineer in charge of process automation improvements and facility upgrades at Tyco International’s Healthcare and Flow Control divisions.  Derek holds an MBA in brand management from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Purdue University.

Midhu Varghese is Associate Director of Utilities and Infrastructure Engineering for AbbVie’s Lake County, IL site. She’s held prior engineering roles at AbbVie in automation, commissioning and qualification for global, R&D and manufacturing.   Midhu has a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University *whoop* and raises (manipulates and referees) four children in the suburbs of Chicago.

Jeff Ziolkowski is a Principal Automation Engineer in the AbbVie Global Engineering group that focuses on enterprise wide programs to address control system obsolescence, operational technology (OT) system cybersecurity, and global standards and procedures. Prior to joining the Global Automation team, he managed the engineering and maintenance team in the AbbVie API Pilot Plant in North Chicago, IL.  Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He started his career as a Chemical Production Engineer in a small specialty chemical company in Chicagoland and found himself gravitating toward automation projects including a project that brought the first DeltaV system to the site (Version 3!).  Jeff then spent 15 years at Novaspect (Emerson Impact Partner) as a Control Systems Engineer, Project Manager, and Engineering Group Manager (during which he took a short 2-year break to work as the Controls Engineering Manager for the University of Illinois at Chicago campus utilities department) prior to coming to AbbVie. Jeff resides in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two children where they all enjoy boating, swimming, water sports, and fishing on the Fox Chain O’ Lakes when the kids’ synchronized skating team schedules allow for it!