INTERNATIONAL ROBOT SAFETY CONFERENCE SPEAKERS

Nathan Bivans

CTO
FORT Robotics

As the CTO of FORT Robotics, Nathan Bivans oversees the development of safety, security, and control technology for intelligent machines. He was previously the CTO of Humanistic Robotics, Inc., where he developed and patented a wireless safety protocol designed for dangerous applications in landmine clearance. Nathan has worked with Motorola USA, in its Mobility’s Cable Headend group, where he designed high-performance multi-gigabit, fully-redundant systems for video and data transmission. He also spent several years at Apple Computer, where his team was central to mobile computer designs, including the world’s first 17? laptop. Nathan holds both a B.S. and M.E. with concentrations in signal processing and computer systems from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a Certified Machine Safety Expert, CMSE®

Shaun Brixey

Innovations Manager of Execution
Advanced Handling Systems

Shaun Brixey is the Innovations Manager of Execution at Advanced Handling Systems. His team designs and installs innovative solutions to improve efficiency and safety in distribution and production centers. He started his career in the nuclear power industry in operation and automation controls design followed by some time spent in the machine vision industry.

Hussein Chami

Advanced Controls Engineer
Ford Motor Company

Hussein received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and B.S. in Computer Engineering from University of Michigan, Dearborn.

Hussein worked at Ford Motor Company since Sept. 15 2013 first as a PTME Implementation Controls Engineer and later as an Advanced Controls Engineer at the Ford Advanced Manufacturing Center.

Prior to working at Ford Motor Company, Hussein worked at +Vantage corporation and Cinetic-DyAG as a controls engineer writing mathematical algorithms, designing, programming, and testing/debugging gauging equipment as well as automation and washers.

Mike DeRosier

Business Development / Safety Manager
Advent Design Corporation

Mike DeRosier is a TÜV certified Functional Safety Engineer for Machinery. His 20+ years of experience include controls engineering to design, build and integrate full machine control systems. His safety experience led him to help corporations to develop corporate safety standards, perform machine safeguarding risk assessments, machine safety training and design, as well as implementation of safety systems for all aspects of machinery (electrical, electronic, pneumatic, hydraulic, mechanical).

Elena Dominguez

Safety Consultant
Pilz Automation

Safety consultant with Pilz Automation Safety in the USA since 2007 Engineering degree from General Motors Institute, Flint, Mi Spent 25 years in robotic integration with Chevrolet, ABB, and Rimrock Participated in both the US and ISO committees for industrial robot safety Job consist of the following services • Risk assessment • Functional safety analysis and design • Validation of safety systems • Evaluation of compliance of safety systems

Carole Franklin

Director of Robotic Standards Development
Association for Advancing Automation

Carole Franklin is the Director of Standards Development for the Robotic Industries Association. She leads RIA’s standards development activities in developing the ANSI and ISO Robot Safety Standards. Before joining RIA, Carole spent over four years with management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where she led projects on business process improvement, internal communications, and executive communications. Prior to Booz Allen, Carole worked for Ford Motor Company for ten years in the market research department. Her career has been spent translating the needs of end-users into actionable guidance for engineers and leaders – and vice versa. Carole holds BA and MBA degrees from the University of Michigan.

Jeff Fryman

Principal Consultant
Association for Advancing Automation

Jeff Fryman is a retired United States Air Force officer. His 21-year career included eleven years’ experience as a Program Manager overseeing technical training programs. For a second career, Jeff joined the Robotic Industries Association as their Director of Standards Development until his retirement in 2013. His 17-years at the RIA saw him responsible for the development of both the 1999 and 2012 editions of the ANSI/RIA R15.06 American National Standard for Industrial Robot Safety. He was also responsible for organizing the annual National Robot Safety Conference and numerous smaller safety events. In his role at RIA, Jeff developed curricula for robot safety training, and taught hundreds of classes featuring the R15.06 methodology for conducting Risk Assessment. He also assisted in consulting on Risk Assessment and Robot Safety, and continues in his training role with the association. Internationally, Jeff was the Convener for ISO TC184/SC2 WG3, the committee responsible for developing the ISO 10218-1 and -2 International Standards for Industrial Robot Safety. Domestically, Jeff was the Vice-chair for the ANSI/ASSE Z244.1 committee; the standard for Control of Hazardous Energy – Lockout/Tagout and Alternative Methods. He has also been involved in other standards development efforts including the Canadian Standards Association committees for Robot Safety and Hazardous Energy Control; the Underwriters’ Laboratories Standards Technical Panel for UL1740 (robot safety); AMT and B11 Inc. ANSI Accredited Standards Committee for Safety of Machines – B11; and an advisor to the American Welding Society’s D16 committee for robotic welding. Outside interests include all aspects of railroad operations. His model railroading activities include standards development and participation in regional and national events. And finally, Jeff never denies “going around in circles” -- particularly when he is doing volunteer work for a railway museum where especially is a qualified antique trolley operator. Jeff resides in Saline, Michigan, outside of Ann Arbor.

Carlos Gallegos

Chief, Occupational Safety Training Branch, Office of Training and Education
DOL/OSHA

Carlos Gallegos started his safety career in the U.S. Air Force where he attained a Journeyman skill level as a technician and was licensed as a universal refrigerant processing technician. Since 2000, Carlos has held several positions with OSHA, including Response Team Leader, Instructor for the OSHA Training Institute and Regional Safety Specialist. He currently serves as Chief for Occupational Safety Training Branch at the OSHA Training Institute in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Otto Goernemann

Expert Machinery Safety Standards & Regulations
Sick, Inc.

Expert for machine safety, standards and regulations of the Central Department for Research and Development of SICK AG in Waldkirch, Germany. Member of several technical committees of ISO - IEC - CEN - DIN - AENOR. Otto Görnemann holds several patents in the field of industrial safety. has been lecturer at applied science Universities (Aachen, Bochum, Düsseldorf, Fulda, Heide, etc.) as well as trainer for several German Statutory OSH Insurances in Germany (Berufsgenossenschaften) and trainer for the occupational safety & health authorities in Brazil (Ministry of Labor, Fundacentro (EU commissioned advisor), Israel (IIOSH), Japan (NIOSH), and other agencies, Chile (ACHS) Singapore (WSHC / SISO) Colombia (CCS) and CATIM (Portuguese notified body).

Otto Görnemann Expert in functional safety at TÜV (FSE TÜV Rheinland, nº 263/16, Machinery) and Certified Functional Safety Application Expert (SGS-TÜV Saar)

Since 01.01.2018, chairman of the Technical Committee for the Safety of Machines (TC199) of the ISO International Organization for Standardization as well as Chairman of the Technical Committee for the Safety of Machines (TC114) of the European Committee for Standardization CEN.

Jonathan Horton

Safety Engineer, Office of Engineering Safety, Directorate of Standards and Guidance
DOL/OSHA

Jonathan Horton is a Safety Engineer in OSHA’s Directorate of Standards and Guidance, Office of Engineering Safety. Jonathan began his employment with OSHA in 2019 and has worked on a number of standards and guidance projects, including: the control of hazardous energy, robotics, powered industrial trucks, emergency response, and COVID-19. Prior to joining OSHA, Jonathan worked for 4 years in the mining industry as a Plant Supervisor and Maintenance Supervisor. Jonathan holds a BS in Mining Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Scott Kennedy

OHST, Occupational Safety & Health Specialist, Region 1 Regional Office
DOL/OSHA

Scott Kennedy is a team member of the Enforcement Programs and Technical Assistance section of OSHA’s Regional Office at the JFK Federal Building in Boston, MA, and has worked in that position since 2010. Scott joined OSHA in 2001, and was promoted to the Regional Federal Agency Programs Officer in 2008. Some of his duties entails providing technical assistance and interpretations of safety & health standards to Area Offices throughout the New England Region, and provides assistance to OSHA Compliance Officers with documentation of enforcement cases based on his professional experience working with the Regional Solicitors office, and as a CSHO in his first 7 years at the agency. He was certified as an Occupational Health & Safety Technologist by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals in 2004. Prior to joining OSHA, Scott was a Foreman for a mechanical contractor within the Boston Building Trades and a member of the United Association of Plumbers and Gasfitters, Local Union #12 for 14 years.

Mark Lewandowski

Director of Robotics Innovation
Procter & Gamble

Mark Lewandowski is the Director of Robotics Innovation for Procter & Gamble’s Global Engineering division. He has 31 years of machine controls, robotics, and machine safety experience with Procter & Gamble in high-speed converting, packaging, and robotics applications. Mark leads the Robotics Innovation group for the P&G Robotics Network that is chartered to develop standard approaches for robotics technology throughout P&G and is responsible for identifying new and innovative robotic technologies to leverage within the company.

Mark is also a member of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) Robotics Board of Directors and participates in several industry standard development groups for robotics and machine safety.

Joe Marshall

Automation R&D Engineer
Spirit AeroSystems Inc.

Joe Marshall is a research scientist/engineer in the Robotics and Automation R&D team at Spirit. Joe’s research emphasis is on implementation of various automation projects in aerospace manufacturing. Joe’s has done numerous research projects with collaborative robotics and is considered Spirit’s SME on collaborative automation safety and development. Joe earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wichita State University in 2010.

Jeremy Marvel

Computer Scientist
National Institute of Standards and Technology

Jeremy A. Marvel is a research scientist and project leader at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. Dr. Marvel received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Boston University, Boston, MA, a master’s degree in computer science from Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, and a Ph.D. degree in computer engineering from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH. Prior to NIST, Dr. Marvel was a research scientist at the Institute for Research in Engineering and Applied Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. He joined the Intelligent Systems Division at NIST in 2012 and has over fifteen years of robotics research experience in industry, academia, and government. His research interests include intelligent and adaptive solutions for robot applications, with particular attention paid to human-robot and robot-robot collaborations, multirobot coordination, industrial robot safety, machine learning, perception, and automated parameter optimization. Dr. Marvel currently leads a team of scientists and engineers in metrology efforts at NIST toward the performance evaluation of human-robot teaming and developing tools to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to effectively deploy robot solutions.

Aaron Prather

Senior Advisor
FedEx

With over 25 years at FedEx, Aaron Prather has developed and deployed numerous technology applications across the FedEx enterprise. From Hub operations in Memphis, Indianapolis, and Oakland, to Courier Operations around the world, he has worked in every corner of FedEx’s day-to-day operations. In his current role as Senior Advisor, Technology Planning & Research, Prather leads efforts to find and deploy new technologies into FedEx operations, including robotics and automation. He sits on the company’s Operations Technology Council which coordinates efforts across all of the FedEx companies. Outside of FedEx, Aaron participates in developing robot standards at the A3 and UL. Through the FedEx Institute of Technology at the University of Memphis, he works with universities and colleges in the development of educational programs for the next generation of technologists in logistics. Prather received an MBA from Christian Brothers University, and holds a BS from University of Memphis in Geographic Information Science and Cartography.

Craig Salvalaggio

Chief Operating Officer
Applied Manufacturing Technologies

Craig Salvalaggio is the Chief Operating Officer at Applied Manufacturing Technologies (AMT). He currently leads overall operations including; sales, engineering, and talent management. His industry knowledge of automation, robotics, and manufacturing combined with his business acumen have allowed him to diversify the company into new markets. His strategic mission is to continue driving growth and diversity of both the automotive and general industries market segments. Craig brings over 19 years of automation experience to AMT and holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Lake Superior State University, a master's in operations management, and an MBA from Kettering University. Craig is actively involved in the Robotics Industry Association (RIA) as a board member, committee member, and the Co-Chair of the Certified Integrator Committee.

Roberta Nelson Shea

Global Technical Compliance Officer
Universal Robots

Responsible for UR global product compliance and reducing barriers to acceptance of UR robots. Over 40+ years’ experience in safety and standardization for automation. Some examples include:

• Honored as …
  • 1 of the “Twenty Women Making Their Mark in Robotics & Automation” by Smart Manufacturing (SME) in February 2021.
  • 1 of the “100 Women in Safety in 100 years” by the American Society of Safety Professionals (known then as ASSE) in 2011.
  • One of the 100 Women – Making a Difference in Safety
  • Chair Emeritus of A3’s standardization activities in 2016. A3 was formerly known as RIA (Robotic Industries Association).
• National robot safety standardization activities:
  • Since 1982, the only consistently active robot safety standards expert.
  • Chair for 23 years of the US Robot Safety Committee (R15.06).
  • Active for 40 years in various American National machinery safety standards.
  • Actively involved in ISO standardization with an emphasis on automation and safety
  • Convenor of TC299 WG3 Industrial robotics (ISO 10218 & TS15066).
  • Convenor of TC299 SG1 Study group on TC299 Robotics structure
  • Expert member of TC199 Safety of machinery and IEC working groups.
  • Certified Functional Safety Engineer (TÜV Rheinland).
  • Past member of the board of directors of ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and of RIA (now known as A3). BS in Mechanical Engineering (WPI) and a Master of Engineering in Advanced Safety Engineering and Management (UAB). Before Universal Robots, she headed global safety component product management at Rockwell Automation. Preceding Rockwell, Roberta held top management positions at Symbotic, AMT and Pilz with a start at P&G.

Carla Silver

Safety Consultant
Carla Silver LLC

Carla Silver, is the principal owner of Carla Silver LLC, a consulting business that specializes in providing premier safety and industrial hygiene evaluation and management services to support the needs of clients to ensure a safe and healthy work environment.

Before forming her own business, Carla was employed at Merck Pharmaceuticals for 34 years, where she held positions as a chemist, quality assurance auditor, production packaging and manufacturing supervisor, and Safety/IH Specialist. Working within the Environmental Health and Safety profession for 26 years, Carla’s true passion and expertise lie in equipment and machinery safe conceptual design, assessment, installation, and management where she has over 30 years of experience within Merck’s North American Packaging HUB. She understands what it takes to build in safety with a successful team which includes the Component Vendor, Manufacturer, Integrator, and End User. Utilizing this expertise to teach and mentor others, Carla is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham within their Masters of Advanced Safety Engineering and Management Program.

Carla holds a B.S. in Chemistry, a Masters of Engineering in Advanced Safety Engineering and Management, is a Certified Safety Professional, Licensed Machine Safety Specialist, and is an ANSI/PMMI B155.1 committee member.

Patrick Sobalvarro

Cofounder, CEO, President
Veo Robotics, Inc.

Patrick Sobalvarro is the co-founder and CEO of Veo Robotics, the creators of FreeMove®, a comprehensive 3D safeguarding system for industrial robotics that enables dynamic human-robot collaboration. FreeMove received safety certification in April 2021, making it a first-of-its-kind technology that deploys dynamic, 3D Speed and Separation Monitoring (SSM) for safeguarding in a manufacturing workcell.

Patrick has more than twenty-five years of experience in computer vision, robotics, and industrial automation. Prior to founding Veo Robotics, Patrick was the first Entrepreneur in Residence at Siemens Venture Capital, focusing on the creation of the vision behind Veo. He also served as the VP of New Growth Platforms for Avery Dennison, building a new business line in RFID-based IoT products; was President of Rethink Robotics; and founded and led the computer vision startup IntelliVid to its acquisition by Tyco International.

Patrick holds a Ph.D., S.M., and S.B. in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Chris Soranno

Safety Standards & Competence Manager
SICK Inc.

Chris Soranno is a Functional Safety Expert in Machinery Safety (TÜV Rheinland) and has been dedicated to industrial safety his entire career. During this time, he has worked for manufacturers, distributors and integrators of safety components and systems. Chris has experience working with both equipment suppliers and users in diverse global applications. As the Safety Standards and Competence Manager for the SICK organization, Chris is responsible for regional and global safety competency and directing safety standardization work for the Americas.

Mr. Soranno is an active member of numerous standards committees in North America, including industrial robot standards RIA R15.06, CSA Z434 and UL 1740, as well as the industrial mobile robot standard RIA R15.08. Chris has been a long time contributor to SPI B151 standards for the plastics industry and ASSE Z244 for control of hazardous energy, as well as a member of many B11 subcommittees for machinery safety. Mr Soranno was recently appointed chairman of ANSI B11.19 (performance criteria for risk reduction measures), and was chairman of the recent revision to ANSI B11.20 (integrating machinery into a system). Internationally, he is also a member of ISO technical committees for robotics, plastics and rubber machines, metal forming machines, and safety of machinery – including project leader for the ongoing revision of ISO 11161 for integrated manufacturing systems.

Ted Rozier

Director of Engineering
Festo Corporation

Ted Rozier is the Director Of Engineering for Festo Didactic Solution Center North America headquartered in Mason, Ohio. Before Joining Festo Didactic, He brings 20 years of experience in leading the Automation Engineering Department for Doosan Infracore Machine Tool Corporation. He specialized in the design and development of Robotics and Machine tool turnkey systems for the Automotive, Aerospace and Pharmaceutical industry.

Ted has managed the development of several user-friendly automation control turnkey systems on a global scale.

As Director of Engineering of Festo Didactic, Ted is passionately looking to advance Festo Didactic as a global leader in designing and implementing Industry 4.0 learning factories and demystifing I4.0 carreer pathways with the view to systematically prepare individuals to excel working in dynamic and complex industrial automation environments.

Volunteering:

• ARM ( Advanced Robotic Manufacturing)
  Technical Advisory Committee
• RIA (Robot Industries Association)
  Robotics Safety Committee
• AMT ( Association For Manufacturing Technology)
  Technical Service Committee
• OMA( Ohio Manufacturing Association)
  Chief Technology Advisor ( Robotics and Automation)

Federico Vicentini

Head of Product Safety
Boston Dynamics

Federico Vicentini is Head of Product Safety at Boston Dynamics helping foster robot safety technology, risk-based methodology, and compliance for amazing mobile robots. Previously, he was a Researcher at the Italian National Research Council with interests in human-robot collaboration, served as national Chair of robot safety standardization committees, and enjoyed several years of ISO TC299 membership. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and co-authored 60+ scholarly publications and technical reviews.

Jason Walker

CEO & Co-Founder
Waypoint Robotics, Inc.

Jason Walker is CEO and Co-founder of Waypoint Robotics, which designs and manufactures easy to use, industrial-strength, omnidirectional autonomous mobile robots. Prior to founding Waypoint, Mr. Walker Co-founded CyPhy Works where he served as Lead Roboticist and Director of Operations while working on contacts for DARPA, NIST, and the National Science Foundation. Walker helped grow CyPhy Works into a leading tethered drone supplier in North America. Prior to CyPhy Works, he was the quality and testing manager for the Roomba vacuuming robot at iRobot. Walker received a BSEE with a concentration in Robotics and Control Systems from Kansas State University.

Ben Waters

CoFounder and CEO
WiBotic

Ben Waters has been the CEO of WiBotic since 2015, when he and Co-Founder Joshua Smith commercialized the wireless charging solutions they developed at the University of Washington. Ben is responsible for company vision, strategy, company operations, little bit of engineering and all the other things. He is a Puget Sound Business Journal 2016 “40 Under 40” honoree. As a graduate student, Ben developed the FREE-D System – a wireless power system for left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). His research focused on the field of wireless power, including near-field antenna design, RF amplifiers, embedded systems, and adaptive maximum power point tracking systems as well as applications for these systems. He has worked with Network Appliance, Arup, Intel Labs Seattle and, most recently, with Bosch in 2013, where he continued his work in wireless power transfer. Ben holds a B.A. in physics from Occidental College, a B.S. in electrical engineering from Columbia University, M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Washington.

Marvin Winrich

Senior Functional Safety Engineer
Rockwell Automation

Marvin Winrich is a Senior Functional Safety Engineer at Rockwell Automation - Safety Services. Responsibilities include robotics/automation on-site safety evaluations to national and international safety standards, integrated manufacturing safety compliance audits, “CE” compliance safety, functional safety validations and safety training.

Prior to joining Rockwell, Marvin was 28 years at Underwriters Laboratories (UL); global corporate contact for robotics/AGVs - safety programs, interpretation of safety requirements, development of safety requirements/test programs to relevant US and international standards.

Co-author ANSI UL 1740, Standard for Safety - Robots and Robotic Equipment.

Active member of committees for development of safety Standards:

• Robotic Industries Association (A3): Robots and Robot Systems, RIA R15.06
• Robotic Industries Association (A3): Industrial Mobile Robots, RIA R15.08
• Underwriters Laboratories: Robots and Robotic Equipment, UL 1740
• Underwriters Laboratories: Automated Mobile Platforms, UL 3100

Marvin holds a MS Management, MS Electrical Engineering, BS Electrical Engineering

Melonee Wise

CEO
Fetch Robotics

Melonee Wise is the CEO of Fetch Robotics. Melonee was the second employee at Willow Garage, a research and development laboratory extremely influential in the advancement of robotics. While there, she led a team of engineers developing next-generation robot hardware and software, including ROS, the PR2, and TurtleBot. Melonee was a 2015 recipient of MIT Technology Review’s TR35 award for technology innovators under the age of 35 and has been named to the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Women of Influence and 40 Under 40 lists. In 2017, Business Insider named her as one of eight CEOs changing the way we work. Under her leadership, Fetch Robotics won the MODEX Innovation Award for the materials handling industry, as well as being named to RBR 50, a listing of the 50 most innovative robotics companies in the world.