Walker Reynolds, Business Owner, Educator, Experienced Industry 4.0 Leader & Systems Architect

Keynote Speaker – Walker Reynolds

Mr. Reynolds’ career spans more than 20 years with time spent in Mining, Steel, Printing, and Tier 1 Automotive prior to transitioning into systems integration, and ultimately becoming a business owner and educator.

All those years on the plant floor with operators, supervisors, management teams, project and safety coordinators, and the like, taught Walker valuable lessons that he carried with him into architecting solutions as an outside consultant. Not all system integrators bring with them the experience of working in these various environments: a convergence of theory and engineering methods with real-life know-how.

Walker manages every aspect of his life with a few key principles in mind: authenticity, expertise, humility, servant leadership, and transparency. At his core, he wishes to serve the manufacturing community by leveraging his knowledge and partners. Walker has a keen vision to help save and create middle class jobs in the United States specifically by helping manufacturers.

Walker is the President and Solutions Architect at 4.0 Solutions and the Board Chairman at Intellic Integration in Dallas, TX. In his spare time, Walker enjoys reading, travelling, learning, and sharing stories. He is an excellent storyteller!

Smart Manufacturing Roadmap – This breakout session will focus on the opportunities and challenges of navigating the roadmap to Smart Manufacturing. Smart Manufacturing (Industry 4.0) is revolutionizing manufacturing by integrating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), and augmented reality (AR) into production process. 

Topics to be reviewed will include benefits of using smart manufacturing and AR in manufacturing, including improved efficiency, productivity and quality control; real-world examples of AR implementation in Smart Manufacturing, including assembly, maintenance and training; technical considerations of integrating AR. 

Mark Roth, Partner, Spinnaker Venture Partners

Facilitated by…Mark Roth, Partner with Spinnaker Venture Partners, a strategic growth and innovation management advisory firm based in Boston, MA, helping companies to create and capture value in the globally connected economy.

Over 20 years experience as a corporate executive, entrepreneur, and consultant, providing leadership on new product development, innovation management, and business origination.

Serial entrepreneur as founder of venture based startups creating value for stakeholders…and of course…then there are the ones in boxes in my garage.

Director of Innovative Digital Technologies at Boston Engineering

Brian Konochik with more than 10 years experience, has focused his career around developing and implementing advanced technologies to help organizations optimize workforce productivity and deliver operational efficiency.

He has deep expertise in advanced technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR), all within industrial environments. Brian designed and developed numerous solutions, from proof-of-concept to production, for leading enterprise organizations within the automotive and manufacturing industries, as well as in classified environments for the Department of Defense.

Among his many contributions, his key experience includes designing and developing a real-time mixed reality collaboration tool for a DoD shipbuilder and a plant-wide augmented reality insights and diagnostic tool for a multi-national manufacturing company. His skills in designing and delivering new, non-existing solutions and products at the enterprise level with a dedication to finding the best solution for each unique business challenge are beyond expertise. 

Automation/Robotics – In this breakout session several hands on demonstrations of automation and robotics will be performed, exemplifying how robotics can be easily implemented and provide quick ROI’s. There will be time for people to work 1:1, asking questions and work directly with automation engineers. A small manufacturing facility will talk through their implementation that increased profitability and gave this company a competitive edge.

Jake Tomkinson, Automation Engineer, Gibson Engineering

Facilitated by…Jake Tomkinson 

Additive Manufacturing – During this breakout you will receive an overview of common applications and their value proposition; methods to calculate business value, and practical guidance on how to get started. There will be several printers present, and MIT staff will be onsite to demonstrate and discuss applications. MIT is a leading research institution with state-of-the-art industrial machinery available for both research and industry use.

Haden Quinlan, Program Advisor, MIT

Facilitated by…Haden Quinlan is the Program Manager of MIT’s Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies (APT). He is an additive manufacturing career professional with experience leading major AM training programs and particular knowledge of L-PBF based applications and cost modeling approaches for AM.

CHIPS & SBIR Funding – This breakout room will feature a representative from NIST MEP and an expert on SBIR funding. The goal of this discussion is to identify key challenges and opportunities facing MA manufacturers in light of the CHIPS shortage and develop actionable solutions. With the work in bringing funding to MA manufacturers, Mass Tech Collaborative will be particularly relevant to this discussion, and will offer more about their initiatives and successes in this area.

Ecosystem Investment Strategy, MassTech Collaborative

CTO at Boston Engineering Corporation and Co-Founder, Boston Engineering Corporation

Kristy Grignon, Senior Director of Business Development, MassMEP

Morgan Dwyer, Chief Strategy Officer, CHIPS Program Office

Cybersecurity – This breakout session will show how to right-size a cybersecurity strategy. How do we develop a plan for now and protect ourselves from the future. CMMC/NIST compliance can be used as a supplement to the planning. This strategy needs to ride side-by-side with the business plan. Our process helps to make this consumable in plain language and is supported by industry expertise in costs to compliance. A great place to start is with assessment!

John Sinopoli, President & CEO, Synagex

Facilitated by…

John Sinopoli is an IT executive with over 25 years of technology consulting and leadership experience.  In his prior position as Senior Vice President of Information Technology at Berkshire Bank, he led the IT team during the company’s aggressive merger and acquisition-based growth across the United States.  Sinopoli is now the President and CEO of Synagex, Inc.  Synagex is an IT managed service provider focused on simple, result driven services for small to medium sized businesses.  The company is a CMMC certified Registered Practitioner Organization focused on securing the DoD supply chain.  Since 2020, Synagex has conducted over 50 CMMC/NIST gap assessments and actively manages cybersecurity for many Massachusetts-based manufacturers.  Sinopoli is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell with a BS, Information Technology.  He also holds an Executive Certificate, Management and Leadership from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Pete Morin, Chief Information Security Officer, Synagex

Pete is committed to assisting clients with their IT governance and cyber risk programs. He is a strategic thinker with a proven track record of success in developing and implementing effective security solutions. As a CMMC Registered Practitioner, Pete has honed his cyber security skills conducting NIST 800-171 and CMMC cybersecurity assessments for manufacturers within the defense industrial base nationwide.

 How did we get here? That is a question that can be best answered by “Team Beta” with FLEXcon. FLEXcon as a manufacturer is a subject matter expert in understanding innovation and why it’s important to keep your finger on that pulse. This breakout session will take you through Lean Manufacturing: Streamlining Processes for Improved Efficiency. Standardized work is a foundational tool that enables us to focus on the 4 Ps: People, Process, Purpose and Problem solving;  we will demonstrate how this concept can be applied to training, minimizing variation and driving a continuous improvement culture.

Bonnie Hamlin, Lean Manager, FLEXcon

Tom Hill, Beta Team Director, FLEXcon

Power and Energy Optimization (II0T) – Eversource & CCAT will use this breakout session to show how to utilize simple/lower cost applications of Industry 4.0 on your CNC manufacturing process to reduce power consumption and improve processes. You will gain an understanding of how to engage in straightforward data acquisition and leverage that date to optimize manufacturing through several pathway, including optimization software and adaptive technologies. See how real time production date can optimize production output and reduce energy consumption. Vision into correlating power data with post inspection results, can allow for real time adjustment to machine override as well as tool offsets to correct for predicted part dimension inaccuracies.

Senior Energy Efficiency Consultant

Facilitated by…Paul Tangredi Senior Energy Efficiency Consultant for Eversource Energy in CT. Mr. Tangredi currently provides program design and development support for Eversource Energy Efficiency.  He has over 40 years of experience primarily focused in the energy and environmental industry. During his career, he has worked with large manufacturers to support implementation of new energy efficient technologies, developed Climate Action Plans for higher education facilities, and consulted with manufacturing customers interested in achieving ISO50001 certification. His experience in strategic planning and energy efficiency has provided him a unique perspective on assisting Eversource customers in establishing strategic energy management processes.

Mr. Tangredi holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration from Western New England University.

Principal Engineer, CCAT

Nasir Mannan is an engineering professional with more than 18 years of experience in advanced engineering software, robotics, manufacturing, machine learning, computer vision and inspection technologies. He holds a master’s degree in Mechanical and Software Engineering.

Mr. Mannan is the principal engineer for CCAT’s Advanced Design Automation and Metrology lab and leads the the development and integration of Industry 4.0 technologies at manufacturing companies to help advance the U.S. supply chain.  Mr. Mannan is focused on non-contact 3D scanning systems based on Structured Light technology, computer vision, and Computed Tomography for non-destructive testing, dimensional inspection, reverse engineering, simulation, visualization, and machine automation.  He leads the development of AI informed digital twin technologies, including real time machine data collection systems and development of digital thread workflows. He is also focused on the applications of advanced generative design, computational fluid dynamics, heat transfer, static and dynamic mechanical properties simulation, offline/online robot programming, and machine design for product and process optimization.