Thomas R. Kurfess is the Chief Manufacturing Officer of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Executive Director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute. He is also the HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. He received his S.B., S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical…
Since 2026, Will has served as Group Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer at Hormel Foods. Prior to this role, he was responsible for leading Hershey’s manufacturing plants, engineering, supply chain strategy and digital transformation teams. These teams focused on advancing Manufacturing 4.0 across the operations network. Will previously held multiple leadership roles across…
Daniela Rus is the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT, and Deputy Dean of Research in the Schwarzman College of Computing at MIT. Rus’ research interests are in robotics and artificial intelligence. The key focus of her…
Kenneth has been with Schneider Electric for twenty years. He is based out of their Lexington, Ky manufacturing facility and has held various plant roles in engineering, maintenance, and engineering management. In his current role, Kenneth supports 40 manufacturing facilities in North America as they adopt 4IR technologies.
Vicki has 40 years of experience in world-class manufacturing companies in various executive and roles. She recently retired after serving seven years as President & CEO of Proto Labs (NYSE PRLB), a leading online and technology-enabled quick-turn manufacturer of custom parts for prototyping and short run production. Proto Labs helps companies accelerate innovation, reduce risk…
Steven Moskowitz, Ph.D., is a thought leader in innovation management and digital transformation and the Principal at Industry 4ward LLC, an advisory firm that works with manufacturers to help them identify, prioritize, and embark on the next steps in their digital transformation and sustainability journeys. He leverages the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) assessment model…
