2011 NX CAE Symposium Speakers
Art Avila, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Art Avila has been at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1984. He has been a thermal systems engineer, a technical group leader, a technical group supervisor, and is now the manager of JPL’s Thermal and Cryogenic Engineering Section.
Mark Bringle, Joe Gibbs Racing
Mark Bringle has been with Joe Gibbs Racing for 15 years. He was the first manufacturing engineer hired for the newly formed NASCAR team in the early 1990s, which is owned and operated by Joe Gibbs, former head coach of the Washington Redskins. Over the years, he has served in many different roles at Joe Gibbs Racing, ranging from R&D in the Engine Department, designer/programmer, and manager of the Manufacturing/Quality Control Department, where he supervised the manufacturing and quality of 900 different components for the motors and race cars.
Nathan Christensen, ATK Launch Systems
Nathan Christensen is the manager of ATK Launch Systems' Engineering Tools and Analysis group. His responsibilities include PLM/CAD/CAE tools, trend analysis, rocket motor performance databases, analytical methods and software development, reliability engineering and high-performance computing.
Zoltan Farkas, Southwest Solar Technologies
Zoltan Farkas is a mechanical engineer at Southwest Solar Technologies, responsible for mirror development.
Randy Huber, Caterpillar
Randy Huber is currently the division manager of the Advanced Virtual Product Development team located at Caterpillar's Technical Center. He received a BSME from The Ohio State University in 1978, and joined the Caterpillar Engineering Training Program after graduation. In his 33 years at Caterpillar, Huber has gained extensive product development knowledge and experience with assignments in engine and machine simulation, test, design, new product introduction and applied research. His current team is responsible for developing and deploying advanced simulation tools and processes throughout the Caterpillar enterprise.
Art Koehler, Procter & Gamble
Art Koehler is Associate Director, Computer Aided Engineering, at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from the City College of New York in 1978. Koehler has 33 years of industry experience in product technical engineering, quality engineering, reliability engineering, and development of computer-aided engineering methods and managing their applications for consumer product design and manufacturing process applications.
Steven Mueller, Siemens Energy
Steve Mueller is a mechanical engineer and team lead for Gas Turbine in Siemens Energy, Fossil Power. He has worked for Siemens Energy/Westinghouse Power Generation for 17 years. A good part of his career has been spent creating engineering design and analysis systems for turbo machinery involving FEA automation.
Dennis Nagy, CIMdata
Dr. Dennis Nagy is a thirty-nine-year veteran of international accomplishments and experience in all aspects of CAE software, from R&D through executive leadership. He currently divides his professional time between two major consulting activities (CIMdata and Smart Core Solutions) and one volunteer, non-profit professional organization (NAFEMS).
Kendra Short, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Kendra Short is the manager of the Mechanical Systems Division at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She has been at JPL for over 20 years, starting as a mechanical hardware engineer, and has worked on the Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) programs. More recently she has held several organizational and project management roles. She earned a BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1989, and an MS in Aero/Astro from Stanford University in 1992.
Xuran Zhu, MDA
Dr. Xuran Zhu is the manager of mechanical analysis at MDA’s Montreal office. He is in charge of the thermal design and analysis and structural analysis groups, the largest mechanical analysis groups in Canada’s space industry, who develop spacecraft antennas, payloads, subsystems and systems.
Rick Licursi, Siemens PLM Software
Since joining Siemens PLM Software in 1999, Rick Licursi has served as an Engineering Applications Analyst and Technical Team Manager supporting Delphi Automotive Systems. Currently, Licursi is a part of the CAE Center of Excellence, whose responsibilities include implementing modeling best practices while focusing on the integration of NX CAE tools and simulation data management methods in the product design cycle. Licursi received Bachelor of Science degrees in both Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and his MBA from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Jim Rusk, Siemens PLM Software
Jim Rusk is Vice President, Product Engineering Software, for Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of Siemens Industry Automation Division. Rusk is responsible for a wide variety of products within the NX portfolio, including NX Design and NX Simulation, as well as PLM Components.
May Taylor, Siemens PLM Software
May Taylor is responsible for CAE business development in both North and South America as part of Siemens PLM Software’s CAE Center of Excellence. She has worked in the CAE industry for the past 30 years in a variety of roles including marketing, pre- and post-sales support and product development, as well as spending many years as a CAE analyst. Having experience in many of the leading CAE software packages, she is a frequent speaker at technical conferences and user group meetings.