Empowering Industry Podcast - A Production of Empowering Pumps & Equipment

Welcome Back! Charli is kicking off the 5th season of The Empowering Industry Podcast with Robyn Brookhart

Brookhart began her career in the pump industry in 1997 at her family’s business in the small town of Bergen, NY.  After graduating with a marketing degree and beginning her MBA (with a concentration in manufacturing), she took a marketing position at Liberty Pumps.  Driven to challenge herself, Robyn took on several positions at the company in order to learn as much as she could about the business.  After working in Marketing, she spent time in customer service, project management, plant supervision, and manufacturing management.  

As President & CEO Robyn values Liberty’s members, corporate culture, and the opportunity to serve as the company’s leader.

Robyn currently serves on the Liberty Pumps Board of Directors, is a member of ASA’s Women in Industry, and is a member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization).  She’s also an active member in her community and is dedicated to fundraising and helping out at the local community center.

[email protected]

Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Empowering Team!


Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected]

This week Charli has  Michael Piantedosi on to talk about culture within the company

Michael Piantedosi is the North America Service Leader for Druck and Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. In this role Mike focuses on customer satisfaction, reducing in-house turnaround times, implementing best practices for wing-to-wing fulfilment, while simultaneously improving transparency for all customers. In addition to driving operational rigor, Mike partners with all Service Centers worldwide to lean out a very complex process and make it a world class experience for customers. Prior to joining Baker Hughes Mike was in retail management for 14 years where he worked for iconic brands such as Target, Gap Inc., and Ahold USA. He enjoys leading large teams while having fun and driving a strong talent culture. Michael holds a bachelor's degree in Business Management from Suffolk University as well as an MBA from Endicott College. Michael currently resides in Georgetown, Massachusetts with his wife Deana and two son Antonio (6) and Nicholas (2). Michael enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing the piano and working on classic cars in his spare time.

Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected]

Charli is back from Uganda and excited to share about her trip! (Blog post coming)
Andre is joining Charli this week to kick off December talking about Reliability


André-Michel Ferrari is a Reliability Engineer who specializes in Reliability Analytics and Modeling which are fundamental to improving asset performance and output in industrial operations. He has approximately 30 years of industrial experience mainly in Reliability Engineering, Maintenance Engineering, and Quality Systems Implementation. His experience includes world-class companies in the Brewing, Semiconductor, and Oil & Gas industries in Africa, Europe and North America. Throughout his career, André-Michel has strived to provide his customers and peers with practical and effective solutions to improve asset performance, optimize financial spend and improve maintenance strategies. He has published multiple articles on Reliability Engineering Processes and been a regular conference speaker over the last 10 years. He has also mentored countless new engineers and is a passionate contributor to the “Women in STEM” programs.

André-Michel is a Professional Engineer based in Alberta, Canada as well as a Certified Reliability Engineer with the American Society for Quality. His academic credentials include an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from École d’Ingénieurs de Marseille, France (1994) and an M.Eng. in Engineering Management from the University of Alberta (2010). He is the owner at Cogito Reliability Inc. (https://cogitoreliability.com/)

Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected]

Charli has Sam Lowry and Dwight Leeper on this week to talk about pumps in Senegal and how they continued to give of their skills even in retirement. 

Sam Lowry was born in South Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1952 and then spent his childhood and early youth in Cincinnati, Ohio. Currently a retired engineer living in Huntsville, Alabama he joined Rotary International in 2018 as a member of  the Huntsville Rotary Club for the opportunity to be involved with volunteer work.  

Sam has a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering and Applied Physics from Harvard University, a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a PhD in Engineering Sciences from the University of Tennessee Space Institute.

After service as a Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps, he arrived in Huntsville in 1981  from Cleveland, Ohio to work as a NASA engineer in the MSFC  Analysis Branch during the early years of the Space Shuttle.

In 1991 he joined CFD Research Corporation, where he spent 14 years helping develop a class of computer software tools known as Computational Fluid Dynamics.

After CFD Research Corporation, he spent a year as a full-time science teacher at Lee High School and then as a volunteer for the next seven years teaching their AP Physics class. 

Following his full year as a teacher at Lee, he went back to the private sector as CEO and co-founder of Simerics. Simerics develops simulation software for modeling pumps and fluid systems used in a variety of applications, including the oil and gas, water, and automotive industries.  

Having retired from Simerics in 2016 , he enjoys a mix of consulting, travel, recreation and volunteer work, including serving as one of the leads on a recently approved Global Grant to introduce deep-water hand pumps into rural communities in Senegal, working with the West Chester PA Rotary Club as the International Sponsor and the Dakar Soleil  SN Rotary Club as the Host.

This year, he is very much looking forward to helping provide reliable access to clean water for  rural communities in Senegal under the Rotary  Club  Deep-Water Pumps for Senegal  project. 

 Dwight Leeper's philosophy, borrowed from Scouts, is “to leave the world a better place than we found it.” He  began his Rotary journey in D7510 NJ in 2002 with the Fanwood Scotch Plains Club. There he served two terms as Membership Chair and two as President. He  served the District with a three-year term as Assistant Governor, as Deputy Governor, Vice Governor and was District Governor 2012-13 during which he led a U.S./Canada NID in Pakistan and subsequently hosted a GSE team from Pakistan. He is a graduate of the Leadership Institute, a multiple Paul Harris fellow, a member of the Paul Harris Society and have been a facilitator at multi-district PETS. He chaired a District Long Range Planning Committee for two years and joined a District team to Nepal, He joined the West Chester Rotary Club in 2015.  With our District, I have been a DG trainer.  Most recently, he has participated in a Rotary school project in Leogane, Haiti. 

 Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected]

Charli has John Wilson on the pod this week.

John Wilson is the CEO of Industrial Flow Solutions and has over 25 years of experience in the flow control industry. Prior to joining Industrial Flow Solutions, he spent over 20 years working for Emerson in multiple global leadership roles. John graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in Chemical Engineering and he also received an MBA from the University of Iowa’s Tippie School of Management.

JOHN WILSON LINKEDIN

FLOW SOLUTIONS

INDUSTRIAL FLOW SOLUTIONS LINKEDIN

 Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected]

We're kicking November off a bang as Ares Pangoulias joins Charli on the pod.

Ares Panagoulias directs the sales, operations, and engineering of IIOT Condition Monitoring products and services for Hydro in the Hydro Centaur business unit. He works directly with customersto analyze data to improve rotating equipment maintenance strategies, increase availability, and reduce downtime in the Nuclear, Power Utility, Pipeline, and Oil & Gas industries.

In addition, Ares is responsible for operations and management of all functions related to testing of high energy pumps, primarily for the Nuclear (safety and non‐safety related), Power Utility, Pipeline, and Oil & Gas industries at Hydro’s Pump Test Lab. He has contributed to numerous internal and external R&D projects, including ongoing efforts to improve condition monitoring equipment in field installations.

 Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected] 
   

This week on the Pod, Charli has Mark Connolly on to talk about his path.

Currently, Mark serves as Global Product Manager of mechanical packing and gaskets at A.W. Chesterton, a world leader in helping process industry companies and manufacturers improve the reliability and efficiency of their process platforms.  As a global product manager, Mark works closely with manufacturing, marketing, product development, and field product specialists to ensure current and new products continue to provide world-class solutions to fluid sealing needs across industries.

Mark joined Chesterton in 2017 as a Process Engineer in the Operational Excellence team.  As a part of the Operations team, he was a key member in developing process improvements and quality controls within manufacturing.

Prior to working at Chesterton, he worked as a manufacturing engineer at RBC Bearings, an aerospace bearing manufacturer in Fairfield, CT.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University.  He is a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Black Belt.   

Mark is an avid college football fan that also enjoys skiing, running, and playing competitive ultimate frisbee with his wife, Jenna.

Understanding AMPS technology and where it can be used 

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/7557908124020256855.

Other resources for A.W. Chesterton Customers: 

DualPac Technology Webinar

Mining Slurry Packing Solutions (Tailings) Webinar

Please send your questions to [email protected]

 Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected] 
   

This week Charli has her own Coach, Rob Kalwarowsky on the podcast!

Rob  is back almost 2 years from his and Charli's original podcast appearance together.  He is a renowned leadership coach championing mental health awareness and has even given a TedX Talk

Check out his podcast Leadership Launchpad Podcast

Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected] 
   

This week Charli has a conversation with the EPIC Steering Committee.

Join Charli along with Randal (Randy) Ferman of Ekwestrel Engineering, Gakuo Ndonga from SKF USA, Ron Frisard from AW Chesterton, HJ Dewes of ABB, and Bekah and Vince from your Empowering Team!

Take a peak at what is coming to EPIC and why it is important to each of our steering committee members

Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!

Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email [email protected]