Andy Zynga joined NineSigma in February 2008, establishing and growing the European company presence rapidly. In September 2009 Zynga was appointed the Global CEO of NineSigma Group, expanding business across all regions.

During his career, Zynga has built four high tech and service businesses successfully in both Europe and the USA. He also spent six years at KPMG Consulting (now Bearingpoint) in Germany and London where he successfully grew a division of the Information, Communication, and Entertainment (ICE) Consulting Practice into a major international player.

Prior to joining NineSigma, Zynga spent four years as a member of the Executive Committee of Telindus, a global network integrator and outsourcing company with more than $1B in revenues and 3,000 employees in 14 countries. While there, he turned around a region from loss-making to more than 10% of EBITDA, and growing revenues by more than 30% to over $150M.

Zynga earned a dual Masters degree in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany.

Bill joined NineSigma in December 2009 as Chief Financial Officer, responsible for global financial management and strategy, risk management, accounting, investor relations, treasury and administration.  Bill comes from a diverse financial and operational background with over 20 years of experience as a CFO, advisor, and consultant focused on professional services in various industries.

Prior to joining NineSigma, Bill began his professional career earning his CPA credentials and working in public accounting and management consulting first with Arthur Andersen, then with Plante & Moran.  From there, Bill seized an opportunity to gain additional finance, merger and acquisition, and risk management expertise with Marsh & McLennan Companies, where he served as Vice President as well as an experience now well-rounded in finance, accounting, risk management and treasury, Bill's next position was as CFO of CPI-HR, an employee benefits, payroll and HR administration, and then as a consultant with a firm focused exclusively on financial intermediaries.

Bill graduated summa cum laude from Baldwin-Wallace University with a BA in Business Administration/Accounting.

Denys Resnick is responsible for incubating and launching NineSigma’s new products and services. She interfaces with clients to identify their evolving innovation needs and collaborates with NineSigma’s operations, sales and marketing teams to develop the initiatives that make NineSigma the global innovation leader. Resnick previously served as NineSigma’s Director of Operations.

Before joining Nine Sigma in 2008, Resnick was founder and President of TradeQuest, Inc., a consulting firm that developed and implemented international business growth strategies for global manufacturing and service companies. She brings 20 years of manufacturing and business development experience from companies like RPM, Faber Castell, and FedEx.

Resnick earned an MBA in International Business and Finance from New York University, and a BA in International Relations from Tufts University.

Kevin Stark joined NineSigma in November 2000. At NineSigma, he oversees the NineSigma solutions delivery team, and has managed over 300 Open Innovation initiatives for clients in a variety of industries such as aerospace, automotive, packaged foods, and consumer products.

Kevin’s previous industry experience involved aerospace sensors research, which included chemical, inertial, and other mechanical sensor R&D as well as semiconductor device manufacturing development. Kevin holds four patents for his MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) research and product development. He holds a BS degree from Cornell University and MS and PhD degrees from Case Western Reserve University, all in Electrical Engineering.

Paul Stupay joined NineSigma as Director of Business Development in February 2001, promoted to the position of Vice President in 2003 and promoted to Executive Vice President in 2009. During his tenure at NineSigma Paul has been instrumental in the development of the company through longstanding account relationships and the development of NineSigma’s Open Innovation Services. Paul is a co-founder and Board member of NineSigma Japan. He is currently responsible for North American sales and the company’s global account strategy. Prior to joining NineSigma, Paul managed new business development, strategic alliances and product development for world-class technology companies including Surgency, Ernst & Young LLP and Keithley Instruments, Inc. He earned his M.B.A. in marketing and finance from Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead School of Business, and his B.A. in economics from the University of Wisconsin.

Akihiko Suwa helped launch NineSigma Japan, a subsidiary of NineSigma, Inc., in 2006. Prior to joining NineSigma, Suwa was a Senior Consultant with the Research and Consulting Division of The Japan Research Institute, Ltd. There he developed an alliance with NineSigma and the Battelle Memorial Institute. He conducted numerous NineSigma projects for world-class Japanese companies primarily focusing on technology in-sourcing and new business development. Prior to The Japan Research Institute, Suwa was an Associate with McKinsey & Company Inc. in Japan where he conducted projects in automotive, energy, pharmaceutical, information technology, and other focus areas. He holds a B.S. degree in Applied Physics from Northeastern University and an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Rick Wielens joined NineSigma in 2010 and is responsible for NineSigma Europe. Previously, Rick worked with his own company in open innovation and expert services mainly in the High Tech area in The Netherlands and Germany. With a background in supply chain management and traffic engineering, Rick has experience in business development, open innovation and innovation management, business strategy and large organizational change and ICT implementation programs. Rick brings international experience working in Germany for SAP and in The Netherlands for Royal Philips Electronics in various roles and industries.

Rick holds a M.Sc. in Transport Planning and Management from the Westminster University in London and a BA in Traffic Engineering from the University of Applied Science in Tilburg.

Prior to joining Blue Chip in 1997, John McIlwraith was the Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning for Quantum Health Resources, where he led business development efforts including new drug launches and managed care initiatives. Prior to Quantum, he was a Partner with Jones Day Reavis & Pogue and led the Firm's Venture Capital Practice Group. While at Jones Day, he represented firms such as Morgenthaler Venture Partners and Primus Venture Partners, as well as a number of early stage companies.

McIlwraith serves on the Board of Advisors for Arbor Partners, Isabella Capital, and the Ohio Innovation Fund. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of Gazelle TechVentures.

McIlwraith received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hillsdale College and a Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Dan Fleming began his private equity career with Cincinnati-based Walnut Investments in 1997 and later joined River Cities in 2001. Fleming has been involved in a diverse set of investments over that time including business and marketing services, software applications, and consumer-oriented products and services. Former investments include the Build-a-Bear Workshop, Deals extreme value stores, and Simon Delivers, Inc. Prior to private equity, Fleming held various technology-oriented positions including design engineering at Kodak, and operations management with Owens-Illinois and Procter & Gamble. He also worked in strategic consulting with Towers Perrin. Upon returning to Cincinnati after business school, he rejoined P&G where he held several positions in financial analysis and strategic planning for the company's laundry, chemical, and diaper businesses.

Bruce V. Mavec has been President of the Royal American Group, a real estate holding company, since its formation in 1972. Mavec is a member of the Council on the Future of Academic Medicine of the Case Western Reserve University. Over the past 25 years, he has been an active business partner in a number of organizations including North Coast Cable Company, Superior Broadcasting, Curtis Wright Partners and the Cleveland securities firm of Prescott, Ball and Turban. Mavec received his bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College.

Mehran Mehregany is an innovator and entrepreneur, who has founded, financed and managed a number of technology start-ups since 1990, while also being a faculty at Case Western Reserve University. His entrepreneurial interest centers on: (i) developing and commercializing innovative technology-enabled products; and (ii) pioneering new innovation business models for broader enterprise impact. Mehregany received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990. From 1986 to 1990, he was a consultant to the Robotic Systems Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Case Western Reserve University in 1990 and currently holds the Goodrich Professor of Engineering Innovation endowed chair. He is well known for his research in the area of microelectromechanical systems and silicon carbide, and has over 300 publications describing his work, holds many U.S. patents and is the recipient of a number of awards/honors.

Akihiko Suwa helped launch NineSigma Japan, a subsidiary of NineSigma, Inc., in 2006. Prior to joining NineSigma, Suwa was a Senior Consultant with the Research and Consulting Division of The Japan Research Institute, Ltd. There he developed an alliance with NineSigma and the Battelle Memorial Institute. He conducted numerous NineSigma projects for world-class Japanese companies primarily focusing on technology in-sourcing and new business development. Prior to The Japan Research Institute, Suwa was an Associate with McKinsey & Company Inc. in Japan where he conducted projects in automotive, energy, pharmaceutical, information technology, and other focus areas. He holds a B.S. degree in Applied Physics from Northeastern University and an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Alan Taub joined the faculty of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan in the Fall of 2012. In this role, Taub will be conducting research in advanced materials and processing and leading a new initiative to establish an Advanced Manufacturing Center within the College of Engineering.

Taub retired from General Motors in April 2012. Prior to his retirement, he was vice president, Global Research & Development, leading GM’s advanced technical work activity, seven science laboratories around the world, and seven global science offices.   He joined GM R&D as executive director in 2001 and was named vice president in 2009. 

Before joining GM, Taub spent 15 years in research and development at General Electric, where he earned 26 patents and authored more than 60 papers.  He also worked at Ford Motor Company for eight years. 

Taub received his bachelor’s degree in materials engineering from Brown University and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in applied physics from Harvard University.  Taub was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering in 2006.  He is currently vice chair for the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT) for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and is a member of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) Energy Materials Blue Ribbon Panel.  He also serves on advisory boards for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and the University of California, Berkeley.

Andy Zynga joined NineSigma in February 2008, establishing and growing the European company presence rapidly. In September 2009 Zynga was appointed the Global CEO of NineSigma Group, expanding business across all regions.

During his career, Zynga has built four high tech and service businesses successfully in both Europe and the USA. He also spent six years at KPMG Consulting (now Bearingpoint) in Germany and London where he successfully grew a division of the Information, Communication, and Entertainment (ICE) Consulting Practice into a major international player.

Prior to joining NineSigma, Zynga spent four years as a member of the Executive Committee of Telindus, a global network integrator and outsourcing company with more than $1B in revenues and 3,000 employees in 14 countries. While there, he turned around a region from loss-making to more than 10% of EBITDA, and growing revenues by more than 30% to over $150M.

Zynga earned a dual Masters degree in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany.

Todd Abraham is currently Senior Vice President of Research and Nutrition for Mondelez with global responsibility for long term, cross-business innovative research and nutrition programs as well as analytical, sensory, statistical, knowledge management, RD&Q training and fundamental science support to Business Units and Centers of Excellence. In this role, Todd works closely with the Breakthrough Innovations group and corporate health and wellness team. Additionally, Todd is responsible for the R&D Open Innovation and venture capital efforts as well as a series of groups focusing on innovative consumer methodology and the Innovative Applications group. Todd has responsibility for Research and Nutrition Groups at the two global science centers – Glenview and Reading – as well as groups in East Hanover, Tarrytown, Saclay, Banbury, Whippany and Madison sites.

In 2002 Todd moved to Glenview from East Hanover where he was responsible for product development activities for the Nabisco Foods businesses. Before moving to Nabisco as Sr. Vice President, Product Development, Nabisco Foods Company in March, 2000, Todd held previous leadership positions in Marketing, General Management and R&D at Pillsbury and Procter and Gamble with both North American and International experience.

Todd completed his Sc.B. in Chemistry at Brown University in Providence, RI. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. from The Wharton School in Philadelphia, PA concurrently in May, 1981.

He is a referee and referee instructor for Division I NCAA soccer and previously refereed professional soccer. Todd is married and has 3 children. His personal interests include the theater, sports, and numerous family activities.

Dave Bentley is the Group Head of Technology Development for Anglo American, responsible for the development of future technologies for use in the mining environment. These technologies encompass all the business units of Anglo American, and the entire value chain from exploration to marketing and logistics.

Dave has worked for Anglo American for 30 years and joined immediately after completing a Chemical Engineering degree at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. During these 30 years he has working in a variety of roles including mining operations (from student up to General Manager) and corporate centre functions, including running a global business improvement initiative for the Base Metal division.

Dave has also completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree and the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD. Prior to this appointment, Dave was the General Manager of the Skorpion Zinc mine in Namibia.

Throughout his career at Philips, Fred Boekhorst has demonstrated great versatility. At Philips Research and Philips Consumer Electronics, he has held numerous positions in R&D, from early research until market introductions of new products. He acquired international experience at Philips’ Briarcliff laboratories in the United States. Over the last decades, the Philips group has transformed significantly. While in the early nineties Philips consisted of 8 divisions, ranging from components & semiconductors to consumer electronics and medical systems, Philips currently focuses and Health & Wellbeing in its three business sectors: Lighting, Consumer Lifestyle and Healthcare. The transformations Philips undertook, have commended several directional changes in Fred Boekhorst’s career. After concentrating on video technology for the early part of his career, the focus changed t the translation of Philips’ &"Ambient Intelligence” concept into marketable products, such as AmbiLight TV and services. More recently, Philips’ focus on Health & Wellbeing has led to a transformation of the Lifestyle Research program in which the core capabilities for themes such as Healthy Life, Personal Care, Home living, Sleep and Interactive Life are being shaped.

He currently holds a Senior Vice President position at Philips Research in Eindhoven. As Program Manager he is responsible for the research program Lifestyle. In addition, he is responsible for the Consumer Lifestyle account.

Yves joined International Flavors & Fragrances in 1998 as a perfumer where he collaborated on fragrances for Bath & Body Works, Estee Lauder, Proctor & Gamble, L’Oreal, LVMH, Avon, and GAP. He also worked closely with leading researchers and scientists to develop new &"Living Flower” Headspaces and create new raw materials.In 2002, Yves joined Robertet as a senior perfumer where he became increasingly involved with the development and creation of natural raw materials and fragrances.

Yves joined Bath & Body Works in 2005 as Director of Fragrance Development focusing on Aromatherapy, Home Fragrance, True Blue Spa, C.O. Bigelow, and Henri Bendel. In 2007, Yves was named Associate Vice President of Innovation, Beauty & Home, where he continued to leverage his expertise in fragrances and natural raw materials, and is also involved in establishing a global network of experts which identifies new emerging technologies.

Most recently, Yves has taken on the role of Associate Vice President, Innovation and New Business Development for Mast Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of Limited Brands. Looking across multiple categories including Personal Care, Home Fragrance, Intimate Apparel and Logistics, Yves is building an open innovation network and developing new business models that will help to fuel long-term growth for Limited Brands.

Yves graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA in 1998 with a dual major in Music and Philosophy and spent time at Yale University studying synesthesia.

Paul France is the Vice President of Innovation Systems at MeadWestvaco, where he leads Open Innovation, Innovation Process Management, R&D Systems and Pilot Plant Operations. The Innovation Systems teams develop and deploy internal and external resources and processes to enable excellence in innovation. Paul is also responsible for Knowledge Management and Technology Partnering to accelerate growth through innovation.

Prior to joining MeadWestvaco, Mr. France was a Principal Engineer for The Procter & Gamble Company. In his 18 years with P&G, Mr. Paul France has had global assignments in both R&D and Corporate Engineering.

He holds 66 granted US patents and a dozen published articles in plasma surface modification, photocatalysis and zeolite crystallization. He served on the board of directors of Anatech NV (Leuven, Belgium) from 1993-2007. He speaks frequently at industry seminars and universities on topics ranging from emerging technologies, global innovation cultures and business needs in the packaging industry. 

A native from Belgium and a citizen of the United States, Mr. France received a B.S and M.S. degree in Bio-Engineering from the University of Ghent, Belgium.  He also holds a MBA from the University of Phoenix (2006).

Jon joined Unilever in 1990, following a first Degree and PhD in Materials Science from the University of Sheffield. Jon spent the first seven years of his career as a research scientist in Hair Research at Port Sunlight Laboratory, UK, contributing much to the basic understanding of what makes our products competitive.

Jon was expatriated to Jakarta Indonesia in 1997, and was charged with the build up of a regional innovation centre for Skin Cleansing and Care. Jon was in Indonesia during the 1998 Asia crisis and spent the first year of his tenure in Indonesia helping the business to prosper and endure in the tough economic climate, and later years providing innovation for a very fast growing business.

Between 2001 and 2006 Jon led the Global Technical Centre for Deodorants in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, North America, and was part of the team that delivered the innovation to make Unilever the leader in the North American Deodorants market.

In 2006 Jon returned to the Port Sunlight Laboratory in the UK and operated as Strategy and Operations Director for Home and Personal Care R&D; a role which evolved into Strategy and Operations Director for the Chief R&D Officer.

His most recent assignment, VP Open Innovation for Unilever, started in October 2008. This is a good fit for Jon’s interests in driving higher ambition in innovation, and in his firm conviction that Unilever can make a much bigger impact in vitality from advances in science and technology.

Jon is married with two sons. He has been a sporadic marathon runner, completing the Chicago Marathon twice, snowboards, and is a keen follower of cricket.

William &"Bill” Kernick is the general manager of GE Licensing’s Technology Ventures business, a position he has held since July 2007 focusing on creating new opportunities outside of GE’s core markets for GE’s intellectual property via technology transfer and licensing. Technology Ventures enables partners in diverse spaces like electronics, clinical healthcare research, and hybrid & electric vehicles to advance their offerings with GE technology. Prior to this current role, Bill held various leadership and product technology positions with GE Global Research and GE Plastics since joining GE in 1998. Bill has a BS from Carnegie Mellon University and a PhD from the University of Delaware, both in Chemical Engineering.

Dr. Thomas Lackner is head of the Open Innovation Program at the Chief Technology Office of Siemens.

He has spent more than 20 years within Siemens in various management positions such as Vice President Transport Telematics at the headquarter of Siemens One, as CEO and founder of the Siemens Technology Accelerator GmbH (STA) in Munich and head of several departments within Siemens Corporate Technology, Siemens Traffic Control Systems and Siemens Information and Communication Networks.

Before joining Siemens he worked for Philips and the Ministry for Science and Research in Vienna, Austria. In 1982 he was awarded the Post Doctoral Fellowship of the Max Kade Foundation which enabled him to work as a postdoctoral fellow at M.I.T. in Cambridge, MA, USA.

Christophe is Director of Global Strategy for GM’s Research & Development (R&D) organization. In his capacity he is responsible for creating and managing external collaborations with universities, suppliers and start-up companies. Christophe manages the global science office network with representatives in key strategic geographic locations around the world and is responsible for the open-innovation process. Christophe also leads the Intellectual Property (IP) strategy including the Records of Invention process for GM Global R&D and manages the Corporate GM Library.

Christophe has a Ph.D. from MIT in materials science and engineering economics, a Master of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in ceramic engineering and a Bachelor’s degree from Ecole des Mines (France) in metallurgy. Christophe started his career at General Motors Corporation in 2007 after 13 years at Ford Motor Company where he has held a series of position in R&D, product strategy & planning, and business strategy. Prior to those assignments, Christophe worked in Japan for Kawasaki Steel Corporation in the area of business analysis for technology transfer.

Dr. Sesha Neervannan is currently Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development at Allergan. In his current role, he oversees the CMC activities related to developing the drug product from Discovery to Commercialization that includes material characterization, formulation, process engineering, device & packaging engineering, analytical development, and drug delivery research and development efforts.

Prior to joining Allergan, Sesha held senior positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Amgen, in both a functional and team leadership role. Sesha has several research publications and patents and is a well recognized invited speaker at several national and international conferences. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for CHDI, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for Huntington’s disease as well as a member of Customer Advisory Board for NineSigma. He also recently joined the Editorial Advisory Board for the journal, Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery.

He received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at The University of Kansas.

Paul Serbiak is Vice President, R&D of the global Baby Skin Care business which includes brands such as Johnson’s, Desitin, Aveeno, Penaten and Neutrogena. Paul joined Johnson & Johnson in 1998 and held positions of increasing responsibility across R&D and Engineering in Oral Care, Women’s Health, Wound Care, Baby and Kid’s Care and Skin Care.

Prior to joining J&J, Paul held leadership positions in marketing, operations, engineering and R&D in the consumer businesses at Kimberly Clark and Procter and Gamble working on brands such as Huggies Diapers, Kotex Sanitary Napkins, Lightdays Pantiliners, and Bounce Fabric Softener. He has a Bachelors of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Paul resides with his family in Lumberville, Pennsylvania. He enjoys sailing and many other outdoor activities. A little know fact about Paul was that his earliest career (during college) was as a Magician.

Dr. Dick van Beelen joined AkzoNobel in 1981, after finalizing his PhD at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Throughout the years he held R&D Management positions in the Netherlands and Germany for various Coatings Businesses, including Automotive OEM, Industrial Coatings, Aerospace Coatings and Car Refinishes. Since 2009 he has been responsible for AkzoNobel Corporate level for Open Innovation and Communities of Practice.

Mary Wagner is currently the Global SVP R&D/Quality & Regulatory at Starbucks Coffee Company, headquartered in Seattle Washington. In this capacity, she leads all aspects of food and beverage development for global markets, as well as quality and regulatory activities.

Before Starbucks, Wagner was the General Manager/Chief Technology Officer for Mars Botanical, a division within Mars, Incorporated, founded on developing and marketing healthy components from cocoa called flavanols. Mars, Incorporated, is a global privately held company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, which markets products ranging from candy to pet food.

Prior to joining Mars, Inc., Wagner was the Chief Technology Officer for E. & J. Gallo Winery. E. & J. Gallo Winery is also a global, privately held company, headquartered in Modesto, CA, which produces and sells more than 30 table, sparkling, beverage, dessert and fortified wines and distilled spirits.

Previous to joining Gallo, Wagner was the Chief Technology and Quality Officer for Taco Bell Corporation, a division of Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., (NYSE: YUM) in Irvine, CA. In that capacity, Wagner led all aspects of menu development, quality control, product packaging and engineering.

Before to Taco Bell, Wagner was Vice President of Research and Development and Quality and Regulatory Operations for Gorton’s, a subsidiary of Unilever and formerly a subsidiary of General Mills, Inc. For several years prior to relocating to Gorton’s, Wagner worked at General Mills, Inc. headquarters located in Minneapolis, MN, where she held a variety of positions in both Research and Quality. Prior to joining General Mills, Inc., Wagner was with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as an Assistant Professor.

Wagner has a BS Degree in Bacteriology, an MS Degree in Food Technology from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Minnesota. She has also completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard University. Wagner was formerly an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Wagner is active in several professional societies, on regulatory committees and in community projects. She is Past President and Treasurer of the Institute of Food Technologists. She has also authored and co-authored several publications.