The Industry Advisory Board

The Industry Advisory Board (IAB) serves as a vital link between employers and the University of St. Thomas (UST) School of Engineering. It provides a valuable resource for students seeking internships during their student days and employment after graduation.

The IAB supplies the voice of industry, and:

• Is made up of industry representatives, UST faculty, representatives of professional societies, and School of Engineering alumni
• Advises the UST School of Engineering on employers' educational needs, helping us to remain customer-focused, responsive, and applications-oriented
• Brings together points of view that have proved invaluable to the growth and maturation of our programs
• Keeps us current with new technologies, techniques and processes being used in industry.

Through the IAB, we have developed close relationships with surrounding industry that assures us that our courses and curriculum are in current demand. We strongly emphasize the value of application in teaching and learning, utilizing industry-experienced faculty to actively engage students in the latest and best industry principles and practices. Students find that their classroom experiences are directly transferable to their work environment.

Our students, under the sponsorship of local companies, carry out Senior Design Projects and Applied Research Projects. Our strategy is to work closely with industry and our communities to undertake projects that enhance the skills of our students, deliver value to our partner companies, and improve the quality of life in the communities we serve. Besides dealing with technical issues during the design process, the students learn to work in teams and deal with the "soft" issues such as ethics, safety, economics and environmental factors. Our applied research enhances students' professional competence and ethical judgment and reinforces our educational philosophy of educating the whole person. A strong liberal arts foundation is a central theme of an engineering education at St. Thomas. Students gain an understanding of philosophy and the arts so that they have a perspective on a wide variety of viewpoints and schools of thought. We stress interdisciplinary approaches, which cause our students to look at every situation from different perspectives, to be innovative and creative, and to develop and implement better solutions. This gives our students an appreciation for all aspects of a business and enables them to work effectively on teams and to communicate their ideas to diverse audiences.

In conjunction with regional employers, we hold an annual Engineer of the Future event to introduce employers to our graduating engineers seeking jobs, and undergraduates seeking internships. In an innovative setting, students each prepare an individual booth that permits them to exhibit the skills, and talents they offer to prospective employers.

Members of the IAB:

• Ronald J. Bennett, Ph.D., Dean, UST School of Engineering
• Craig Benson, SunGuard Availability Services
• William Betten, 3M
• Bob Bruce, Control Products, Inc.
• Kris Burhardt, Clotho & Associates (venture capital); VP and Chief Technology Officer (Retired), Honeywell International
• Anne Coldwell, Quality and Reliability Engineering Manager, Medtronic
• Dan Conroy, Nexen Corporation
• Todd Coyle, Xcel Energy
• Donald Craighead, CEO, DHC Enterprises
• Susan L. Critzer, President and CEO (Retired), Restore Medical, Inc.
• Brian Doe, Engineer, Medtronic; UST Engineering Graduate (BSME)
• Jon Dixon, BF Goodrich Aerospace
• Pam Erickson, Medtronic
• Vince Fischer, CSI Resume
• Phil Gerlach, PDL BioPharma, Senior Director
• Mark Guerrino, 3M, Sourcing Commodity Manager
• Dennis Harvey, MTS
• Jay Heath, Honeywell
• David Herridge, Incisive Surgical, Inc., VP of Engineering
• Richard L. Hoeg, Honeywell, Manager, Technical Education and Engineering Education
• Byron Hill, Honeywell, Manager, Engineering Processes
• Ken Jensen, COO (retired), Honeywell/Alliant Techsystems
• Robert M. Johnson, Plant Manager (Retired), Honeywell currently Adjunct Professor, UST School of Engineering and Past President, SME
• Rick Krueger, Executive Director, Minnesota Transportation Alliance
• Clinton O. Larson, Operations Vice President (Retired), Honeywell
• Chris Liedman, Dunham Associates, Mechanical and Electrical Consulting; UST Engineering Graduate (BSME)
• Dana Lonn, Toro Company, Director
• Ron Malles, Hoffman Enclosures, Inc.
• Larry Matthews, Zytec, founder and former Vice President (retired)
• Robert Monson, Lockheed Martin 
• Lisa Montgomery, Medtronic 
• Jim Nelson, 3M
• Kevin M. Nicholson, Manufacturing Vice President, Mate Precision Tooling and Graduate of UST Engineering Masters program
• Dick Pooley, Dean of Learning, Dunwoody Institute
• John E. Povolny, Vice President (Retired), 3M and Associate Director, UST School of Engineering
• Mike Rowan, Development Office, University of St. Thomas
• Jay Schrankler, VP Marketing, Automation & Control Products, Honeywell
• Bruce Shamla, Director of North American Manufacturing, Starkey
• John Sopp, Restore Medical, VP of Operations
• John Walker, Production Manager (Retired), Honeywell and Adjunct Professor, UST School of Engineering
• Arnold M. Weimerskirch, Vice President of Corporate Quality (Retired), Honeywell and Adjunct Professor, UST School of Engineering
• Dr. Raymond E. Willis, Professor, Carlson School of Management (retired), University of Minnesota and Adjunct Professor, UST School of Engineering
• Terry Winzeler, Vice President, Sales, BI Performance Services
• Tom Wiegele, BF Goodrich Aerospace
• Tom Wollin, Donaldson Company
• Roger Zillmer, Ecolab

*updated June 1, 2007