Biographies

Biographies for 2011/2012 Chapter officers:

Tish Patel, President

Tish earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Houston with a Double BBA in International Marketing and Organization Behavior in Management (OBM). She has twenty years plus of broad expertise in managing Global Supply Chain and IT integration projects and programs.  Her experience includes Global PMO strategy development, audit, business process excellence, re-engineering, customer and supplier account management, manufacturing/distribution optimization, outsourcing, ERP (SAP, Oracle) rollout and freight cost management.  Tish is a Six Sigma Black Belt and a Certified Supply Chain Risk Associate (SCRA) and a CompTIA Project Professional.

Tish has been a member of APICS Houston Chapter since 2009.  She was instrumental in the design and implementation of the chapter’s new website, and for the past two years has been serving as VP of Communication.

Tish’s passion and goal for the Chapter President position is to increase awareness of the APICS Houston chapter within the Houston business community, to serve our members, to give back to the community through various programs, and most importantly, to promote education in order to inspire minds and shape lives.

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Ron Klein, Treasurer

Ron is Business Manager with The Hurt Company, Inc. He has over 25 years of business and product management in the process industry; including pulp & paper, chemicals and industrial gases. Ron has spent much of his career building and managing new markets. He was successful in implementing Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) for Air Liquide which improved the alignment of operations and sales objectives.

Ron has a degree in Chemical Engineering, is a Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) and has a Professional Certification in Fleet Management (PCFM). He is looking forward to his role as Treasurer to ensure that clear financial reports (Visibility) are available to the board on a timely basis (Velocity), while working with the board to ensure steady performance (Variability) of the chapter’s finances.

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Reid Garrett, Secretary

Reid has been a member of APICS for 15 years and on the Houston Board of Directors (BOD) for 13 years. During this time, he has served as VP of Membership, Secretary, President Elect and President. He has also been Director of Programs and Membership along with serving as a Board Advisor. His interests have been in assisting in meeting the needs of the membership by directly supporting the Student Chapters, Professional Development Meetings and Seminars.

Currently, Reid is a Buyer / Planner for a major product line in the manufacture of oil field equipment and supplies. He has been the Company Coordinator for 3 companies and has been instrumental in starting several APICS in-house educational programs.

Reid’s goals for the Secretary position will be to insure that the recording of all the required activities and meeting minutes are accurately and timely recorded and disseminated, that the operations of the HoustonBOD are in line with the By-Laws and articles set by the Society and that the expectations of the membership are met to the best of the Board’s ability.

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Position Open

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Eddie Whitfield, VP of Student Activities

Eddie has worldwide leadership success in IT and software solution sales and marketing, competitive positioning, and business development. He has been involved in manufacturing and SCM for over 25 years.

Starting as a process and control engineer in the chemical industry, his expertise in both manufacturing processes and supply chain operations includes the technologies that automate these business processes including ERP, SCM, and factory automation and information systems. Eddie presents papers, lectures at universities and teaches classes on supply chain management.

Eddie was a member of the APICS CSCP review committee for the development of the APICS CSCP certification program. He is a Past President of the Houston Chapter of APICS, with other Board positions including President-Elect, Treasurer, and Director of Marketing. Currently, he advises the APICS Houston student chapters as Vice President of Student Activities.

He has a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a MBA in Finance from the University of Southern California. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer in Control Systems, and has APICS certifications CPIM, CIRM, and CSCP. He is currently responsible for project engineering with KBR.

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Duane Chandler, VP of Membership

Duane earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Business Administration from Regis University.  He has been a member of APICS for six years and a member of the Board of Directors for five years.  Duane holds the APICS CSCP and CPIM certifications.

Duane is currently VP of Membership.  He has also held the positions of VP of Professional Development, Director of Public Education, Director at Large, and Board Advisor.

Duane has implemented an S&OP process and several Supply Chain Planning and Management systems and has worked in Demand and Supply Planning for several years.

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Chuck Connelly, VP of Professional Development

Chuck is a Management Consultant with extensive domestic and international experience in strategy, planning, operations, logistics, accounting/finance, information management, internal audit and in consulting.  His experience extends across oil and gas, high technology, retail and fashion industries.  Chuck has served as General Manager and Chief Operating Officer for Silver Express International, a leader in the design, manufacturer and delivery of fine jewelry. He was VP of Worldwide Supply Chain for Charming Charlie and Silver Express.  Chuck has also held executive and management positions at Compaq Computer Corporation and Texaco Inc.

Over the last eleven years, Chuck has also served as a member of the APICS Houston Chapter Board of Directors. He held positions as President, Vice President of Professional Development, Vice President of Marketing, and 6 Packed Supply Chain Conference Director.  During his tenure the chapter has enjoyed tremendous growth and success with their education programs and regional conferences.  Chuck is an APICS Master Instructor.

Chuck holds a BBA degree in Accounting from the University of Houston and an MBA with areas of concentration in Finance and Management Information Systems from the University of Houston.  He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston teaching Enterprise Requirements Planning (ERP) and Business Intelligence to graduate students.

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Gozde Capar, VP of Marketing

Gozde is a Supply Chain Specialist at Bayer Technology Services. She is responsible for supporting and executing logistics and supply chain projects with technical expertise in the areas of organizational performance measurement, data analysis, process improvement, and project management. She is an APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) and ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB). She holds an MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Mississippi State University and a BS in Manufacturing Systems/Industrial Engineering from Sabanci University, Turkey.

Prior to joining APICS Houston Chapter, Gozde was involved in APICS Memphis Chapter. She is also a member of professional societies such as IIE, Informs, Alpha Pi Mu, and ASQ.

Her goals for the Marketing role are to: (1) establish contacts in Houston area to raise awareness of the chapter and (2) encourage members to utilize chapter's platforms for networking opportunities, exchange of ideas, and education programs.

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Steve Hasson, Ex Officio President

Steve has been a professional member of the APICS Houston Chapter since 1998, and has been Company Coordinator for TSP since 2001.  Steve joined the Board in 2007 and has served as VP of Marketing and VP of Membership and President.  He has a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and and MBA in Operations Management, and is CSCP certified.  He is currently the Supply Chain Implementation Manager and Senior Engineer for TSP, a Supply Chain Manager of Engineered Fasteners. 

Over the last 15 years, he has implemented Supply Chain Management programs at multiple facilities for each of Baker Hughes Industries, National Oilwell Varco, Vetco Gray, Oil States Industries, Igloo, Toshiba Electric, and Powell Industries, as TSP transitioned from a Transaction-focused company to a Supply Chain Management focused company.   During Steve's tenure as the Chapter President, he has seen an increased awareness of the Houston APICS chapter within the Houston business community, at multiple levels of the Procurement processes, of the benefits of active membership within APICS.

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