Principals

Alain Piette, President

Alain Piette is the President of SpaceForm Welding Solutions, Inc. He is responsible for the daily activities of the company, the development and management of the partnerships and the human resources development.

Born in Belgium, Mr. Piette has worked in Europe, Southern Africa, Central and South America for international corporations such as DuPont, Sherwin Williams and Kongsberg Automotive. His experiences relate to startups, turnarounds, market development and international expansion.

Alain earned and BSBA and MBA from Wayne State University.

Earl E Kansier, Chairman

Mr. Kansier is presently the CEO of Weldmation Inc. a Engineered Systems Integrator of Automated Systems for Automotive, Patented Machines and Military/Aerospace Equipment provider in Madison Heights, Michigan. In addition to Weldmation Mr. Kansier is one of the Managing Partners of Great Lakes Equity Partners, LLC (GLE). GLE which was established to acquire strategic companies in the automotive manufacturing segment as part of Forest Hill Partners, LLC (FHP) to execute on opportunities in the modular assembly of chassis and body components manufacturing companies and specialty equipment providers. Mr. Kansier was a pioneer in the movement towards modularization of the chassis market and is one of the recognized leaders in the industry.

Prior to starting GEL, the manufacturing segment of FHP, Mr. Kansier spent 26 years with ThyssenKrupp Budd (TKB). Mr. Kansier started out as a mechanical engineer in TKBs manufacturing group in 1981, in 1991 returned from a three year assignment as assistant plant manager in Kitchener Ontario to head up the product engineering and development activity for the Budd Company N.A. and received an Executive MBA from Dartmouth University (Tuck School of Business) in 1995.

Mr. Kansier first became involved with Module Assembly in 1996 when he orchestrated a number of joint ventures, one being a joint venture between TKB and Visteon (formally Ford Automotive Parts Group). The joint venture, called BV Chassis, was developed to introduce a Chassis Module program. While VP of Engineering for TKBs Body and Chassis Division, Mr. Kansier became Chairman and CEO of BV Chassis and quickly brought two chassis module plants online. In 2001, Mr. Kansier while President of TKBs Systems Group and acquiring Visteon's stake in BV Chassis, brought on the third and final module plant for TKB. By the end of 2001, TKB's Systems Group (module business) consisted of 3 locations, with $325 million in annual revenue supporting a number of vehicle platforms.

In 2001 Mr. Kansier was promoted to President of TKB's North American Chassis and Systems Business consisting of nine locations with 4200 employees and just over $1 billion in annual revenue. At the time Mr. Kansier was also named President and Chairman of the Board of ThyssenKrupp Budd Canada (publicly traded).

Dr. Tom Anderson, Director

Dr. Anderson is the senior director of Automation Alley and the director of the Automation Alley Technology Center. In his role as senior director, Dr. Anderson is responsible for overseeing the operations of Automation Alley along with executive director Ken Rogers. In addition, he serves as president of the Automation Alley Education & Research Institute, the Alley's new 501(c)(3) addition.

Dr. Anderson's prior position was as a strategic consultant, working with a range of clients to develop business plans, seek funding and develop process and decision tools for venture investing. He also gained 20 years experience at General Motors, leading technical research teams in fundamental research, initiating a licensing program for non-competitive applications, forming a National and International Neurotrauma research society, and developing processes to manage global cross-functional teams. He also serves on the Oakland University School of Engineering and Computer Science Advisory Council, President's Advisory Board at Walsh College, SpaceForm, Inc. Board of Directors, Michigan State University Corporate Research Park Management Board and the Beaumont Hospital Board of Trustees and Research Institute Board of Governors.

Dr. Anderson's education includes undergraduate and master's degrees in physics and math, a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Michigan, and a master of business administration from Michigan State University.

Timothy Forbes, Director

Mr. Forbes is the Director of Commercialization & Licensing and has over 30 years of customer and business development experience. He has recently added the responsibility of achieving the maximum value from Delphi's technology portfolio through commercialization & licensing. In addition to his C&L role, Tim has been responsible for the creation of new ventures and leading Delphi growth efforts beyond automotive as Director of New Markets. He brings a wealth of Delphi and General Motors knowledge to his current positions; including leadership as Director of Modular Integration and Delphi's Customer Director for the GM North America Car Group. His divisional experience includes European Sales Director in Ruesselsheim, Germany that transitioned to worldwide program management. Tim earned B.S. in IE from General Motors Institute and earned his M.S. in Management as a Sloan Fellow at the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.