Officers
Tom Edman
President and CEO
TTM Technologies
Tom Edman has been the chief executive officer of TTM Technologies since January 2014 and president since January 2013. Tom also served as a board director for TTM since September 2004. From early 2011 to December 2012, he served as group vice president and general manager of the AKT Display Business Group, which is a division of Applied Materials Inc., a publicly held provider of nanomanufacturing technology solutions. From 2006 to 2011, Tom served as corporate vice president of corporate business development of Applied Materials, Inc. Tom has served on the IPC Board of Directors since 2016.
Jeff Timms
CEO
ASM Assembly Solutions Americas
Jeff Timms has more than 35 years of experience in the electronics industry. Timms started his career at Universal Instruments Corporation in 1984 and then joined Siemens as a global account manager in 1997 and grew through the ranks until reaching the position of division vice president of assembly solutions under the Siemens Energy and Automation Operating Company. From there, he joined Microscan Corporation in 2008 as president. In September of 2011, Timms accepted an opportunity to lead ASM AS Americas. He has supported IPC by holding positions as member and chairman of the tradeshow subcommittee, a member of the IPC SMEMA Council, and most recently the former chairman of the IPC SMEMA Council.
Peter Cleveland
Senior Vice President, TSMC
Peter advises TSMC on policy, legislative, legal, regulatory, and standards matters. He has chaired the BOD of several trade associations, such as the Information Technology Industry Council and the Trans-Atlantic Business Council. Before this term, Peter served on the IPC Board for eight years.
Bob Neves
Chairman and Chief Technology Officer
Microtek Laboratories (China)
Bob Neves has spent the last 34 years as the chairman and CTO of Microtek Laboratories and Microtek Laboratories (China), both independent test facilities. He has served as IPC’s TAEC chairman, Rigid Board General Committee chairman, HDI General Committee chairman, Rigid Board Test Method Task Group chairman, IPC TGAsia Technical Liaison, Laboratory Qualifications Committee chairman and has been involved in more than 50 IPC committees in the United States and Asia during his career.
He also served as the IEC TC52/91 Test Methods Committee chairman and member of the UL STP Standards committees associated with plastics, PCBs and CCL. He also holds patents for HATS²™ accelerated via reliability technology. He was inducted into the IPC Hall of Fame, the IPC’s highest lifetime honor, in 2007, and was awarded the Dieter Bergman IPC Fellowship Medal in 2015. Bob has served on the IPC Board of Directors since 2012.
Dr. John W. Mitchell
President and CEO
IPC
As IPC’s president and CEO, Dr. John W. Mitchell leads the organization’s global operations and staff. Working with the IPC board of directors, he is responsible for assisting in the development and implementation of the Board’s strategic vision and aspirational goals. He joined IPC as president and CEO in April 2012, and has been instrumental in launching solutions to help IPC’s members achieve financial success and competitive excellence.
Dr. Mitchell has championed IPC programs such as a new learning management platform, IPC EDGE; Validation Services; an Online Certification Portal; and a re-engineered Member Success department. Between creating new solutions that support standards development, improving member relations, and advocating for regulatory change, Dr. Mitchell has generated a more than 50 percent increase in acceptance of standards as measured in revenue collected since 2012, and grown IPC’s global membership by nearly 100 percent to more than 3,000 member companies. His focus on global expansion has also resulted in membership doubling for Asia-based companies to more than 1,000 and more than 600 in Europe.
Dr. Mitchell began his engineering career at General Electric Aerospace in 1988. In 1992, he joined Alpine Electronics and became a founding member of its research company which is credited for introducing navigation systems to the U.S. OEM market. During his tenure at Alpine, he held several positions, including manager of software engineering, director of IT and senior director of strategic planning.
In 2003, Dr. Mitchell was recruited to Bose Corporation where he served as general manager/director of a new global business unit – Bose’s largest-ever product development initiative. Just prior to joining IPC, he served as the CEO of Golden Key International Honour Society, the world’s premier collegiate honor society, with more than 2 million members from more than 190 nations.
Dr. Mitchell’s academic credentials include a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Georgia’s Institute of Higher Education, a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University, and a Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering from Brigham Young University. In addition to his academic credentials, Dr. Mitchell holds a patent in GPS navigation systems.
Directors
Rick Bromm
President
Altex Inc.
Rick Bromm is a 33-year veteran of electronic component and wire harness industries. Rick is the president of Altex Inc., a privately held, manufacturer of custom wire harnesses and cable assemblies. Along with his wire harness experience, Rick spent 15 years in the electronic component industry and participated on advisory boards for component manufacturers. He is currently in his second term as chairman of the board for the Wire Harness Manufacturers Association, WHMA and has served on the IPC Board since 2019.
Paul Baldassari
President, Manufacturing and Services, Flex
In close partnership with Flex’s business segments, Mr. Baldassari
leads manufacturing and services operations globally, serving
customers across various industries and end markets with
advanced manufacturing solutions, logistics, and repair services.
Along with Flex’s strong workforce spanning 30 countries, he is
responsible for driving the global operational strategy and
execution, maximizing leverage of Flex’s worldwide footprint,
scaling manufacturing technology, and managing responsible,
sustainable manufacturing and logistics services for the
company.
In his 23 years with Flex, Mr. Baldassari has held multiple
executive leadership roles. Most recently, he was executive vice
president of worldwide operations. Prior to that, he served as
executive vice president of strategic programs and asset
management and chief human resources officer. During his
tenure, he’s held various positions in IT, project and program
management, operations, and company-wide lean and Six
Sigma initiatives.
Gerald “JJ” Creadon
Executive Vice President, Operations, Jabil
An accomplished leader in the high-tech global manufacturing services industry, JJ is responsible for the operational performance of Jabil's 200,000-plus employees in 100 sites across 30 countries. Previously, JJ served as senior vice president of global operations, overseeing the operations, P&L management, and organizational and strategic improvements of the 42 sites within Jabil’s EMS division.
Gerald Eckstein
Senior Vice President, Engineering Electronic Control Units & Head of Business Unit Mechatronics, Robert Bosch GmbH
Gerald became the Senior Vice President of R&D Electronic Control Units (worldwide) in July 2023. He also serves as the Head of the Business Unit Electronic Control Units Mechatronics (P&L) for the following product lines: braking, steering, electrical drives, and e-bike. Gerald has experience in development for the automotive, industrial, healthcare, renewable energies, telecommunications, and semiconductors industries.
Foo-Ming Fu
Chairman and CEO
HaiNa Cognitive Connections
Foo-Ming Fu is currently the chairman and CEO for HaiNa Cognitive Connections (HCC), a newly established company in Foxconn, fully focusing on printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) business and surface mount technology (SMT) advanced technology development. In addition to leading HCC, Fu also manages the Cloud Enterprise Infrastructure Business Group at Foxconn. He has been with Foxconn since 1999 and lead the business groups including Desktop PCs, Industrial Servers/Storages, Graphics Cards, Automotive Electronics, Set-top Boxes, and Smart Home devices for various customers. He established the global operations (Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Mexico, and USA) for PCBA and system integrations.
Fu received a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University.
Parker Garrett
CEO, EMSCO
Parker is the Chief Executive Officer and owner of EMSCO, a privately held wire-harness manufacturing and circuit board assembly company focused on products and engineering design services for advanced computing, data centers, mining, marine, power generation, and recreation. Parker has led EMSCO for more than 12 years and finds joy in operations that help make the work environment meaningful, peaceful, and financially rewarding for his coworkers. The business has grown over eight times in size during this time, and while doing so, has had almost zero-percent turnover and growth with no debt.
John C. Hill, Jr. (Jay)
Chief Operating Officer, Imaging
GE Healthcare
Jay Hill is COO for GE Healthcare’s Imaging business. He is a 28-year veteran of GE, with engineering and leadership roles in power, industrial, security and healthcare fields. He has led new product development, R&D, product management, strategy and operations. He joined GE Healthcare in 2012 as Chief Technology Officer for the x-ray-based product portfolio.
Jay holds a B.S.E.E. from SUNY, Buffalo and an M.S.E.E. from RPI. In addition to his IPC Board position, he is a board member of industry group BioForward, Inc. and GE Executive Sponsor for Olin College.
Meredith Ballard LaBeau, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer, Calumet Electronics
Meredith LaBeau, Ph.D., is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and on the strategic leadership team at Calumet Electronics. She is the technical lead and manager of Calumet’s Process Engineering and R&D teams. She also is a member of two international standards committees: IPC and the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (NADCAP), an IPC Thought-Leader and plays a critical role in developing standards and PCB manufacturing quality and criteria for the electronics industry. In Fall of 2022, Meredith was named to the 1st CHIPs Act, NIST Industrial Advisory Committee. She received her Ph.D. from Michigan Technological University in Environmental Engineering focusing on the integrated assessment of anthropogenic, climate and policy-induced changes on phosphorus export in the United States Laurentian Great Lakes watersheds. .
Greg Maxwell
Vice President, Advanced and Strategic Operations
Northrop Grumman Mission Systems
Greg Maxwell is vice president of Advanced & Strategic Operations within the Operations function for Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems sector, a leading global provider of advanced solutions for defense and intelligence customers. In this role, he leads the operations strategy and global supply chain function for the sector, responsible for operations strategy development, talent strategy, advanced manufacturing, supply chain strategy, strategic sourcing, category management, supplier performance management, operations processes and systems, the supplier diversity program, and digital transformation.
Jaesang Min
Research Fellow, LG PRI (Production Engineering Research Institute)
Jaesang serves as a research fellow for LG PRI. He has outstanding technical expertise in the development of optimal PCB assembly methods, semiconductor packaging process technology development, and micro-joint technology including soldering. He is currently serving as a member of the 2nd IPC Korea advisory committee, and as a technology expert, strengthening the status of IPC in Korea and establishing IPC standards and relative environments.
Marc Peo
President
Heller Industries
Marc Peo has been with Heller Industries for more than 35 years and has been instrumental in the development and implementation of several successful SMT initiatives including adhesive transfer, vertical curing, solar panel reflow, and the convection reflow soldering systems that are now industry benchmark. Marc actively participates in the following IPC committees and councils: SMEMA Council, APEX Show Committee, Reflow Oven Process Control Standard Task Group, Thermal Profiling Task Group, and IPC Connected Factory Initiative Subcommittee.
Carsten Salewski
Member of the Executive Board, Sales, Marketing and International Business
Viscom AG
Carsten Salewski is a member of Viscom AG’s Executive Board for sales, marketing and international business. Salewski was initially engaged as a software developer and project engineer for customer-specific projects. After the successful conclusion of his studies with the thesis titled “Multi-Sensorial Feature Extraction on Three-Dimensional Objects Using a 5-Axis Portal System,” Salewski also took responsibility for sales of customer-specific image processing solutions and as Unit Manager, established the business unit IBV.
In 2003, Salewski assumed management of international business in America and in 2004, started as CEO of the American subsidiary headquartered in Atlanta, along with the associated business locations in Silicon Valley, California, and in Mexico. Since 2001, Salewski has been involved as an executive employee in various areas of Viscom AG, including sales and management, as well as a business unit and subsidiary manager. With more than 20 years in the electronics industry, he has significant experience with international major customers and trade fairs. He is chairman of the IPC SMEMA Council. Since 2015, he has also been a volunteer member on the Board of Directors of the German American Chambers of Commerce in Atlanta.
Elke Eckstein
Board Professional, Advisor, Senior Executive in Industrials
Former CEO/COO in Tech Companies
Elke Eckstein has more than 35 years of industrial experience in the field of Semiconductors, Electronics and Photonics. From 2019 until end of 2022, she served as President and CEO of the Swiss Enics Group, now merged into the second largest industrial EMS in Europe under the GPV brand.
Previously, she held multiple top-level management positions in leading global companies including Operating and Digitalization Officer as well as head of Business Division Cabinet Products at Weidmüller Group (2013-2018) and COO of Osram Lighting (2008-2013), before that at AMD/Global Foundries, Altis Semiconductors and Siemens/Infineon.
She is member of the Board of Directors at Jenoptik (Ger), KK Wind (Den), Saferoad (Nor) and BE Semiconductor (Nld), U-Blox (CH) and Viacon (Se). Ms. Eckstein holds a degree in electrical engineering from Siemens Academy; her key competencies are in corp. governance, operations as well as digitalization. Her passion lies in talent development and mentoring.
Hiroyuki Watanabe
Executive Director, Global Security
Strategic Planning Office, Platform Technology Service, Digital Platform Business Unit
NEC Corporation
As executive director of global security at NEC Corporation, a manufacturer of telecommunication equipment and components, Hiroyuki Watanabe has responsibility for cyber security, secure manufacturing, new business and sales at the company.
He has extensive knowledge and experience across various business categories. Among his notable contributions are his successes in architecture design for an exchange system, which resulted in $1B business in the 1990s. During the 2000s, Watanabe-san initiated an open source community called “Open DayLight” as a member of the board with IBM, BROCADE, and CISCO among others, for creating and expanding the market of software defined networking (SDN).
His recent research interest includes revolutionizing legacy supply chain management, and evolution of manufacturing industry using dual-use space defense technologies.
Cao Xi
Technical Director
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Cao Xi is the technical director of the advanced process lab and director of the assembly process technology committee at Huawei. He has more than 20 years of experience in DFM, DFR, and process technology research and application of electronics production ranging from consumer electronics. He has presided over several high-density assembly technologies projects (package level, module level, board level, and system level) from R&D to mass production. He is the main contributor to Huawei’s electronics assembly technology platform and DFX standard system. He has 10 patents in the electronics assembly field and is the Chairman of the IPC 7-31 Standard Working Group in China.
Student Member
Junyang (Max) Zhang
Max Zhang is a fourth-year student double majoring in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Irvine. He is the current president and co-founder of the IPC at the UCI Student Chapter. Max has published papers on circuit design, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence. He plans to enroll for his master’s degree upon graduation.