Materials Science & Engineering MS&E External Advisory Board Members

Dr. Bob Heideman was named Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at A.O. Smith in December 2010. He had served as Vice President of the Milwaukee-based research and engineering facility since February 2008. Dr. Heideman joined the company in 1994 as a project engineer at the Corporate Technology Center. In that role, he worked on a wide range of projects for several of the company’s operating units. After two years with Tower Automotive, he returned to A.O. Smith in 2002 as a section manager, responsible for the Metallurgy and Prototyping Group. In 2005, he was promoted to Director-Materials and Processes at the Corporate Technology Center. Dr. Heideman holds a PhD in materials engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned his BS in metallurgical engineering. He also has an MS in metallurgical engineering from Purdue University.

Professor Asta received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. He subsequently joined Sandia National Laboratories, where he was a postdoctoral researcher and then senior member of the technical staff. In 2000 he joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University as an Associate Professor, receiving tenure in 2003. In 2005 he moved to the University of California, Davis, as a full Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, where he became Vice Chair in 2008. In 2010 he joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), with a Faculty Scientist appointment at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBNL). He served as Department Chair of MSE at UCB from July 2012 – December 2017, and Materials Sciences Division Director at LBNL from January 2018 – December 2022. He currently serves as the Executive Associate Dean in the College of Engineering at UCB.

As Chief Commercial Officer at Dalkia, Nick Balster leads the business development and development engineering teams which are responsible for translating company value into successfully designed solutions. Nick held previous roles at Dalkia focusing on supporting the company’s growth in the United States through operational and organic strategies and creating merger and acquisition scenarios for profitable growth. Before joining Dalkia, he spent ten years at Precision Castparts in a variety of roles, including corporate energy management. Nick received his BS in materials science and engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his MS in business administration from the Babson College F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business. Currently, he lives outside of Boston, MA with his wife and three children. His passion for green energy translates into his personal life, as he enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and is a passionate cyclist.

Jacob Brunsberg joined Sigma Additive Solutions as Senior Vice President in 2021, responsible for leading Sigma’s strategic relationships, product management and marketing programs. In April 2022, Mr. Brunsberg was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer and Director. Prior to Sigma Additive, from 2019 to 2021, Mr. Brunsberg was a P&L leader for General Electric’s Binder Jet Technology unit, with responsibility for strategy, development, commercialization, and overall business performance. Prior to GE, Brunsberg worked for the American Roller Company in sales leadership and product marketing positions, responsible for the development and oversight of growth strategies, focused on advanced welding, cladding, thermal spray, and powder metallurgy technologies across serval industrial markets. Mr. Brunsberg holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Material Science and Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ellen Cerreta is the Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She previously served as Division Leader for Materials Science and Technology, Deputy Division Leader for Explosive Science and Shock Physics and the ALDW High Explosive Safety Program Manager. Prior to joining M-Division, Ellen was the Group Leader for the Materials in Radiation and Dynamic Extremes Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She received her B.S in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Ellen has been at LANL since 2001. Her research focuses on the relationship between microstructure and dynamic materials properties. Ellen has served on The Minerals Metals and Materials Society (TMS) and ASM, International Board of Directors and Board of Trustees, respectively. She is currently the past president for TMS and was inducted into the 2016 ASM Fellows Class.

Sandra Faieta is the Senior Principal Engineer-Slip and Glaze of Global Vitreous Operations for Kohler Co. Her primary responsibilities are the technical support of the slip and glaze manufacturing processes, the implementation of process pre-controls and best practices, and the improvement of yield. When Sandra joined Kohler Co. in 2008, she brought 12 years of experience in sanitary ware manufacturing in Ferrum S.A. and Franz Viegener S.A. in South America and 14 years of experience in academia, as a researcher of clay minerals and ceramic materials at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom and the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, and as a professor and director of the Development of Analytical Chemistry at Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. Sandra earned a BS in chemistry and education from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador and a PhD in Ceramic Materials Science from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.

Bob Forbes is a Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers Deals Transformation Practice, working out of the Chicago office. Bob has advised consumer products, industrial products, and pharmaceutical companies on mergers and acquisitions and supply chain optimization for over 33 years. He works with corporate and private equity clients. Prior to becoming a consultant, Bob spent four years with General Electric in manufacturing engineering, product development, production planning, and plant management roles. Bob has a Materials Science and engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Bob and his wife, Cindy, have three children.

Marion Wells MS&E EAB member is the Founder and Managing Partner of Human Asset Management is a passionate speaker and presents at various manufacturing industry conferences on how to improve workforce culture. She earned a BS from the UW- Madison, with a focus on Metallurgical Engineering and began her career in engineering with Arcelor Mittal Steel (formerly, Inland Steel Industries) where she spent 17 years. Marion joined West Michigan Tool and Die’s, Board of Directors in 2019, appointed to Mold Making Technology a Gardner publication editorial board of advisory in 2019, appointed in 2021 board of Society of Manufacturing Engineering Education Foundation and served on the Board of Directors of Automotive Women Alliance Foundation and currently serves on their Executive Advisory Council. She was awarded the 2022 Distinguished Alumina of UW-Madison College of Engineering Material Science and Engineering department. Marion lives in Flossmoor, Illinois and is married to Greg Wells and mother to 3 young adults.

Dr. Patrick Heaney received his doctoral degree in material science engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009 and immediately started NCD Technologies based on the novel technology that was developed during his time at UW. Dr. Heaney has 18 years of experience in vacuum system design/maintenance and coating engineering. Dr. Heaney is also trained and well-qualified in several surface science analysis techniques. He is passionate about diamond coating and the potential for optimizing diamond and diamond-like coatings for novel applications and applications that are beyond the capabilities of other coating companies.

Bill is a Senior Distinguished Engineer at Thermal Spray Technologies (TST) Inc., Fisher Barton. He is the co-founder of TST, in Sun Prairie, WI, which engineers and manufactures industrial coatings and coated components. His work has resulted in many technical achievements. These include solderable coatings for high-powered circuit boards, dielectric materials for electrosurgical instruments, improved wear resistance for food processing components, metallurgically bonded ware-resistant coating technology for oil and gas components, and high-volume thermal spray manufacturing techniques. The developed coating solutions have been used in many industries including medical, food processing, agriculture, construction, energy, marine, automotive, aerospace, and others. His work has helped TST become a leading company in thermal spray coating innovation. Bill was inducted into the ASM Thermal Spray Society Hall of Fame in 2018. He also received the “Distinguished Achievement Award” from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, College of Engineering in 2009. He received his BS and MS in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ted Liang is a principal engineer at Intel Corporation where he has worked for over 25 years. As a technology leader with extensive knowledge in materials science, chemistry, and lithography, Ted is responsible for leading the identification and development of enabling technologies for Intel’s infrastructure in photomask manufacturing to ensure the company’s lithography roadmap. Ted has won two Intel Achievement Awards, the company’s highest recognition, first in 2006 for the development of world-leading e-beam process technology from concept to production, and then again in 2021 for the development of the industry’s first EUV actinic inspection system. Ted has more than 50 scientific and technical publications and has been awarded six U.S. patents. Outside of Intel, Ted enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, two kids, and dog.

Dr. Young-Hye Na is a Principal Research Staff Member and Manager of the Accelerated Material Discovery Group at IBM Almaden Research Center. Her group is dedicated to discovering more sustainable energy storage materials by leveraging advanced computing technologies such as AI and machine learning. Dr. Na received her PhD degree in Chemistry from POSTECH in South Korea, performed postdoctoral research in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and joined IBM Research in 2007. Her expertise lies in surface chemistry/coating, self-assembling materials for patterning, and patterning materials, with a focus on developing functional materials for separation membranes and next-generation batteries. Her research accomplishments in these fields include more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and over 60 patents granted or pending. She is an IBM Master Inventor and a recipient of many prestigious internal and external awards including IBM’s Technical Accomplishment Award, People Manager Exemplary Award, and 2022 YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley’s Tribute to Women Award.