Arya Eskamani currently holds the role of Senior Predictive Analytics Analyst for Restaurant Services, Inc. where he is responsible for all complex analytical and forecasting projects. He has over five years of experience applying predictive analytics in a variety of professional fields including technology, healthcare, and manufacturing. Arya received his Bachelors in Business Economics from the University of Central Florida and a M.S. in Economics from Florida Atlantic University.

Geoff Stamper is the Director of R&D Portfolio Optimization and Global Demand Planning in the Enterprise Strategy Analytics organization at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Geoff’s career at BMS has included roles in strategic forecasting, market forecasting, and strategic planning and decision analysis. These roles supported revenue forecasting of both pipeline and inline brands. Prior to BMS, Geoff was at Abbott Laboratories where he held roles in the discovery organization as a scientist and in the R&D portfolio management organization as a decision analyst. Geoff has a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri and a doctorate in Biophysics from Brandeis University.

Sara Brumbaugh is Managing Principal of Ceres Analytics, a consultancy specializing in applied mathematics, statistics, and machine learning. Sara’s roots are in business forecasting: she’s worked with the IBF for over 20 years, and is the 2015 recipient of IBF’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Sara’s work in predictive analytics began with construction of forecast drivers to predict stock returns for mutual funds.She has developed customer-level response models in marketing, along with product optimizations in market research.Her current work focuses on bioinformatics in medicine and science.Sara holds a masters in Economics from Florida State University.

Mr. Chase is an author, thought leader and trusted advisor delivering demand planning and forecasting solutions to improve consumer packaged goods companies supply chain efficiencies. Prior to that, he worked for various companies, including the Mennen Company, Johnson & Johnson, Consumer Products Inc., Reckitt Benckiser PLC, Polaroid Corporation, Coca Cola, Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals, and Heineken USA. He has more than 20 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry, and is an expert in sales forecasting, market response modeling, econometrics, and supply chain management. He is the author of several books, including Next Generation Demand Management: People, Process, Analytics, and Technology and Demand-Driven Forecasting: A Structured Approach to Forecasting. In addition, he is co-author of Bricks Matter: The Role of Supply Chains in Building Market-Driven Differentiation. He is also the second recipient of the IBF Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jonathon’s professional career has consisted of leadership roles in transportation, finance and health products, beginning in supply chain and demand planning roles and culminating in a vice president position in strategic planning and corporate development. Currently, he functions as the Chief Strategy Officer at the Factors Group of Nutritional Companies. He is a recognized thought leader in demand planning and is co-founding partner of the S&OP consultancy NorthFind Partners. Jonathon has been a long-term contributor to the IBF’s body of knowledge, with a specific focus on forecasting metrics and diagnostics and forecast value-add. He studied economics at the University of Western Ontario before moving to Vancouver to study law at the University of British Columbia. Jonathon went on to study operations and value chain management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Eric is a predictive analytics and business planning innovator, author, and speaker. He is the Director of Demand Planning at Escalade Sports. Prior to this he worked as the Director of Demand Planning at Berry Plastics, and Director of Demand Planning & S&OP at Tempur Sealy International. In 2016, he received the Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning award from the IBF. He is a Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF) with over 20 years of experience. Eric is a visionary in his field, a frequent speaker and panelist for many executive forums and professional conferences, and has written numerous articles in publications such as The Journal of Business Forecasting and APICS Magazine. He is also the author of the book Cultural Cycles.

Dr. David Wehling (Doctor of Business Administration) has been responsible for Forecasting and Analytics for the International Division of the Toro Company for 23 years. He is also an adjunct instructor at the graduate, undergraduate, and executive education level for the past 10 years. He is the author of "A Practical Leadership Model for Frontline and Mid-level Managers Based on the Writings of American Hall of Fame Sports Coaches". He holds a B.S in Business/Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin River Falls, an MBA from the University of St Thomas, and a doctorate from Globe University.

Tim is currently Materials Planner/MRP Controller with Beech-Nut Nutrition in Amsterdam, NY. In his current role he has instituted several new methods for inventory optimization including a safety stock algorithm. Last quarter he received the Beech-Nut Goodness of Nature award in recognition of his accomplishments in implementing the safety stock process now governing the company’s raw material and packaging. Prior to this, he worked in the defense industry at Raytheon as a Supply Chain Automation Specialist where he managed the entire automated procurement process, responsible for about $25 Million in order volume. Tim holds a Bachelors in Supply Chain Management from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, with a concentration in statistics.

Joe Ganancio is a Data Science Director at Motorola (owned by Lenovo) and has developed and implemented practical data science solutions with state-of-the-art predictive modeling in the consumer electronics and health care industries. This is a role he has held for 5 years but has spent 19 of the last 22 years working at what is now Lenovo, starting out at IBM before moving to Motorola. Joe’s expertise includes Data Science, Marketing Analytics, Supply Chain Operations, Program Management, and Strategic Planning. Joe has a master’s degree in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University, an executive MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s in Project Management from George Washington University and a bachelor’s in Engineering from the University of Campinas.

Kendell Churchwell is a senior analyst with Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance where she is responsible for the implementation of marketing predictive analytics projects. Her career started at IBM as an IT specialist before moving on to business analysis and analytics roles at C Spire where she spent 10 years. She is a Certified Analytics Professional (CAP®, INFORMS), a certified IBM SPSS Modeler Professional, and Project Management Professional (PMP). Kendell has BS in Mathematics and Computer Science and an MBA from Mississippi State University.

Wes Womer’s first love is Finance, having started his career as a financial analyst at Body Shop of America. He then spent 5 years as a Demand Planning Manager at Stanley Black & Decker, before returning to Finance to take up his current role as Financial Planning & Analytics Manager at BraunAbility. He currently finds himself pursuing a Master of Science in Data Science from Indiana University. He intends to merge his skills in demand planning and Finance, and complement them with data science to leverage big data and machine learning in his organization. Wes holds law degrees from Indiana University and The University of Alabama, and a bachelor’s in Accounting from Butler University. He is studying his master’s in Data Science from Indiana University Bloomington.

Thomas Matzner ‘s career has focused on planning, maintaining a focus on building successful brands. Thomas joined BECCA in 2017 to lead the demand planning team and create inventory and demand plans for global customers, multiple warehouses and 3,000+ finished goods and components. Quickly taking on additional responsibilities, he launched the company’s first visual analytical tool for dynamic sales information. Thomas also guided the creation of a proprietary algorithm which calculates the potential revenue or “Size of Prize” for new product launches. Prior to BECCA, Thomas was COO and co-founder of PRUV Vodka, and prior to that, a retail planning analyst for Lacoste. He holds a BS in Management and Finance, and post-Graduate diplomas from New York University and MIT.

Vikram Govindan is Director of Data Science at Newell Brands, based in Hoboken, NJ. In this role, he leads a team of data scientists focused on supply chain reporting and statistical demand forecasting at scale. Before taking this role, he founded and led the data science practice at C&S Wholesale Grocers, a $30 Billion privately held wholesale grocer. Prior to that, he spent nearly 8 years at Monsanto Company, holding various data science roles of increasing responsibility, with the latter half of his career focused on supply chain. Vikram holds B.Tech and M.Tech degrees in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay, and an MBA from Washington University in Saint Louis. He also holds CPF, ACPF, APICS, CPIM and CSCP certifications.

Felix is currently Director of Demand Planning and Analytics for a fast-growing educational robotics startup called Wonder Workshop. He oversees all things data regarding supply chain operations and sales marketing. Felix’s past experience includes supply chain planning, having worked for Japanese electronics conglomerate Fujitsu where he was in charge of supply chain planning for the Americas. Felix is based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara, California, and is very involved in the tech and startup community. Felix holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and MBA from Arizona State University.

Mike is a Global Supply Chain leader with 20 years’ experience in the automobile, aerospace, food and beverages, and telecommunication industries with a proven track record in delivering complex transformation system projects from scoping and planning to final delivery. His current role is Sr. Manager, Supply Chain Operations, at Jose Cuervo where he oversees the Demand, Supply, Bulk and Manufacturing Alliances planning teams. Mike has led the production module of JDA and other software implementations across retail and manufacturing environments. His background includes many years of manufacturing, demand, supply and consultancy areas. Prior to joining Jose Cuervo, he was Director of Planning and Customer Supply Chain at The Hershey Company. He holds an MBA from the University of Monterrey.

Michael Devinoff is currently Vice President, Enterprise Strategy Analytics Lead at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMS). He created and leads a 50-person strong, company-wide team focusing on strategic long-range forecasting, manufacturing supply planning, enterprise resource allocation and other cross-business unit advanced analytics. Michael has been with BMS for 18 years working in different areas of the business including Marketing Research, Forecasting, and Advanced Analytics. Prior to his time with BMS, Michael spent four years with NFO-Migliara/Kaplan Associates, an industry-leading Marketing Research consulting company. There he successfully built a multi-million-dollar base of client business and led a broad team of research analysts addressing strategic business questions across the entire range of products. Michael holds an MBA in Marketing from Rutgers University Graduate School of Management, and a BS in Biology/Genetic Engineering from Binghamton University.

Kenneth B. Kahn, Ph.D. is a Professor of Marketing and Senior Associate Dean of the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University. His teaching and research interests address product innovation, product management, and demand forecasting of current and new products. He has been published in numerous journals including the Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Business Research, and Business Horizons. He also authored the books Product Planning Essentials and New Product Forecasting: An Applied Approach, and served as editor of the PDMA Handbook on New Product Development. Prior to joining Virginia Commonwealth University, Kenneth was a Professor at Purdue University and Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee. He holds both a bachelor’s and master’s in Industrial and Systems Engineering, and a PhD in Marketing.

Rauf is a leader in supply chain solution design and implementation at Visionet, helping customers adopt futuristic solutions for their supply chain planning & execution, servicing customers across manufacturing, retail and distribution industries. He is a computer science graduate, certified project management professional (PMP) with certifications in production & inventory management (CPIM) and logistics, transportation & distribution (CLTD). His work is focused on conceptualizing and aligning technology for optimization in inventory & operations planning.

Shaun joined QAD DynaSys in 2017 and has more than 20 years of experience in delivering business value via enterprise technology with domain competencies in supply chain and process manufacturing. As a Global Product & Market Manager, Shaun is responsible for the strategic direction of the QAD DynaSys Demand & Supply Chain Planning suite with a focus on driving S&OP/IBP as well as go-to-market enablement and market development. Shaun has an international focus having started his career in Australia with Infor, spending many years serving the APAC region before spending several years in Germany. Shaun holds an MBA from the Sorbonne in Paris.

Lehigh University

Adjunct Professor, Supply Chain Risk Management

Greg has over 25 years of experience with several Fortune 100 companies across multiple industries. He has held executive positions in the systems, staff and plant operations environments and has been Supply Chain Director, Materials Director, Logistics Manager, Plant Operations Manager, CIO and Systems Director with companies such as Hercules Chemical, Sandvik Specialty Steel, International Harvester, Schlumberger, Loral Aerospace & Defense Electronics, GAF/ISP Specialty Chemicals and IBM Supply Chain Solutions. Greg is presently teaching MBA supply chain risk management at Lehigh University. Plus, he is VP Business Development/Principal for SherTrack LLC that provides Demand-Driven Predictive Manufacturing solutions. He has also implemented CPFR, collaborative planning, forecasting & replenishment systems, S&OP Processes, and more. Greg was APICS’ 1997 International Society President. He is a frequent speaker at IBF conferences and seminars, globally. Greg is widely published in many well known supply chain and logistics publications, including IBF’s Journal of Business Forecasting. He is a graduate of Penn State, holding a B.S. in Operations Research and Computer Science, and has attended Lake Forest College of Graduate Studies.

Asad is responsible for leading implementations and strategy development around Data Management, Integration, Data Warehousing and Advance Analytics solutions. His primary expertise is in helping businesses to transform their culture around data and become more agile and data driven using advance analytics supported by Machine Learning, Big Data and Cloud Technologies.