Summary
Licensed Professional Engineer and manufacturing systems architect with 13+ years across GMP biologics and cell & gene therapy. I work one stubborn problem: organizations build good systems they can't absorb. My focus is the architecture underneath — turning fragmented plant-floor systems and data into AI-ready, intent-driven foundations, and the governance and roadmaps that let smart-manufacturing and AI investments actually stick. I also write and develop the frameworks the field uses to reason about this, in collaboration with BioPhorum, ISPE, and the Pistoia Alliance.
Focus
Intent-Driven Digital Core
AI Enablement & Governance
Industrial DataOps & Smart Manufacturing
MES & electronic batch records (eBR) · SCADA/HMI (Ignition, Rockwell, DeltaV, GE Proficy) · OSIsoft / AVEVA PI historians · ISA-88 / ISA-95 · manufacturing ontology & semantic models · data governance & integrity (ALCOA+) · AWS · Snowflake · Databricks · AI use-case readiness & governance · 21 CFR Part 11 · EU GMP Annex 11 · GAMP 5 · computer system validation (CSV)
Experience
Principal Manufacturing Systems Engineer
Sep 2024 – Present
Vertex Pharmaceuticals — Boston, MA
Own the full lifecycle of manufacturing systems for Cell & Gene Therapy; partner with manufacturing and technology leadership to set the site's smart-manufacturing strategy and roadmap. Led end-to-end selection, deployment, and validation of a new CGT SCADA platform — vendor evaluation through IQ/OQ/PQ. Architect the manufacturing ontology and semantic/knowledge layer and drive industrial DataOps investigations to make plant data AI-ready — the working core of the intent-driven digital core. Contribute to commercial readiness and continuous batch disposition alongside engineering and quality leaders, under full GxP, data-integrity, and CSV compliance (21 CFR Part 11, EU Annex 11, GAMP 5).
Digital Plant Program Manager
2023 – 2024
MilliporeSigma — Burlington, MA
Founded and led a new global Digital Plant Program spanning 62 manufacturing facilities. Defined sector target architecture and digital strategy across MES, historian, batch, and analytics; owned the roadmap connecting plant-floor systems to enterprise data. Drove solution decisions across the program portfolio with accountability for budget, quality, and schedule.
Staff Automation Engineer
2021 – 2023
Thermo Fisher Scientific — Cambridge, MA
First operating-company role — embedded daily with manufacturing, quality, and validation, shifting from one-off deployment to full-lifecycle system ownership. Closed facility-wide equipment-integration gaps: made all equipment integratable, remotely accessible, and maintainable, and brought systems into Active Directory to cut user password load. Delivered a facility-wide alarm management system — single pane of glass with disposition and escalation-based notifications — and a centralized batch-reporting engine producing consistent reports across any vendor or system. Ran vendor evaluation and selection for an electronic batch record (eBR) system, from use-case scope and requirements through a recommended plan.
Senior Project Engineer
2020 – 2021
Constellation Brands — Napa, CA
Process and automation engineering for large-scale production operations.
Senior Controls Engineer
2019 – 2020
BW Design Group — Vacaville, CA
Lead controls engineer for life-science clients; project manager on large single-use-equipment CAPEX programs across the US.
Senior / Principal Automation Engineer
2015 – 2019
NNE (NNE Pharmaplan) — SF Bay Area, CA
West-coast Engineer of Record on greenfield biologics, single-use, and continuous-manufacturing programs; designed and implemented OSIsoft PI historian from lab to production at a commercial biotech facility.
Field / Project Engineer
2011 – 2015
Panduit — Folsom, CA (Singapore & Hong Kong posts)
Delivered data-center monitoring and control solutions, with global assignments across Asia.
Research & thought leadership
- Intent-Driven Digital Core (IDDC) — an architectural framework for manufacturing continuity that preserves manufacturing intent from design to deployment. Conference talk, BioProcess International 2026 (Boston, Sept): "Why Architecture Must Precede Analytics." Journal and book-chapter work in progress.
- Shadow, Sandbox & Steward — a competency-based organizational model for governing AI in regulated manufacturing. Published series; developing for PDA Journal / MIT Sloan Management Review.
- Commissioning the Organization — an operational-readiness framework arguing that failed adoption is a readiness problem, not a technology problem. Essay series.
- Upskilling in the Age of AI — why governance without workforce capability fails in regulated manufacturing.
Selected projects
- Smart manufacturing roadmap & AI/data enablement (Vertex). Leading the strategy and architecture to make manufacturing data AI-ready — data enablement, governance, and a prioritized portfolio of AI use cases across the manufacturing systems estate.
- Global Digital Plant Program — 62 sites (MilliporeSigma). Stood up a worldwide digital plant program: sector target architecture, digital strategy, and portfolio governance connecting plant systems to enterprise data and analytics.
- Facility-wide alarm management & centralized batch reporting (Thermo Fisher). Consolidated all facility alarms into a single pane of glass with escalation notifications, and built a reporting engine producing consistent batch reports across any vendor or system.
- Greenfield biologics PCS/BMS. Design and commissioning of a full SCADA suite, process formulation and clean-utility systems, GMP HVAC, and equipment interfaces — SDS/HDS authoring, PLC programming, FAT/SAT.
- GMP OSIsoft PI design & implementation. Historian solution and network architecture across manufacturing lab → pilot plant → production at a major biotech facility.
Speaking & affiliations
- Board of Directors, ISPE Boston Area Chapter (2026–present) · chapter announcement →
- Life Science Advisory Board, IAAE (2024–present) — contributing to curriculum & direction
- Presenter, BioProcess International 2026 — Boston, Sept 22–25
- Panelist, American Pharma & Biotech Project Delivery & CapEx Summit 2026 — Boston, Oct 14–16 · "The Role of Project Delivery in Bringing Products to Patients Faster" · "Smart Manufacturing & Facility Modernization"
- Contributor: BioPhorum · Pistoia Alliance · Member: ISA · NSPE · Tau Beta Pi
Education & licensure
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering — California State University, Sacramento (2010)
- Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy — MIT Sloan Executive Education (Apr 2026) · Credential ID 180521792
- Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) — California, CS7550