Administrator

Craig Nies, Ph.D.

1983, 1986g, 1989g
Director of the Technical Staff, Kyocera-AVX Components Corporation

craig.nies@kyocera-avx.com

Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, Craig Nies attended Penn State where he received B.S. (1983), M.S. (1986) and Ph.D. (1989) degrees in Ceramic Science. His focus has been on materials for electronic devices. During his professional career, including 35 years at AVX Corporation (now Kyocera AVX Components Corporation), he has engaged in or managed programs in capacitor, varistor, substrate, piezoelectric and thermoelectric materials, and participated in most aspects of device design, construction, and testing. More recently, he manages materials development at Kyocera AVX’s Advanced Products and Technology Center, with programs in ceramic, electrolytic, thin film, supercapacitor, and sensor device technology. Additionally, he has managed sponsored university research programs in these areas. Nies also acts as a technical scout for Kyocera AVX, to identify new technological thrusts which might complement and extend Kyocera AVX’s manufacturing techniques and product lines. Since 1996, he has served as Kyocera AVX’s representative in the NSF Center for Dielectrics and Piezoelectrics, and has served multiple terms as the Industrial Advisory Board Chairman. He also serves on the Educational Advisory Board for the University of South Carolina Biomedical Engineering Program, and on the South Carolina Science and Technology Plan Task Force.

Melissa Marshall
Vice President, Commercial Strategy and Optimization, Energy Systems, Westinghouse Electric Company

Melissa Marshall has been the vice president of Global Internal Audit, Risk, and Controls since September 2019 with accountability for the global internal audit, enterprise risk management, and global financial controls programs. She is responsible for rebuilding and transforming the internal audit team into a strategic business partner. In addition, the enterprise risk management team focuses on promoting a risk aware culture and increasing enterprise value by facilitating risk-informed decision making. In 2020, Marshall created the Finance Leadership Development Program (FLDP) to develop leadership skills and build finance and strategic acumen for recent undergraduates beginning their careers at Westinghouse.

Previously, Marshall was the vice president and chief compliance and risk officer and oversaw global trade compliance and enterprise risk management while building the global ethics and compliance function. Before that, she managed the new plant commercial offer process as the director of commercial planning. Her first role at Westinghouse was the manager of the enterprise risk management program where she developed the program and processes to identify and mitigate large, enterprise-wide risks. Prior to Westinghouse, Marshall worked in Alcoa’s internal audit group and Deloitte Consulting’s state government – technology integration practice. 

Marshall has a bachelor of science degree in materials science and engineering from Penn State with honors in metals science and engineering and a minor in economics. She has an MBA from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. Also, she earned a graduate certificate in strategic decision and risk management from Stanford University. Marshall is a licensed certified public accountant in Pennsylvania and received her certified internal auditor and qualification in internal audit leadership certifications.

Marshall is an active Penn State alumna volunteer. Since 2016, she has been a member of the External Advisory Board for Schreyer Honors College and was a member of the Schreyer Alumni Society Board from 2010-16. She was honored by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences as a 125^th Anniversary Fellow in 2022.

Tim Hsu, Ph.D.

President & CEO, Polymics, Ltd.
2215 High Tech Rd,
State College, PA, 16803, USA TEL: 1 (814) 357-5860
Web: www.polymics.com

Tim Hsu, Ph.D., is the founder and president of Polymics, Ltd., a developer and manufacturer of high-performance polymers and compounds. He received his Ph.D. degree in polymer science from Penn State.

Polymics is a vertically integrated supplier of high temperature and specialty polymer resin, compound as well as semi-finished goods for various industrial applications. Polymics focuses specifically on the development and manufacturing of novel high temperature Polyaryletherketone (PAEK) polymers and alloys to meet increasingly demanding high temperature and high pressure performance requirements in various critical industrial applications. In addition to the PAEK focuses, Polymics specializes in the manufacturing and development of other high temperature polymers such as Polyarylethersulfone (PAES), Polyimides (PI), and Polybenioic imidazole (PBI) as well.

In 2017, Polymics and Penn State signed a joint development agreement in the commercialization of i-petrogel technologies. Hsu has subsequently worked with Mike Chung, Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State in the commercialization of functional polyolefin polymer platform including the use of reactive compounding which has significant impact in critical areas such as electronic and energy storage materials. He has published sixty articles in referred journals and has been issued ten patents.

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