RUSS WHEELER

ATEWHEELN@SBCGLOBAL.NET

510-713-0398

Innovative, independent thinker with strong leadership abilities with diverse background in Engineering and Operations Management roles.
15 years leading Design Engineering teams in Microwave Product development. 20 years leading Operations teams is pursuit of World Class performance. 5 years directing Manufacturing Engineering teams in support of product lines. 5 years Facilities Operations and Real Estate business management.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Engineering
Design Engineer for 13 application specific state of the art electromagnetic microwave devices for Raytheon, Northrop, Hughes, Texas Instruments, Sanders, Marconi, Dalmo Victor, and the US Government. Authored 17 comprehensive proposals to Prime Contractor/PMOs including design approach, Qualification plans, and program development costs that ultimately produced 34 million dollars of revenue. Technical lead on 3 major government contract negotiations based on Federal Acquisition Regulations. Leadership, Guidance and Mentoring to R&D/Engineering teams at 3 different companies in new product development environments using the companys Gate/PLC process creating application specific RF/Microwave & Optical components and systems designed for use in Industrial, Military, and Space applications. Support to Sales and Marketing with catalog development, formal program proposals, contract reviews, technical analysis, and on site customer presentations. Formal program management, contract negotiation, and design for reliability training. Delivered $1 billion in revenue over 15 years. 75 new products introduced into the manufacturing/supply chain. Multiple site ownership of covering SMT, board level test thru Box build on multiple shifts with ~125 in-directs. Control multi-million dollar labor/overhead/expense work centers for cost competitive commodity level products. Technical leader working side by side with R&D on all new product development programs to insure a smooth and predictable outcome in the pilot phase. ISO and Lean Manufacturing trainer, Demand Flow, 5S, Kaizen Events, Operator Certification programs. Cost reductions through value stream mapping, waste elimination, via non value added manufacturing process. Lead Concurrent R&D/Mfg Development Team on 500 Watt Amplifier System, cutting GA time by 9 Months! Established corporate OTD process by evangelizing Customer Satisfaction increasing corporate OTD by 45%. Realigned companys Sales Demo process addressing a $25 million inventory exposure. Stakeholders included Sales, Finance, Operations, and Tech Services. Built retrofit business leveraging strategic relationships with Warner Robbins Program Management to upgrade wide band amplifiers used on a military program from scratch, netting ~3 million in revenue for the company. Created Build to Print business with Loral when an Engineering logjam constrained production revenue growth. Effort ultimately positioned Litton as a Space-qualified hardware supplier opening new customer/revenue channels. Managed $30 Million build out of a 3 story cold shell to corporate facility on time and budget. Relocated 700 employees to new site that included offices, 4 major labs, IT NOC room, Factory and 25k sq ft remote warehouse. Business team leader in transition of Harmonics Cable equipment business via sale to Aurora Networks. Transitioned portfolio of products and team members to Aurora. Restructured all Manufacturing & Logistics organizations to integrate Harmonics business. Rebuilt the Warehouse, creating a low tech manufacturing site.

Manufacturing

Business Acumen

LEADERSHIP
Aurora Networks/Harmonic Inc, Suppliers of Optical Transport and Digital Video Equipment

1999-2013

Director of Manufacturing/Facilities Operations

Production/Supply Chain support for all company products. Formulated and executed strategic plans to propagate cost reductions, improve yields, availability of supply, and time-to-volume manufacturing. Provide overall Manufacturing leadership/direction to Operations staff, as well as cross functional guidance to Engineering, Marketing and Service. Managed multiple shift in-house Factory teams of 125 workers. Leader of all Facilities related activities including all Maintenance, Safety, and Recycling programs. Lease administration for global sites in APAC and EMEA. Consolidated corporate campus to a new multi floor site after planning and managing a 15 month $30 million build out of a warm shell building to house 700 employees. Spectrian, Inc. Sunnyvale, Ca.

1997-1999

Director of Mfg Engineering, Director of Operations

Focused on all Operations activities related to the Multi Channel Power Amplifier division; led group of 55. Brought new 2nd shift and lean Factory on line ahead of schedule. Established and achieved all process capability targets and limits. Implemented Oracle as new corporate ERP system. Met with key customers, performed international installations and coordinated product design reviews. Executed transition of overall subassembly supply chain to a low cost region. Litton Industries, Santa Clara, Ca.

1994-1997

Military Business Team Leader/Manufacturing Manger

Overall leader of a high tech Thin Film based portfolio with alignment and assembly functions including a substrate Fabrication lab, clean room, and thin film assembly operation. Detailed execution of cost modeling, cost drivers, supply chain optimization, and overhead rate setting methodologies. Created new structure in support of Integrated Business Team alignment to analyze revenues and margins, and drive business development. Hired and trained a staff of five, designed and developed tools to conduct ROI analysis, provided revenue, gross margin and option mix analysis to support the viability of five business areas simultaneously. Increased revenue 3X in 2 years. Watkins-Johnson Company, Palo Alto, Ca.

R&D Engineer, Member of the Technical Staff, Engineering Manager

1977-1994

Designed new, Electro-Mechanical Microwave filter and oscillator products used in Electronic Warfare applications and systems. Provided project management and technical support to the Microwave Components Division by analyzing new product applications and proposal reviews. Worked with virtually all prime contractors in the EW community.

EDUCATION & TRAINING

B.S. Nuclear Engineering/Physics, University of California at Santa Barbara A.S. Electronics, College of San Mateo Formal Training: ISO/TL 9000 Quality training/Implementations Total Quality Management: Demand Flow Technology Finance for Managers Strategic Negotiation Microwave/RF Subsystems Engineering Program and Project Management Courses Emergency Response Team Microsoft Office, AutoCad, Visio Agile, Oracle ERP, Arena, Qlikview