Speakers

Susan Kolinski
Business Development Manager
Sherex Fastening Solutions
Chair Elect | SME Member Council
Facilitator

With over 25 years of technical sales experience in the global Automotive and Commercial Vehicle industries, Susan works within the manufacturing industry focusing on making connections with people and products. Her career advancement is a process of learning, finding the value of a person, product, or technology, and then working with others to put that to practical use. She has a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Material Science & Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University. SME Member Since 2022 and contributed to the 2024 Membership Council, focusing on diversity & inclusion and corporate membership expansion and 2025 as Chair-Elect. Susan volunteers for Housing the homeless and various local charities and she is an avid golfer and runner.

Cliff Waldman
CEO
New World Economics LLC

During his extensive career as a Washington, D.C. economist, Cliff Waldman, New World Economics CEO, has been an active and in-demand public speaker. While he has spoken throughout the US, he has also appeared in Germany, Canada, and South Africa. In December 2022 Cliff spoke at an international conference of the World Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME) which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Cliff has had a long relationship with South Africa having visited shortly after the fall of apartheid to lecture on survey design and data development. His career has also included tenures as an economics specialist with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development as well as with the small business research team at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). He has won three national research awards. As a leader in the economics community, Cliff served two years as Chairman of the Board of the National Economists Club. In 2018 he was awarded the Certified Business Economist (CBE) designation by NABE. He received his M.A. in economics from Rutgers University.

Christian Zamiela
Assistant Professor
Auburn University

Christian Zamiela is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Auburn University. His research integrates artificial intelligence and systems engineering to improve data-driven decision-making in advanced manufacturing. Dr. Zamiela is part of the Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems (ICAMS) at Auburn where his work advances model-based enterprise integration and adoption through manufacturing process monitoring, quality assurance, digital threads, and connected digital engineering ecosystems. He collaborates with industry, academic, and government partners to improve digital engineering technologies and connected manufacturing systems. Dr. Zamiela’s research projects to date have supported U.S. Department of War initiatives across civil works and the defense industrial base. He is also an active member and contributor to the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), and the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE).

Jeffrey Halonen
CEO & Co-Founder
Steelhead Technologies

Jeff Halonen is the co-founder and CEO of Steelhead Technologies, where he leads a fast-growing team serving as technology partners to job shops across the USA and abroad. A mechanical engineer by training, Jeff spent the first four years of his career at General Motors before starting Steelhead. Jeff is inside job shops on a weekly basis, walking production floors and watching how work actually moves through the shop. That habit shapes what Steelhead builds for metal finishing, heat treating, and fabrication shops. He is pushing an aggressive AI roadmap toward a specific target: enabling shops to double revenue without adding a single front office headcount. His conviction is that the right technology partner can make job shops some of the most profitable manufacturers in the country. Jeff lives in southeast Michigan with his wife and four sons. Outside of work he hunts, fishes, and frequents the local farmer's market.

Laurie Harbour
Partner
Wipfli Advisory

Laurie Harbour is a partner with more than 35 years of manufacturing and consulting experience. Prior to joining Wipfli, she was the co-owner of Harbour Results, Inc., and has spent her career helping clients develop strategies, improve operations, reduce risk and optimize business performance. Clients benefit from Laurie’s ability to work with leadership teams to assess the current state of their business and provide strategic and operation recommendations for improvement.