COTSWORKS - Key Persons
Donna Rhodes is the Chief People Officer at COTSWORKS. She oversees the Company's human resources function and is responsible for the Company's people strategy along with development and administration of the company's HR policies, programs, and systems. As a member of the executive management team, she helps set the strategic direction for the company.
Donna joined COTSWORKS in early 2018 as the Company's leader of organizational effectiveness, culture and talent management. She serves as a strategic advisor and promotes initiatives that enhance the company's culture while working with COTSWORKS' employees to achieve the company's business goals.
With over 20 years of experience, she has demonstrated her capabilities in a variety of leadership, general management, and consulting areas within human resources, organizational effectiveness, talent management, workforce development, executive coaching, as well as leading organizational change in growing, competitive companies.
Donna earned a Master's Degree in Organizational Development and Analysis from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. She holds professional certifications from the Society for Human Resources (SHRM-SCP®) and HR Certification Institute (SPHR®). She has served as a member, president, or chair for several organization boards to include Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Ohio, Womankind of Cleveland, American Diabetes Association, UNCF, and Association for Talent Development (ATD).
Job Titles:
- Next SAE Committee Names New Chairman, Ken Applebaum »
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Founder
- COTSWORKS' CEO
Ken Applebaum joins SOSA Advisory Board
Ken Applebaum, CEO, and Founder of COTSWORKS, INC., has been nominated and accepted to the advisory board for The Open Group's Sensor Open System Architecture™️ (SOSA).
Mr. Applebaum joins seven other industry leaders on the SOSA Advisory committee. Ken will knowledge, expertise, and guidance on strategic initiatives based on his experience within the industry to help define and extend the applicability of SOSA.
"This is a great honor and opportunity to help our industry grow and extend well-tested industry standards with new speeds and configurations. I look forward to putting my experience working with VITA, PICMG, SAE, ARINC, SMPTE, and IEEE participation to work here" commented Mr. Applebaum.
COTSWORKS CEO, Ken Applebaum is a presenter at this year's ECOC Exhibition in Glasgow, Scotland. The European Conference on Optical…
Ken Applebaum is the Founder and CEO of COTSWORKS based in Cleveland, Ohio and Fulda, Germany. COTSWORKS is an innovative manufacturer of rugged optical components and subsystems for harsh environment networking and sensing applications. Ken founded the company after a 20-year career in electronics, embedded engineering, and optics. Since founding COTSWORKS, Ken has designed unique optical networks for some of the world's leading OEMs of commercial and military avionics, tactical military systems, and restricted-access U.S. Government manufacturing and vehicles.
Ken has presented papers at various avionics and fiber optics industry events and conferences and has numerous patents awarded, and in process, for harsh environment fiber optics. He resides in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife, three sons, and two Labradors who help keep an eye on COTSWORKS.
Meredith Peck is Chief Financial Officer at COTSWORKS. She oversees the accounting, finance, information technology, and human resources functions and is also responsible for accounting systems, banking relationships, financial planning, system security, and employee relations. As a member of the executive management team, she helps set the strategic direction for the company.
Meredith joined COTSWORKS in 2016 with over ten years of banking experience in various leadership roles in internal control and audit positions. Meredith is an alumna of PricewaterhouseCoopers and served as an officer in the United States Coast Guard through three tours of duty. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Operations Research from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and has a Master's in Accountancy and MBA in Finance from the Weatherhead School of Management.
Timothy Nevin is the Chief Operating Officer at COTSWORKS. He oversees a group of diverse, multi-faceted teams that cover purchasing, inventory management, production, manufacturing engineering, optical component R&D, enterprise software development and automation, shipping and receiving, and facilities. As a member of the executive management team, he helps set the strategic direction for the company.
Tim joined COTSWORKS in 2017. Coming from a consulting background, Tim worked with small to mid-sized manufacturing companies throughout Northeast Ohio to help grow their organizations in areas ranging from process development, equipment, and new product design to marketing and strategic planning. Tim's responsibilities at COTSWORKS have evolved from an initial focus on operations analysis and continuous improvement to growing, managing, and overseeing the company's business development, product management, systems and reporting, and strategic projects and partnerships. At the end of 2021, Tim took on the role of VP of Operations, where he focused on restructuring the operations, production, and logistics departments, then transitioned into the role of COO at the beginning of 2023.
Tim holds a dual Master of Engineering and Management degree from the Weatherhead School of Management and the Case School of Engineering, a Bachelor of Science and Engineering in Biomedical Engineering, and a Six Sigma Green Belt Certification from Case Western Reserve University.