MADISON - Key Persons
Amanda Nicholson received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Akron. She is a Senior Project Engineer, CAE/Simulation consultant; a part of TMG's Manufacturing and Product Development Group. Moldflow is her tool of choice to help customers turn their design vision into a manufacturable product. Industry training in injection molding processing, hands-on experience with hundreds of molding trials, and her Moldex3D Analyst Certification help her perform accurate simulations for the development of a tool or optimization of processing conditions. Through instructing courses on injection molding processing, material selection and plastic part design, she has learned how to work with people with a wide variety of backgrounds. She can explain complicated concepts in a simple way and shares her insights through videos published on The Madison Group's YouTube channel. Because of her strong interest in sustainability, Amanda serves as a board member on the Society of Plastics Engineers Recycling Division.
Antoine Rios has been with The Madison Group since 1999. Dr. Rios received his Ph.D. from the Polymer Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1999. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin and is fluent in Spanish. His current work concentrates in the analysis of plastics failure, plumbing product failures, forensic analysis, plastics part design and computer aided engineering (CAE). Dr. Rios has testified numerous times in deposition and court. He has written various papers and chapters, and given presentations on plastic failures, manufacturing and CAE. He is currently a senior member of the Society of Plastic Engineers where he serves as director of the Composites Division and the Failure Analysis Special Interest Group. He is a participating member of ASTM International (subcommittee F17 - plastic piping systems) and has served as a reviewer of SBIR/STTR phase I/II proposals for the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Rios' Curriculum Vitae is available upon request.
Dr. Davis received his Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1995 from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, in the field of polymer processing. Dr. Davis has extensive experience in the mechanical behavior of polymers and specializes in the engineering forensic analysis of plastic and rubber components to determine root causes of failure. Dr. Davis also has expertise with numerical methods and computer simulation for polymer processing and structural analysis of plastics. He has testified numerous times as an expert witness in federal and state court cases in the field of plastic failure analysis.
Dr. Davis' Curriculum Vitae is available upon request.
Erik Foltz is a Certified Professional Moldflow® Consultant at The Madison Group. Foltz received his M.S. from the Polymer Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Foltz's work concentrates on assisting industrial clients accelerate the product design process through the use of CAE Tools. His specialties include plastic part design verification, process optimization and troubleshooting for injection and compression molding, and plastics failure. He has experience with thermoplastic, thermoset, elastomeric, and composite materials. In addition to being a certified Moldflow consultant he is also a beta user for the Moldflow Plastic Insight product line, which allows him to provide input on the newest solver technologies in the market. Foltz is an active member of the Society of Plastic Engineers where he serves as a board member on the Injection Molding Division.
Mr. Foltz's Curriculum Vitae is available upon request.
Jack DeSousa is a graduate of Winona State University with a degree in composite materials engineering. This degree provided a good foundation for design, manufacturing, and analytical testing of all types of plastic, composite, and elastomeric parts. Jack is a Project Engineer with The Madison Group, and specializes in failure analysis, material testing and characterization, and design. He has performed thousands of product evaluations and hundreds chemical/material analyses for industrial clients as well as supported many more. Jack's attention to detail and follow through are essential to the operation and maintenance of the laboratory and its equipment at TMG. He is continually devoted to increasing his knowledge base and experience through both project work, material testing, and continued education.
Dr. Cruz is a Senior Managing Engineer at The Madison Group where he is actively involved in numerous projects and market sectors leading design/material reviews, and failure analysis investigations for thermoplastic, composite, and elastomeric parts. Dr. Cruz also leads research investigations related to analysis and testing techniques for plastic failure prevention and performance optimization. Dr. Cruz provides consulting support during product development stages, and serves as expert witness offering legal representation within his areas of expertise. Dr. Cruz received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has extensive experience in the fields of thermosets and thermoplastics. Dr. Cruz is an active board member of the failure analysis division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). He is also a member of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) where he reviews current testing standards related to plastics. He is also a reviewer for the Polymer Engineering and Science Journal.
Dr. Cruz's Curriculum Vitae is available upon request.
Job Titles:
- Expert
- Senior Member of the Society of Plastics Engineers
Jeff is an expert in failure analysis; material analysis, identification and selection; and aging studies for plastic and rubber components. He has performed over 900 failure investigations, both for industrial clients and litigation work. He is a recognized authority on polymeric material analysis and failure, and has authored an ASM handbook chapter as well as numerous articles relating to failure analysis. Jeff also taught a number of seminars relative to plastics failure analysis, chemical effects on plastics, and rubber technology. Jeff also gives regular presentations through the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) covering a wide range of plastics-related topics.
Jeff is a Senior Member of the Society of Plastics Engineers and is a Past-Chairman of the Failure Analysis and Prevention Special Interest Group. He is also a Past-President of the Wisconsin Rubber Group. Jeff is a graduate of Carroll College and the Milwaukee School of Engineering. In addition to his degree in Chemistry, Jeff holds a degree in Criminal Justice and has testified numerous times in deposition for defense and plaintiff counsels.
Jeffrey A. Jansen's Curriculum Vitae is available upon request..
Melissa's 20+ years of experience in material science and engineering are deeply rooted in product development, advanced testing, and manufacturing support. She has performed hundreds of failure analysis investigations on a wide variety of products and applications across multiple industries including, transportation, medical, and consumer. These learnings compiled over many years have revealed vulnerable areas within the product development cycle including identifying part requirements, performing material selection along with developing part validation testing. Melissa has extensive experience with supporting clients in their relationships with manufacturing partners. This support includes, but is not limited to, root cause analysis of processing issues, development of quality assurance tests, along with cost saving initiatives.
Melissa received her M.S. in Material Science and Engineering from Wayne State University and her B.S. in Material Science and Engineering from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. She is a long-standing member of Society of Plastics Engineers and Society of Women in Engineering as well as a leader of her daughter's Girl Scout Troop.
Ms. Kurtz's Curriculum Vitae is available upon request.
Paul received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 1995 and is currently the President of The Madison Group. In 2003 he became an Adjunct Professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Dr. Gramann is involved in the design verification and failure analysis of thermoplastic, elastomeric and thermoset parts. He is the past-Chair of the Failure Analysis and Prevention Group of the Society of Plastics Engineers. He is a co-editor of the Injection Molding Handbook published by Hanser Publishers in 2001 and 2008, which has been translated to Chinese and Russian. He is also on the editorial board for the Journal of Plastics Technology, which is published by Carl Hanser Publishers. Dr. Gramann is actively involved with ASTM and serves on the D20 (plastics) committee. He has testified numerous times in deposition and at trial for defense and plaintiff counsels. He has given presentations on failure, prevention, mechanical behavior, and processing of plastics in the US, Europe and the Middle East.
Dr. Gramann's Curriculum Vitae is available upon request.
Tom Hansen is a Project Engineer at The Madison Group. Tom received his B.S. in both Manufacturing Engineering and Plastics Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and his M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Prior to joining The Madison Group, he has worked in various areas of the plastics industry, including tooling design, in-mold labeling and silicone molding. His focus is to use CAE tools and industry experience to assist clients in optimizing and troubleshooting their plastic components and manufacturing processes.
Mr. Hansen's Curriculum Vitae is available upon request.
William Aquite received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the National University of Colombia and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research work included characterization and simulation of extrusion flow and additive manufacturing techniques. During his graduate studies, he also served as Chief Engineer for the Polymer Engineering Center, President of the student chapter for the Society of Plastics Engineers, and as Ambassador for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) where he gained experience in patenting and licensing. His teaching experience includes assisting work for courses in composites (Introduction to Composites Processing) and polymer processing (Manufacturing Processes, Engineering Design with Polymers and Modeling and Simulation in Polymer Processing). Prior to joining The Madison Group, William lectured for core courses in mechanical engineering including Manufacturing Processes and Dynamic Systems. His training in polymer processing also includes field work at one of Dow Chemical's polystyrene plants and micro-injection molding research at the Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at RWTH University.