operations leadership for a distributed, multi-state team
management-committee governance
vendor, platform, and counsel management
regulatory compliance run as a systems discipline
technical teaching and authorship
Cloud, Data & Security
Microsoft Azure (VMs, Blob Storage, PostgreSQL Flexible Server, Entra ID / Entra Domain Services, Document Intelligence)
Cloudflare Zero Trust
identity and remote-access hardening
Python
PostgreSQL and pgvector
REST and Microsoft Graph API
n8n workflow automation
ERP administration (Famous Software on Oracle)
retrieval-augmented LLM tooling
Industrial Automation (domain depth)
process control and instrumentation from bench to pilot to production
Siemens S7 / PCS 7 / TIA Portal
Rockwell Studio 5000
NI LabVIEW
control and test-system architecture
industrial communication networks
Patents
US 10,753,919 B2 — Methods and systems for measuring the forces of a shrink film. The Dow Chemical Company; granted . Co-inventors: L. J. Effler Jr., R. Tiwari, L. R. Kennedy, M. J. Turpin.
US 7,882,824 B2 — Method for recovering vapor during an onboard refueling operation. Inergy Automotive Systems Research; granted . Co-inventors: D. Hill, S. Garabedian, S. Mehta.
Education
B.S., Electrical Engineering, with minors in Computer Science and Political Science — University of Michigan
A.A.S., Electronic Technology — Mott Community College, Flint, MI
Summary
Hands-on technology and operations executive: co-founder and CTO/COO of Molly’s Grape & Citrus Company, a ~$15M produce sales and marketing company (Molly Pop is the brand), owning technology, food safety and compliance, and insurance — and personally architecting the Azure infrastructure, intranet and CRM, ERP integrations, automation ecosystem, and security posture that run it. Previously the R&D process-control engineer and technical leader at Dow Chemical (–) who connected instruments, PLCs, LabVIEW, and data systems from bench to production; before that, custom systems integration and, beginning in , twelve years in automotive test engineering and fuel-systems R&D. Two U.S. patents; author of the Boots on the Ground industrial-controls series and the Knox Ramsey thrillers; adjunct instructor in industrial automation at Mid Michigan College.
Selected Accomplishments
Built and operate the complete technology estate for a PACA-licensed produce sales and marketing company that reached ~$15M revenue in its third year (2025, up from ~$12M in 2024): Azure infrastructure, Famous ERP on Oracle, Microsoft Graph integrations, the corporate intranet and custom CRM, a custom sales and pricing tool, and the traceability and compliance systems behind FSMA 204.
Architected the integrated compliance-and-finance intranet that the company’s PrimusGFS auditor said he had never seen done before — food-safety records, passings, billing, and invoicing in one searchable system built around Famous ERP’s Oracle backend.
Managed a $4MM project portfolio as technical and group leader for Dow Chemical R&D and received Dow’s Platinum Award.
Co-inventor on two U.S. patents: automotive fuel-system vapor recovery (Inergy Automotive) and shrink-film force measurement (Dow Chemical).
As president and CEO of Agrolytics Corp., named 2021 Entrepreneur of the Year by CMURC; Agrolytics received the 2022 SmartZone Best Small Business Award from Michigan Celebrates Small Business.
Designed REAP (Recipe-based Ecosystem for Agricultural Process), a recipe-driven PLC control architecture for indoor agriculture.
Authored Instrumentation & Signals: Field Troubleshooting (2026), the first of the three-book Boots on the Ground industrial-controls field reference, and teach the industrial-automation course at Mid Michigan College on Rockwell Studio 5000.
PACA-licensed produce sales and marketing company (Molly Pop is the brand); ~$15M revenue in 2025. Member of the three-person management committee; own technology, food safety and compliance, and insurance.
Lead the company’s shift to a digital sales model: built the custom sales and pricing tool, an in-house scheduling system that replaced a Calendly subscription, and the digital-marketing integration that equips the sales team.
Architected and built the corporate intranet that runs sales, marketing, administration, and online helpdesk support, including a custom CRM integrated with the Quo phone system so the team dials out directly from the intranet.
Brought food-safety compliance, passings, billing, and invoicing into the intranet as one searchable system — which the company’s PrimusGFS auditor said he had never seen done before.
Designed and run the company’s Azure estate: ERP hosting, a central data hub, a retrieval layer over compliance documents, and identity and directory services.
Built the automation ecosystem around Famous ERP: Python services that query the Oracle backend directly, pull invoices and passings from shared mailboxes through the Microsoft Graph API, extract metadata with Azure Document Intelligence, and join it all so anyone in the company can look up any key value.
Own security operations for a team distributed across the Midwest and Southwest: identity, access, and remote-access hardening.
Own FSMA 204 traceability on the company’s GS1 prefix, supplier product specifications, customer-portal submissions, and the company’s insurance and risk program.
Serve on the management committee; work with company counsel on operating-agreement and capitalization matters.
Founder & Principal · – · entities remain active and dormant
Delivered industrial troubleshooting and systems-integration services at client plants: diagnosing and repairing control, instrumentation, and network faults across Siemens, Rockwell, and LabVIEW environments.
Through Agrolytics, designed REAP, a recipe-driven PLC control architecture for indoor agriculture (lighting, nutrient, and climate control); the architecture proved out, the market’s instrumentation cost did not.
Agrolytics: 2021 CMURC Entrepreneur of the Year; 2022 SmartZone Best Small Business Award, Michigan Celebrates Small Business.
The Dow Chemical Company Midland, MI
Process Control Engineer → Technical Leader / Group Leader, R&D · –
Served as the systems integrator for Dow’s R&D businesses across the full scale-up chain — lab bench, pilot plant, production — in inorganic and organic chemistry, paints and formulations, graphite, oil and gas, hydrocarbons, polymers and plastics, and Dow Agro.
Managed a $4MM project portfolio; led the group as technical leader; received Dow’s Platinum Award.
Took the integration problems other teams would not: connecting instruments, PLCs, LabVIEW, and data systems so that lab and plant equipment could talk to each other.
Co-inventor, US 10,753,919 B2 — methods and systems for measuring the forces of a shrink film (Pack Studio).
Earlier career
Test engineering and systems integration · –
Engineering roles at H.E. Services, Inergy Automotive Systems, V I Engineering, and Wineman Technology.
Automotive, twelve years from : lube-oil and fuel filtration test programs in Flint (AC Rochester / AC Delco / Delphi), then fuel-systems test engineering and R&D for a tier-one Chrysler supplier in Metro Detroit; co-inventor, US 7,882,824 B2 (onboard refueling vapor recovery), from fuel-systems R&D at Inergy Automotive.
Custom systems integration: LabVIEW-based test and control systems integrated with PLCs for aerospace, defense-adjacent, medical-device, and export-controlled programs; custom machine builds.
Teach the evening industrial-automation course on Rockwell Studio 5000: PLC programming, instrumentation, and troubleshooting for working technicians.
Publications
Instrumentation & Signals: Field Troubleshooting (Mangrove Publishing, 2026) — Book 1 of the Boots on the Ground industrial-controls field reference; Book 2, PLC Troubleshooting, and Book 3, Communication Networks, in development.
Dark Recipe (Mangrove Publishing, 2025) — geopolitical technical thriller, Book 1 of the Knox Ramsey series. Book 2, Terms & Conditions, releases .
Shoes Inside (Mangrove Publishing, 2026) — Michigan neo-noir, Case #001 of the Jackson Dahl PI series.
Work the Problem: How I Became the Ringmaster of My Three-Ring Circus (Mangrove Publishing, 2026) — short memoir.