Read Press Release

Accomplishments

• Championed the development and implementation of Strategic Roadmapping and Portfolio Management processes at both Boeing Commercial Airplanes and across the entire Boeing enterprise, resulting in a dramatic improvement in effectiveness of Product Development and R&D

• Collected industry best practices on strategic roadmapping and portfolio management in order to improve R&D and Product Development effectiveness

• Solved issues, removed roadblocks to implementation

• Coordinated inside and outside Boeing – improved commonality of processes

• Motivated, educated and initiated change across corporate functions and business unit boundaries

Specific Impact at Boeing

• Enabled rational long-term investments in product development and R&D – the Product and Technology Development Portfolios

• Enabled market-driven innovation vs “market-reaction torpor”

• Extended to suppliers and technology partners

Knowledge Sharing

• Shared knowledge freely in external forums (Management Roundtable, Knowledge Roundtable, Strateva/Alignent Roadmapping conferences, etc.)

• Shared knowledge to improve supplier and partner relationships (NASA, for example)

“..Duane’s high level of performance makes him a valuable asset to the entire Boeing enterprise.”

— D. David Anderson, Director, Product Development, Boeing Commercial Airplanes

“Duane Oda is an energetic and effective leader at the Boeing Company and in the Commercial Airplanes business unit in using strategic planning (a.k.a. roadmaps) to sharpen the focus of R&D in enabling advanced aircraft products of worldwide importance…[his] integrated plans…allow us to establish meaningful metrics for R&D based on the corporate revenue that is linked to the success of each R&D product.”

— Raymond R. Cosner, Director for Technology: Senior Technical Fellow, Boeing Integrated Defense

“With respect to NASA, his efforts have contributed to a more productive working relationship between our two entities..and contributed to improved strategic R&D planning processes within NASA’s Vehicle Systems Program.”

—Fayette S. Collier, Ph.D., Subsonic Transport Vehicle Sector Manager, NASA Langley Research Center

Read Press Release

Accomplishments

• Established metrics for individual performance, team performance, projects’ profits contribution to bottom line, continual margin growth, intellectual property growth, and many more

• Established process for measuring and monitoring

• Championed the implementation of processes for continuous improvement

• Bypassed company inertia and enabled a major shift in the organizational culture and behavior, overcoming such internal resistance as “not invented here” syndrome, “we know what is best for us,” and “we have been doing our way for years and it has worked.”

Specific Impact at Textron

• Processes are now implemented fully at Textron Fastening Systems and have taken the new product sales from 7% to 15% of total sales of $2B in three years and have established solid plans to grow this to 30% of total sales in the next 3 years with R&D and new product resource budgets remaining flat year over year

• Drove these accomplishment by optimizing the group, leveraging global power, standardizing on product development best practices and a continual focus on metrics and metrics-based improvement processes

Knowledge Sharing

• While serving as leader of the Engineering and Technology council for all of Textron, expanded the use of these methodologies in all other Textron businesses globally

• As member of many organizations, NSPE’s Industry Advisory Group and CEUG in particular (which are made up of 15 to 20 Fortune 500 companies that meet several times a year), exchanged best practices and communicated these practices to member companies

• Will host a CEUG meeting in Fall 2005 to share these practices even more widely

“..Seshu has made and continues to make significant contributions to Textron Fastening Systems and to Textron Corporation. His leadership of our Engineering / R&D activity, which he has completely re-engineered, has greatly improved our ability to drive for market accepted new products. Seshu also has a key senior leadership role in the overall Technology & Engineering Council for Textron where he has been able to instill a culture of best process sharing. His ability to organize and lead teams of technically diverse members is a key attribute of his overall success. I can think of no one more deserving of the recognition from your organization.”

— Rick Clayton, President, Textron Fastening Systems

Read Press Release

Accomplishments

Kurt Swogger’s business-transforming achievements at Dow Chemical are built upon his personal passion and strategic commitment to the principles and practices of speed-based R&D for creating and capturing value from new products.

He applied this speed-to-market philosophy to effect a major technology renewal across Dow’s Polyolefins & Elastomers (PO&E) business group (now part of Dow’s plastics portfolio which comprises the largest business group in the company) and led the development of a major new product driven technology at Dow called INSITE technology.

• Reduced resources for Polyethylene R&D by 50% and redirected resources towards INSITE technology

• Led the development efforts for INSITE technology which at 10 years will pass the 1 billion dollar mark growing at 40% per year with a 20% gross margin on average

• Has launched one product per year for 8 years with all, but one, being successful (so far!). Selected and led the superb team of people who did this!

• Developed, collected and wrote about Speed-Based R&D – a way to do R&D that increases the speed to market 3 times faster with reduced risks

• Helped integrate Union Carbide, PET, Bahia Blanca and BSL acquisitions into Dow

• Helped resolve legal issues with Exxon, Montel and Mitsui

• Integrated Dow's Plastics Businesses

• Development of Return on Research metric used for Plastics and Dow

Specific Impact at Dow

• In the ten years since its launch, this platform technology has been leveraged to deliver over 1.0 billion pounds of new, differentiated products which have contributed over $1.0 billion in net sales at a selling price 1.5X that of commodity base resins with a return on capital of 1.5-4X that of Dow’s benchmark base commodity products

• The market presence of INSITE Technology Polymers continues to grow at 25-30% per year. This demonstrated value creation is testimony to the potency of a novel, integrated systems philosophy and approach to new product innovation, designed, championed, implemented, and driven into the “DNA” of the company by Mr. Swogger and now, simply referred-to, inside Dow, as “Speed.”

Knowledge Sharing

• Published dozens of papers and given numerous presentations at industry conferences

• Authored a 30 page Dow pamphlet on the principles of “Speed”

• Member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers

• Member of Society of Plastics Engineers

• Member of American Chemical Society

• Chairman, Society of Plastics Engineers Technical Advisory Board 2004

“He has been the chief architect, pioneer practitioner, and relentless champion for speed-based R&D at Dow. Speed in product innovation is at the core of a cultural transformation underway across Dow’s R&D operations—a transformation led by Mr. Swogger.”

—Dr. William A. Fraser, Senior Director, Global Technology Alliances, The Dow Chemical Company

“Kurt’s leadership in Dow is crucial to maintain the technology leading edge for the US plastics industry….the technologies and products developed by Kurt during his last 14 years tenure as the head of R&D...continue having significant impact to the quality of life.”

— Romeo Kreinberg, Sr. VP, Plastics, Dow Chemical

Read Press Release

Accomplishments

• Has continually implemented new concepts at National for over 10 years

• Instrumental figure in guiding National’s maturation in metrics and product development related business processes.

• Helped National Semiconductor dramatically improve performance to schedule and development cycle time by developing tools, metrics and review processes for management

• Openly shares knowledge and experiences both internally and with product development community (through articles, conference presentations, teleconferences, and other industry groups and activities)

Knowledge Sharing

Dialogs and shares in the following areas:

• Measuring R&D effectiveness

• Proactive & predictive metrics and indicators

• Change management and metrics implementation

• Portfolio management

• Resource management

“[John] is a true expert and intellect on the subject, and very deserving. National Semiconductor has gotten ahead because of his expertise, and his boss who supports him to do this—John has tried everything that came along in the past 10 years. Is a true guru. Drove all efforts, actively discusses his views with thought leaders in the USA.”

—Bradford Goldense, Goldense Group, Inc.