Dr. Socie's early research work at the University of Illinois involved the development of fatigue life estimation models for notched and cracked members subjected to variable amplitude loading. He was responsible for the development of ASTM Standard E 1049 Cycle Counting in Fatigue Analysis. This was followed by ten years work studying cyclic deformation of and fatigue of metals under multiaxial states of stress. Although retired, Prof. Socie still maintains an active research program. Current research includes cyclic deformation and fatigue under multiaxial stresses, probabilistic fatigue and fracture design, energy harvesting and structural health monitoring.

James Dagg is the Chief Technical Officer for Altair's modeling, visualization and math-based solutions and strategy. With a primary responsibility to create an exceptional user experience across Altair's entire software portfolio, Mr. Dagg's organization is focused on making Altair's simulation, math and optimization technologies available to a broader audience to accelerate sound business and product design decisions.

For more than 25 years, Mr. Dagg has been a visionary behind Altair's software strategy and development activities. Prior to his role as CTO, Mr. Dagg was the Senior Vice President for Altair's newest subsidiary, solidThinking®. In this role, he was responsible for leading the development of its concept design technologies, Inspire and Evolve.

Mr. Dagg joined Altair in 1987 where he worked as a structural analyst and as a multi-body dynamics analyst in the field of vehicle dynamics. He then transitioned to a software development role in 1990 where he was responsible for both custom and commercial software projects. Beginning in 1995 and for more than a decade, Mr. Dagg oversaw the development of Altair's computer-aided engineering (CAE) software suite, Altair® HyperWorks®.

Dagg received his BSME in 1988 from the University of Michigan and his MS in Applied Mechanics from U of M in 1993.

James R. Scapa brings more than 35 years of engineering experience to his dual role of Chairman and CEO of Altair Engineering, Inc., a title he has held since the company's inception.

In 1985, Mr. Scapa and two partners founded a small consulting activity in the new field of computer-aided-engineering. Today, the company employs over 2,000 employees with more than 40 offices throughout 20 countries.

Through Mr. Scapa's leadership, the company is now a leading global provider of simulation technology and engineering services that empower client innovation and decision-making.

With over 5,000 clients, Altair serves the automotive, aerospace, government and defense, heavy equipment industry sectors as well as the consumer products, ship building, energy, electronics, life sciences, and architecture engineering and construction markets.

Prior to establishing Altair, Scapa served as an engineering consultant to the automotive industry, beginning his career with Ford Motor Company in 1978.

Scapa holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

Vance leads Harley-Davidson’s Advanced Engineering organization of 300+ engineers, designers and technicians that:

·   Develop breakthrough system and vehicle architectures

·   Drive game-changing innovation

·   Advance understanding and optimization of the rider experience

·   Develop next generation Test and Core Engineering tools and techniques

·   Execute world class specialized technical work on new motorcycle and technology           projects

Vance has been with Harley-Davidson since 1997, beginning at Buell Motorcycles where he led the development and launch of the XB motorcycle platform and early design work on the 1125 platform. He spent time in Strategic Planning creating strategies for H-D’s sales and marketing organization then held multiple leadership roles in Product Development including leading the team that developed Harley-Davidson’s first-ever electric motorcycle prototypes in 2011. Prior to joining Harley-Davidson, he served as an engineer at Parker Hannifin and engineering leader at Team Losi Racing.

Vance earned a Bachelor’s of Science in mechanical engineering from Loyola Marymount University and a Masters of Business Administration from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He’s ridden motorcycles since he was 9 years old.

Iain Percy OBE, a double Olympic and multiple world champion, is one of the most talented and successful sailors in the world. Iain has a remarkable Olympic pedigree, winning gold in the Finn class at the Sydney Olympics; before teaming up with lifelong friend Andrew 'Bart' Simpson to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Iain had his first taste of America's Cup action in 2005 as helmsman for +39 Challenge, and was part of Great Britain's America's Cup challenge, Team Origin. He joined Artemis Racing at the end of 2012 as tactician, following the London Olympics. After showing inspirational leadership qualities during the difficult final few months of the 34th America's Cup campaign, he was appointed Team Manager in October 2013. Iain is now responsible for leading Artemis Racing's challenge for the 35th America's Cup. 

Mark A. Meili is Director of Modeling and Simulation for The Procter & Gamble Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has held a variety of technical and management positions in both R&D and Product Supply Engineering and his current role spans technical work processes from research to commercialization to supply chain operation. 

Mark has been both a practitioner and champion of first principles understanding to reduce risk and enable robust technical decision making throughout his 31-year professional career. Mark received Bachelor of Science degrees from Kansas State University, one in Mechanical Engineering and one in Grain Science.