Board of Directors

President​

John J. Marcin
Raytheon Technologies Corporation
 John Marcin is currently Associate Director of Global Supply Chain Technical Optimization for Raytheon Technologies Corporation focused on supplier performance and delivery assurance of a broad range of aerospace product. Previously, he managed the Casting Laboratory at United Technologies Pratt & Whitney where he led activities in advanced alloy development, advanced component manufacture, casting technology development and investment casting supply chain management & creation.  John also managed activities for United Technologies divisions involved with sand and die casting.  He is the recipient of UTC George Mead Medal for Engineering Excellence (highest corporate award), 4 Corporate Leadership Awards and 45 Patents. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Metals International (ASM).
 John received a MS in Materials Engineering and a MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and BS in Materials Engineering from Lehigh University. His additional activities are Adjunct Professor of Engineering Sciences at RPI, Professional Engineer for the State of Connecticut, ASM Lecturer on Superalloys, and a member of ASM, American Foundryman’s Society, The Metallurgical Society, and Investment Casting Institute (ICI).  
 John has served as Vice President, President and Past President of the ICI and past chair of the ICI Executive Director Succession Planning, Audit and Membership Committees.
He is the current ICI President and chair of the Technical Committee and a member of the Awards and Process Control Standards Committees.
 john.marcin@collins.com

Vice President

Nipendra P. Singh
S&A Consulting Group, LLP
Nipendra (Nip) Singh has almost 40 years of experience in the high technology aircraft engine components manufacturing business including nearly 17 years with TRW Corporation. Early in his career Mr. Singh managed the design and startup of a new investment casting plant for General Electric Company.
Since 1991 Nip is Consulting Partner and CEO of S&A Consulting Group LLP, Cleveland, Ohio. He was educated in India having received a degree in Metallurgy and did post graduate work in business at Case Western Reserve University. His background includes marketing strategies, product engineering, strategic management and new plant construction in aerospace and commercial ventures. He has consulted for over 18 years for multi-national and American companies in the US, Japan, Europe and Asia.
nsingh@sa-consultinggroup.com

Past President

Timothy Sullivan, Esq.
Hitchiner Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in biology and earned a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School and a certificate in strategic human resource management from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. Employed by United Parcel Service 1986 to 1995 as corporate legal counsel (Atlanta, GA) and in various human resource functions at the district level (Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts). Appointed to the State of New Hampshire Compensation Appeals Board by Governor Stephen Merrill in 1996. Joined Hitchiner as corporate manager of administration in 1995 with responsibilities ranging from managing in-house legal and administrative affairs to specific responsibilities in human resources including ethics compliance and training, corporate safety, and environmental affairs.  Promoted to director of administration and corporate counsel for legal and administrative affairs.  Appointed Vice President, Administration in August 2005.
tim_sullivan@hitchiner.com
Brad DeSplinter
TPM, Inc.
Brad has been in the investment casting industry since 1991. He is currently Vice President of Texas Precision Metalcraft, Inc. (TPM) in Sugar Land, TX. Brad has had the opportunity to work for large and small commercial IC foundries, giving him a unique perspective on our industry and how the ICI can best serve member foundries. He is involved in all aspects of the foundry, including engineering, sales, purchasing, and operations. Brad is serving his second term on the ICI Board of Directors where he has been active on the Membership committee. Brad is a graduate of Bradley University with a BS in Manufacturing Engineering.
bdesplinter@txpm.com
Russell Gallagher
Bescast, Inc.
Russ is currently the Vice President at Bescast, Inc., a privately held investment casting supplier to aerospace celebrating 70 years in business. Russ began his career in 1978 in the shelling and casting departments while earning his degree in Metallurgical Engineering at the Ohio State University. He officially joined Bescast in 1985 and held positions as the NDT Level 3, Process and Product Engineering, and became the Engineering Manager in 1996 after receiving his Masters in Industrial Engineering. Russ was appointed VP of Engineering in 2002 and has a very hands-on approach to development and problem solving the hundreds of new castings that have been produced over the years and received a patent in 1996. Russ has served on the Board of Directors for Bescast since 2002 and has presented technical papers at the 2012 ICI Technical Conference and the 2014 ASM Metalcasting Congress.
russ.gallagher@bescast.com
Mike Hascher
Eagle Engineered Solutions, Inc.
Mike has 30+ years in the investment casting industry with experience from product design, tooling, wax, ceramics, foundry and post-cast processing.  Mike and his partner Bill Buckley started Eagle Engineered Solutions in 2008 to continue presenting 3D printing solutions for investment casters, OEM investment casting customers, colleagues and competitors.  Today Eagle consults with turbo-machinery designers and manufacturers and investment foundries to recommend their own and their colleague’s products and services to create true solutions.
mikeh@eagle-esi.com
Robert Johnson
Shellcast, Inc.
Bob's experience and education covers a wide variety of manufacturing disciplines. His career has covered positions in sand casting, permanent mold, die-casting, pattern making, precision machining, quality control, technical sales, and operational management with a primary focus on investment castings beginning in 1980 at Golden State Castings in Southern California.
He joined Howmet in 1984 in a quality role and rose to the sales and program manager for advanced titanium alloys while at the titanium casting operation in Whitehall, MI. He also co-holds two US patents for permanent mold casting of titanium and nickel-based alloys developed while at Howmet. In 1995 he joined Teledyne Cast Product's Picco facility (now CPP City of Industry, CA) and became the engineering manager for GE Aircraft Engine Lynn, MA components. He moved to an aluminum die-casting facility in 1996 becoming the VP of sales and co-owner. Joining Shellcast, Inc in 2005, he became the President and owner of the 60-year-old company in 2011.
Under Bob's direction the company has become a recognized leader in the medium-sized steel casting market and has been chosen for multiple Casting of the Year Awards and became the first foundry to win the ICI's Innovator of the Year Award.
He is a Muskegon, Michigan native and a second-generation foundry man who studied mechanical engineering at Muskegon Community College.
bjohnson@shellcastinc.com
Erich Knoespel
Artcast, Inc.
Erich Knoespel has been around the investment casting industry for close to ten years. He is the Additive Manufacturing Specialist for Artcast Inc., a multigenerational family-run art foundry in Canada. Since 2013, Erich has been integral to the rapid adoption of additive manufacturing technologies at Artcast. Erich initiated the utilization of additive manufacturing processes into the art casting environment of Artcast through experimentation.  Through trials and tests he has been able to streamline the wax making process for many of the projects.  He has introduced the client base to the use of scanning and printing to allow for ease in their creation process.  As well as the manipulation of their 3D files for thickness, aesthetic, or sizing adjustments before print.  This area of expertise along with his ability to work closely with the clients has made the introduction to new processes easier on the client base and added efficiencies to the art casting process.  Having grown up in the investment casting industry Erich is knowledgeable of every step of the process.  His willingness to push the envelope has been invaluable in each step from wax making all the way to patination.  The ICI Casting Certification combined with the willingness to experiment has combined the technical with the creative and has triggered many new opportunities. Every project that flows through Artcast Inc. is unique and requires this combination of technical and creative.
​erich@artcast.com
Julie Markee
Key Process Innovations
Julie Markee’s passion for the investment casting industry inspired her to start Key Process Innovations, a company focused on improving process efficiency through technical expertise, products and equipment. Throughout her 13 years in the industry, she has worked to reduce process variability across a wide range of foundries including commercial, aerospace and titanium. She has presented numerous technical papers focused on helping PIC foundries remove variability from their process, in addition to being an instructor at the ICI’s Process Control Class. She has bachelor of science in chemical engineering from the University of Washington.
julie@keyprocessinnovations.com
Albert E. Torok, Jr.
Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers, Inc.
Al is currently the Investment Casting Technical Manager at Yamaha Marine Precision Propellers, Inc. located in Indianapolis, IN.  After receiving his BS in Physics at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselear, IN.   Al has spent the last 41 years in the foundry Industry. 
Al started his investment career at Arwood, in New Hampshire in 1986.  He has held various positions within the technical side of the foundry business, from starting out as a Lab Tech, to Director of Engineering at an aerospace foundry in Southern CA, to the present, as the Investment Casting Technical Manager at YMPPI.   Al has technical engineering experience with casting large Aluminum, mid-size and small Low Carbon Steel, Alloy Steel and Stainless Steels, Copper base alloys, Magnesium alloys, Gray and Ductile Iron in both Shell and Solid Mold, for the aerospace industry.  However, he further has engineering experience in Green Sand, Dry Sand, High Pressure Die Casting, Permanent Mold, Tilt Mold, Low Pressure.
Al has co-authored five technical papers and has served on various technical committees for ASTM, ICI, Gray Iron, Ductile Iron and AFS research projects.
al_torok@yamaha-motor.com
​Ty Ueland
SeaCast, Inc.
Ty Ueland is the Vice President of Business Development at SeaCast Inc. and chairs the Board of Directors at Montana Precision Products, a SeaCast/GE Aviation Joint Venture. Within the ICI, he currently leads the ICI’s Government Relations Committee. His investment casting experience began working a summer air melt job with SeaCast, where he later progressed through roles in quality, marketing and sales. He has been active in his current tenure since 2007 overseeing sales, marketing, strategy and government relations. Prior to his return to manufacturing, Ty worked in Smith Barney’s Investment Banking Division as a Financial Analyst and held various roles in Microsoft Corporation’s Corporate Strategy and Corporate Marketing groups.  Additionally, he is the Chairman of the Board of Montana Craft Malt, a startup barley malting operation. Ty holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Washington.
tyu@seacast.com
James B. Wright
 3M Technical Ceramics
James B. Wright is a Ceramic Engineer, who has 29+ years of Investment Casting experience.  Jim works for 3M  Technical Ceramics; a fused silica producer; and is currently a Rep Sales Account Executive. He has held varies positions during his career, all related to the Precision Investment Casting Industry. He has presented Technical Papers and made presentations at regional meetings. He supports the Institute by providing resources that helped develop the highly successful training conducted at Pitt State and the newly developed process control class. Jim is dedicated to this industry and will focus on improving the membership benefits for both affiliate and foundry membership.
​jwright4@mmm.com