Project Management Customer Solutions

George M. Popelas Jr. 724-***-**** / *************@*****.***

Venetia, PA www.linkedin.com/in/george-m-popelas-567951228/

Director

An experienced and influential engineering management professional with an excellent track record within the technology, electro-mechanical, and operation industries. Exceptional leadership, project management, and team management skills.

Select Career Highlights

Responsible for working to advance the state of indoor farming techniques in collaboration with the Engineering, Software & Electronics, IT, and Business teams for Upward Farms.

Proven leadership, management, experience, and interpersonal skills influencing professionals for success.

Managed a staff of engineers and IT professionals while overseeing projects, offering procedural guidance, risk prevention, and budget planning for a ~$2M FY budget to $10M+ for Fluor Marine Propulsion.

Professional Overview

Customer Solutions Engineer– Westinghouse, Pittsburgh, PA 2023-Present

Technical lead for solution creation, proposals, design, development, and commissioning of I&C systems.

Develop and implement product strategy for new products and/or existing products to new customers/markets as well as develop and maintain a product roadmap and manage financial viability of portfolio of products.

Work with customer facing organizations, integrate competitive and market intelligence to develop products with strong customer value propositions. Direct PMs, engineers, and management on delivering quality solutions.

Develop business cases to justify investments to meet market needs while building and maintaining long term, strategic relationships with customers.

Responsible for business revenue generation and contract awards managed on a monthly to quarterly reporting cycle.

Analyze needs and develop unique customer solutions to address customer competitiveness and long-term viability.

Analyze contract requirements and develop project-specific deliverables to enable successful program implementation and to enhance customer satisfaction.

Lead proposal development teams and oversee complex negotiations with customers to obtain contracts that contribute significant profit margin and revenue growth. Collaborate with project management to develop contract changes.

Lead strategic resourcing, planning, estimating risk analysis, and revenue reporting for complex and multi-year projects.

Participate in technical meetings (study meetings, Operational Experience, etc. ) with the customers.

Develop competitor intelligence and develop solutions to beat the competition.

Work directly with clients to tailor solutions to their technical specification requirements and budgets. Including solutions for new installation, overhauls, upgrades, and modifications for I&C equipment and interface with embedded software.

Oversee project activities and opportunity management, conveying feedback on customer satisfaction, needs and opportunities.

Utilize office productivity tools including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, SharePoint, D365, OneNote, and Outlook.

Demonstrated business skills, including consideration of financial impact when making decisions.

Senior Engineering Manager – Industrial Systems – Upward Farms, Brooklyn, NY 2022-2023

Provided support to the industrial systems program, which included manufacturing execution systems, mechanical, electrical, industrial, controls, and systems engineering, sensing, and embedded systems projects.

Collaborated with various departments to provide support for the design of future facilities and equipment as well as projects in progress. Lead for cross functional solutions, operations, and reporting of embedded systems.

Ensured industrial systems met company and industry standards by bridging technical and managerial gaps with setting standards.

Responsible for directing budgeting, project prioritization, portfolio management, resource leveling, KPI/OKR setting, roadmap and program management, risk, internal customer, and vendor management, and other problem-solving duties.

Led, directed, and coached the Industrial Systems team to support the integration of systems, equipment, software, and users while delivering projects across support, engineering, and construction domains.

Digitally monitored and controlled equipment while ensuring the successful execution of deliverables and scalability to meet business needs. Lead and mentor for Industrial Systems IT team for integration of software, equipment, users.

Responsible for the development, administration, and direction of business initiatives to build policy, infrastructure, and guidance.

Provided directional influence and integrated business strategies for scalability with regard to product research and development, design engineering new systems, components, and processes, and engineering analysis.

Thermal Hydraulics and Technology Senior Engineering Manager – Fluor Marine Propulsion, W. Mifflin, PA 2004-2022

(Fluor Marine Propulsion, LLC manages the Department of Energy (DOE) government contract for support of the Naval Nuclear Laboratory. Proving support for the Unites States Naval Nuclear propulsion Program for our Navy’s submarine and aircraft carrier fleets.)

Senior leader responsible for managing a thermal and hydraulic lab facility supporting safe & quality operations, advanced testing, and data collection to support customer requests and problem solutions.

Responsible for design, fabrication, assembly, operation standards, and configuring integrated and embedded systems with testing sections and utilizing calibrated instrumentation & sensors with an industrial network for control and monitoring.

Directed/managed a combined team of engineers, IT professionals, project managers, supervisors, technicians, and vendors to support cross-site and multi-interface Industrial network software/hardware/operations for supporting site testing & data monitoring for local configuration as well as OEM provide embedded systems.

Responsible for safety, quality, and efficient execution of daily operations to $5-30M projects driven with short, interim, and long range resource planning.

Managed multiple subcontracting services for facilities/utilities, engineering services, IT services, fabrication, and installation support. Responsible for contract development and procurement services.

Provided leadership, personnel development, coaching & mentoring, hiring management, technical resolution, engineering analysis, procedural guidance, customized testing & validation, budgeting, communications, and integrations in an active industrial environment.

Managed daily team operations through active communication, onboarding procedures, and executing new project scopes. Responsible for managing projections spanning multiple company locations to share knowledge and enterprise strategies.

Strategic planning, resourcing, corrective actions, metric reporting, and analysis to simplify/innovate/modernize.

Responsible for Enterprise consolidation and new capability enhancements for testing programs.

Manager of Special Test and Technology Projects (STTP) – Fluor Marine Propulsion, W. Mifflin, PA 2015-2020

Supported technical and business initiatives and improvements by directing, developing, and integrating multiple internal department engineering units.

Developed the Innovation Laboratory and Prototype Program.

Managed fiscal year procurement and spending cycles of around $1.6 million+ and multi-year procurements $10M+.

Responsible for equipment maintenance and operation services, network administration, testing and IT equipment life cycle management for a local large scale industrial network.

Directed a team to manage user and OEM provided embedded systems across an industrialized network ranging from new installations to upgrading/maintaining existing capabilities.

Responsible for contract development and administration for 8 service subcontracts.

Established a strategic and long-range plan for a new unit as well as safety and hazard recognition and mitigation strategies.

Improved and demonstrated communications abroad to mentor and coach personnel (KMAP, COPs) internally and externally.

Established relationships and/or contracts within the company and with outside agencies, including vendors, suppliers, shipyards, DOE & DOD sites, and universities.

Established Cybersecurity compliance for industrial control systems and continuous monitoring.

Instrumental in directing others to develop policies and procedures to improve control of work and collaborative environments.

Established the IDEA Factory, an onsite, flexible lab space to develop an agile approach to innovation and improvements. Established a contract with Techshop Pittsburgh, an offsite makerspace, to support multiple departments.

Manager WH Engineering and Inspection – Fluor Marine Propulsion, W. Mifflin, PA 2011-2015

Responsible for all technical engineering aspects of inspection, maintenance, certification, and operations of weight handling equipment at Bettis according to the NAVFAC P-307 and local requirements.

Managed a team of engineers and applied technology technicians to support the development, structure, and management of mechanical, structural, electrical, design and analysis, fabrication, installation, testing, formal documentation, and communication.

Created technical work procedures, budget cognizance, project management and planning, and troubleshooting procedures.

Established commonality, integration, and knowledge awareness in collaboration with integrated product teams focused on corporate development and process improvements.

Completed staffing for both internal and external weight handling positions in collaboration with human resources.

Developed an information management system with subcontracting support for the weight handling business area in partnership with a team of company-wide engineers and managers.

Developed a Corporate Knowledge Management Action Plan (KMAP) and training across Bettis, KAPL, KSO, and NRF sites.

Manager of WH Inspections, Testing, and Training – Fluor Marine Propulsion, W. Mifflin, PA 2010-2011

Developed and managed the Bettis training NAVFAC P-307 platform, electrical and mechanical equipment interface programs, qualification and licensing programs, crane inspections, load testing, hands-on training modules, record files, and continuing training.

Refueling Carrier Servicing Engineer – Fluor Marine Propulsion, W. Mifflin, PA 2008-2010

Responsible for aircraft carrier servicing operations, functionality, design and analysis, and equipment within the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP).

Provided Bettis management, support, and servicing with naval shipyards and staff to conduct daily operations.

Led the development and facilitation of Bettis on-site Shift Refueling Engineering (SRE) training class.

Completed the engineering design and project management of NRF-Idaho’s Facility Department to support spent fuel processing over a six-month term.

Established and implemented a radiological training program for management personnel.

Completed Bettis Reactor Engineering School courses in Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow, Integrated Reactor Plant Development, and Applied Nuclear Physics.

Provided senior project engineers with naval ship engineering support and design of mechanical systems, including setting up and testing new components.

Production Radiological Controls Supervisor/Instructor – Fluor Marine Propulsion, W. Mifflin, PA 2005-2008

Radiological Controls Technician/Instructor – Fluor Marine Propulsion, W. Mifflin, PA 2004-2005

Mechanical Engineer – John J. McMullen Associates, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA 2004

Responsible for providing engineering support to DD(X) Boat Handling Systems, including detailed design, drawings, and analysis of components to meet specifications.

Calculated stress, strain, and force components based on various types of loading to design for worst-case scenarios.

Collaborated with vendors for information regarding capability, availability, and product cost.

Education, Certifications, & Credentials

BS, Mechanical Engineering – Penn State University (2003)

Project Management Principles, Management Principles (Team One), LOTO, Fall Protection & Competent person, Chief Engineer, Certifying Official, CPR/First Aid, NAVFAC P-307 Qualifications, Lean, Six Sigma Certification (Green Belt), Adkar and Change Management, Earned Value Training, Corporate KMAP Charter Membership, Training Experience and Certifications, Materials and Processes in Manufacturing Strength of Materials I, II, III, Lean Manufacturing Vibrations for Technologists, Industrial Hydraulics ANSYS Finite Element Analysis I, II

Technical Skills: Creo, AutoCAD, ANSYS, MathCAD, WonderWare, Ovation, LabView, Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Suite, Adobe Presenter 6, Visio 2003, MES SW, Airtable, Lucid, Mirro, ERP/BI SW

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