Vermont Business Magazine At a VMEC Board meeting held on April 13, Assistant Director Patricia Giavara received a unanimous vote of approval to succeed Bob Zider, who had been with the Center over its 25+ year existence as Director & CEO. She was appointed to the position of Interim Director & CEO effective July 1, 2021.
Patricia served as VMEC’s Assistant Director for 12 years with leadership roles in VMEC’s strategic planning, new business development opportunities, stakeholder and partnership relationships, and services portfolio development and delivery including growth services and technology acceleration.
Most recently this has included coordinating VMEC’s Cybersecurity service offerings and introducing Industry 4.0 technologies through partnerships with the New England Regional Defense Initiative Collaborative (NERDIC) including the New England MEP centers; and the MEP National Network.
Patricia has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and has worked at several major manufacturing sites in industries including paper, glass & ceramics, and telecommunications. During her 21 years of manufacturing experience prior to joining VMEC, she held manufacturing and leadership positions as a Process Engineer, Quality Manager, Engineering Manager, and as Plant Manager at one of Corning Incorporated’s optical communications plants.
Patricia lives in East Montpelier and enjoys outdoor activities and contra dancing.
Meet Chris Coulter, VMEC's Advanced Manufacturing Technology Advisor
Joining VMEC at the end of June, Chris Coulter has been instrumental in developing new products and implementing manufacturing technology throughout his career as well as working in regulated industries including defense, medical device and FDA. Chris’ focus will be assisting companies with Industry 4.0 advanced manufacturing technologies to increase growth and competitive advantage including assessing and supporting opportunities working with VTC's Advanced Manufacturing Lab, VT-MC.
Chris has collaborated with engineers and businesses on a portfolio of products including in vitro diagnostics, medical devices, surgical instruments as well as electro-mechanical scientific instrumentation. He’s worked to improve manufacturing processes through Lean practices, methodical problem solving techniques and implementing creative equipment solutions to improve throughput and increase capacity.
With an affinity for advancing entrepreneurial ventures, Chris has worked in multiple start-up companies. In 2002 he started his own business, Adaptive Engineering, LLC, a consulting company focused on assisting Vermont-based product development and manufacturing companies. He is proficient in all aspects of the product lifecycle – from market research and customer discovery to design, manufacturing, market launch and process improvement.
Originally from Massachusetts, Chris earned a mechanical engineering degree at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. When not solving problems for Vermont manufacturers, Chris can be found mountain biking, skiing, or exploring the outdoors.