Michael Cappello is chief executive officer of S.A. Technology. Under his visionary leadership, S.A.Technology revenues have had a > 10,000% growth and the staff has increased from 12 individuals to over 140 since 2003. S.A.Robotics has been on the Inc 500 list of fastest growing companies since 2005. Prior to joining S.A.Technology, he was senior vice president of Informatics Corporation where he was responsible for substantial, results-driven growth. During his tenure, Informatics was also placed on the National Inc. 500 list for two years in a row as one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S.
Mr. Cappello is the 2008 award recipient of the Earnst & Young Entrepreneur of the year in the Rocky Mountain & Pacific South West Region. Mr. Cappello’s “old school” business strategies are also the subject of best selling business author Jim Champy’s book “Outsmart! How to do what your competitors can’t.”
Mr. Cappello has a background that includes 28 years of experience in the commercial nuclear industry and with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Facilities industry. He has expertise in the areas of engineering, project design, outage & production management, nuclear operations, and facility decommissioning & dismantlement (D&D). Mr. Cappello specialized in the management of large multibillion dollar, complex high-risk projects with experience in all phases of the project life cycle including: design, construction, startup, operations (outage and maintenance), production and D&D. He has a proven track record for turning troubled projects into successes for his customers by applying expert project team leadership skills.
As executive consultant to the DOE Undersecretary for Environmental Management (EM), Mr. Cappello headed the National Transuranic (TRU) Waste Capacity Study in 2002. He led a team of experts from around the country to rapidly identify ways to improve and accelerate the nation’s ability for consolidation, packaging and transportation of TRU waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This project became a national risk reduction priority as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attack; it is estimated that there were 30 million people nation wide living within a 50 mile radius of plutonium materials. Other accomplishments as executive consultant include oversight and improvements to $750 million of infrastructure construction, waste management and environmental restoration capital projects at a DOE facility. He was instrumental in accomplishing major schedule and cost performance improvements for these projects.
Mr. Cappello also provided executive level, international telecommunications project management consulting for a $4 billion dollar infrastructure construction project in Thailand where he mentored and trained senior level project managers for a major US telecommunications company. Mr. Cappello was the winning proposal and project manager for a major US technical consulting firm that integrated a consortium of mid-size commercial nuclear utilities’ supply chain management programs with electronic commerce, strengthening the utilities’ competitive positions in the deregulated power utility market place.
Mr. Cappello holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering sciences from Regis University with minors in physics and mathematics. He was one of the first 500 people certified as a Professional Project Manager (PMP) by the Project Management Institute. He has trained project managers around the world.
Brian Dyck joined S.A.Technology in 2003 and is the President of S.A. Technology and S.A.Robotics Ltd, a wholly owned United Kingdom subsidiary company. Mr. Dyck has over 30 years experience in the commercial and government nuclear industry. He was in the UK for two years starting up the UK subsidiary and growing the business in the UK and Europe. He is responsible for Business Development & Marketing, Engineering & Manufacturing, Commercial Nuclear Projects, Project Management, International Operations, IT, and HR via the respective Vice Presidents and Managers. Mr. Dyck joined S.A.Technology following assignment at the DOE Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site. His responsibilities included management of a $14M fully contained robotic size reduction (thermal and mechanical cutting) system for radioactive components and the decommissioning of contaminated buildings at the site.
Mr. Dyck worked for Westinghouse during the decommissioning project at the Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station. He became the program manager for decommissioning and spent fuel storage activities for Westinghouse where he had responsibility for foreign and domestic nuclear power plant decommissioning and spent fuel storage projects. Additionally he has consulted at various commercial nuclear facilities during operations and decommissioning.
Mr. Dyck also worked at Fort St. Vrain during commercial operations. He worked in the Radiation Protection and Engineering departments during plant outages and operations. He was the project lead to obtain a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the storage of spent nuclear fuel at one of the nation’s first dry storage facilities. Mr. Dyck was the mechanical and regulatory lead during design, construction, and initial fuel loading at that facility. He is a an eight year veteran of the US Naval Nuclear Power program including operations aboard a nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine.
Mr. Dyck holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado with a minor in Business Administration. He is a registered Professional Engineer, a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and a member of the American Nuclear Society.
Bill Kirby is the Chief Operating Officer. After extensive work with S.A.Technology on the Idaho National Laboratory and Rocky Mountain Flats projects, he joined the team in the fall of 2007. He is directly responsible for programs, project delivery, facilities, and day to day operations. He is also responsible for the management of engineering, fabrication, and project management groups within the company. Mr. Kirby has brought a wide range of experience from over 23 years of working in decommissioning, engineering, design, construction, testing, and operations in the nuclear industry. His education of a Masters of Business Administration form the University of Massachusetts in 1996 and a Bachelors of Science degree from the Marine Engineering Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 1985 further reinforces his qualification to be the Chief Operations Officer. Mr. Kirby’s’ expertise and hands-on experience makes him a valuable resource to the team here at S.A.Technology.
Prior to joining S.A.Technology, Mr. Kirby was the ES H&Q director for D&D at Idaho National Labs responsible for D&D of 3 reactors and other nuclear support facilities. He was a D&D engineering manager at Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site on a nuclear weapons complex clean up project. Prior to this, he was the Project Manager for Decommissioning and security modifications at Millstone Nuclear Power Station. As an Operations Engineer in a program improvement project, he was responsible for upgrading Unit 2 programs, coordinating special projects in analysis of operating events in a 50.54 (f) recovery effort. Prior to this, he was a Project Manager responsible for the decommissioning of plant systems at Shoreham Nuclear Power Station, including major structural remediation projects. He was responsible for coordinating engineering, operations, QA, HP, and labor organizations in a decommissioning effort. He has tested Naval Reactor Plants and has extensive experience on BWR and PWR nuclear plants in the commercial industry.
Scott AdamsScott Adams is a home grown executive harvested from the S.A.Technology farm of talent. He started his career serving the nuclear industry within another Colorado based design engineering firm but quickly moved to S.A.Technology in 1999.
Mr. Adams has been the project and technical lead on many of our more complicated design schemes, including a number of our long reach manipulator projects, many of S.A.Technologys' products delivered to the Rocky Flats Site Closure Project, S.A.Technologys' highest payload manipulator, Technologys' boiler inspection arm project, and the startup of the K-Reactor Decommissioning Project. After moving through the ranks as a technical lead he moved into project management leading up S.A.Technologys' Advanced Products group and acting as a Site Project Engineer at the UKAEA Windscale Piles Decommissioning Project. After serving in the UK, he came back to S.A.Technology to lead up the Business Development and Marketing team where he enjoys the easiest job in his career: touting the value of S.A.Technology to existing and current customers
Mr. Adams holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University.
Matt Cole took over as chief engineer of the company in 2007 after moving up from a project engineering and lead mechanical engineering role. Mr. Cole was the first employee hired by Dan Johnson and started work for the company while still in high school. Starting work as a machinist and welder Mr. Cole built some of the first equipment made by the company under the direction of Mr. Johnson. After completing an engineering degree in 2000, Matt hired on full-time to the company as an design engineer. Mr. Cole has grown as the company has grown moving from entry level design engineer through project engineering/management and finally to engineering management. He understands and has worked with nearly every aspect of the company from fabrication to purchasing.
Mr. Cole has been instrumental in improving the engineering discipline and professionalism while maintaining the creativity and flexibility that was key to the company’s growth. Under Mr. Cole, the engineering program has built an extraordinary core of engineering leadership by elevating engineers who have proven themselves on difficult and quick turn-around projects to lead positions. This group, under Mr. Cole’s leadership, improved the engineering process to meet not only the standards required by NQA-1 but also ISO9001:2000. Matt has seen every aspect of the business from working out of Dan Johnson’s garage to a multi-national company with 150 employees.
Mr. Cole has had a working role on nearly every major project done by the company since its inception. This insight into the realities and challenges of producing complex equipment in short-time frames is the experience that Mr. Cole will use to continue to improve every aspect of the engineering program. This will ensure that S.A.Technology continues to deliver high-quality products highly focused on specific clients needs so that these clients get the equipment they need to solve their problems while understanding the difficult project constraints these clients face.
Frank Roundy is the Vice President of S.A.Composites, reporting directly to the company’s CEO.Frank’s first composite job was working on the B1-B bomber, laying unidirectional tape into a compound contour mold for a wing fairing. He has worked on the F-14, F-15, C-17 military aircraft as well as many commercial programs for Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Airbus. He was instrumental in developing a repair method for the Apache rotor blade that enabled the trim tabs to be re-bonded to the blade. In 1996 he left the aerospace market and joined StorageTek in their composite group where he was in charge of resin transfer molding manufacturing. At StorageTek he developed a manufacturing cells for robotic tubes that saved the company several million dollars over the life of the project. In 2004 Frank hired on with S.A.Technology to head up the composite group and helped introduce composite structures into the remote handling arena. When S.A.Technology purchased the assets of a failed composite business that had been run into the ground by poor business practices and mismanagement, he was given the task of making it a viable business. In the three years that Frank has managed the composite shop, his composite team of professionals has been able to take this failed business model and make it a viable performance and profit center for S.A.Technology.
Harry Donahue is the Chief Financial Officer of S.A.Technology. Mr. Donahue is responsible for all the Company’s reporting to the Private Equity Firm, Investors and to the rest of the Senior Management Team. Mr. Donahue is responsible for the structure and process of the following areas of the company: general accounting, budgeting, financial reporting, treasury, cash and banking, taxes – federal, state and local, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and Board of Directors Meetings and Presentations. Mr. Donahue works closely with the following departments in SA Robotics: Sales, Business Development, Engineering, Fabrication, Composites, Contracts, Legal, Purchasing, Information Technology, Insurance, and Human Resources to make sure the Company’s accounting standards meet Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
As a Senior Financial Executive with 29 years of experience in owning, operating, buying and selling companies Mr. Donahue has had a storied career in both privately held and publicly traded companies in the US and International markets. Prior to joining S.A.Technology Mr. Donahue was the founder of a successful start-up company. Prior to that endeavor Mr. Donahue was Chief Financial Officer for a privately held Engineering and Construction Company that was sold to a Multi-Billion Dollar Company. Before that he was a key member of the M&A team for a Publicly Traded Company which completed the due diligence on more than 150 acquisitions during a 5-year period; sales increased from $400 Million to $4.2 Billion. During this same period of time Mr. Donahue was responsible for driving the Asset Securitization Program and Credit Insurance Program that supported a $90 Million credit facility. During Mr. Donahue’s illustrious financial career he has defined and executed strategic initiatives in support of corporate objectives including acquisitions, alliances, and joint ventures. He has developed and maintained policies and procedures for inventory control and logistics and he has also designed and implemented the business rules for a fully customized $100 Million ERP System. Earlier in Mr. Donahue’s career he successfully negotiated, structured and closed a $27 Million sale of a distribution company in New York to a $5 Billion B2B e-commerce office and computer products company in Colorado. In addition to selling companies Mr. Donahue has been quite successful in raising Capital in challenging markets.
Mr. Donahue holds a Masters of Business Administration Degree in Finance from St. John’s University, New York, New York and a Bachelors of Business Administration Degree in Finance from Iona College, New Rochelle, New York. Mr. Donahue has lived in Colorado since 1995 with his wife of 24 years and their 3 children. Mr. Donahue volunteers Managing Little League Baseball, has sponsored Community Programs and mentors youths in Boy Scouts of America.
Chris Woodhead Joined S.A.Technology in early 2008 as the Manager of International Operations charged with the continued development of S.A. Robotics Ltd. a UK subsidiary. He was promoted in early 2009 to Vice President of International Operations and Director of Operations for S.A. Robotics Ltd.
Prior to working for S.A.Technology Mr. Woodhead was employed by The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) where he held various senior management position including Operational Project Manager of the Windscale Piles Decommissioning Project, Project Manager of the Windscale Advanced Gas Reactor (WAGR) Decommissioning Project and Project Controls Manager.
In 1998 Mr Woodhead began his career as a Structural Engineer within the Civil Construction Industry after completing his Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering from The University of Salford. He took a year out in 2002 to complete a Masters in Impact and Explosive Engineering from The University Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). Successfully completing his Master he joined the Nuclear Industry working for WS Atkins as a Project Engineer, gaining substantial experience in building substantiation and seismic analysis.
Mr Woodhead joined UKAEA in 2004 where he quickly attained a senior management position and secured support and funding to read for a Masters in Business and Administration. He completed his MBA in 2007 from the University of Lancaster.
Mr Woodhead has held various varied positions allowing him to gain a holistic appreciation of the nuclear industry, combined with is managerial skill set, strong leadership, well developed network he continues to drive and grow the UK subsidiary through a collaborative market approach offering a differentiated service.
Charlie Shipler Mr. Charlie Shipler joined S.A.Technolgy as Vice President Projects in 2009 following assignments as Senior Program/Project Management at the DOE Hanford Site and United Kingdom.
Mr. Shipler has over 30 years of results orientated progressive management and leadership in engineering, procurement, construction and operations, with a substantial record of defining and successfully completing challenging projects that have to meet regulatory requirements.
Charlie has extensive experience in decommissioning and upgrade projects. His responsibilities included management of over $2.0 billion in work scope.
Charlie worked as a Senior Project Manager on the DOE Hanford Site and was responsible for engineering, procurement and construction of plant upgrades with complex industrial, radiological and hazardous contamination issues required to meet environmental regulations and Washington State Dangerous Waste laws. There was specific emphasis placed on defining and safely executing plant modifications to achieve compliance.
Following his time at Hanford Charlie spent 3 years in the United Kingdom as the Windscale Site Senior Program Manager. Charlie was heavily involved in development of the accelerated decommissioning strategy for decommissioning piles reactors and integration of the post irradiated examination facility operations. He also spent time at the Dounreay Site as the project manager for the Dounreay Strategic Review Team responsible for baseline accelerations and improvement.
David Morley is quality assurance manager of S.A.Robotics, reporting directly to the company’s CEO. He is also the organization’s manager for environment, safety and health (ES&H).Prior to joining S.A.Robotics, Mr. Morley gained over 25 years experience in the development of quality systems for a variety of organizations including: DOE sites, commercial nuclear sites, nuclear power plants undergoing decommissioning and contaminated sites. He has had assignments as Quality Officer, Quality Engineer, and auditor. His experience includes NQA-1 auditing and implementation, ISO 9000 registration assessments and internal audits for commercial manufacturing companies in North America and Asia. He has performed Supplier Qualification Audits and Source Inspections in support of both commercial and nuclear projects.
Mr. Morley’s certifications and qualifications include: ISO-9000 Lead Auditor; ISO-14000 Auditor; Lead Auditor Certification ANSI N45.2.23, NQA-1; Certified Inspector N45.2.6 Level II Electrical, I&C, Mechanical, Receiving and Welding AWS D1.1 VT; Certified Packages for Radioactive Waste Shipments, U.S. DOE 10 CFR 830.120 Rule, U.S. DOE Order 414.1A; Certified Quality Assurance Officer at Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site; screened NCR’s for Price Andersen Amendments Act; Suspect/Counterfeit Items (S/CI) requirements.