2024 AMT Winter Economic Forum

As a director of Market Intelligence at Harbour Results, Inc., Walton runs the company’s manufacturing intelligence tool - Harbour IQ. She is responsible for the strategic direction and growth as well as managing all data acquisition and intelligence gathering. Since its inception, Harbour IQ has collected and analyzed millions of data points from thousands of manufacturing companies on business and operation performance; established itself the leading manufacturing benchmarking resource with more than 7 years of trended data; and, launched a market studies division conducting custom market studies for manufacturers across all durable goods industries.

Dr. Lapira earned his doctorate in industrial engineering at the University of Cincinnati, and served as the Associate Director of the Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS), a world-renowned research center specializing in industrial predictive analytics. As Predictronic's Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Lapira aims to deliver tools that provide fast, accurate insights, increase productivity and reduce downtime.

Amit Sharda works as a Lead Industry Economist for the Global Industry Service at Oxford Economics. Currently, he leads our bespoke consultancy work related to sales and market demand forecasting, and he has headed our global machine tool market analysis reporting for the better part of a decade, prepared for AMT, CECIMO and other national machine tool trade associations. He is also in charge of monitoring and forecasting developments in the automotive industry. During his time at Oxford Economics, he has also overseen the quarterly industry forecast update, expressed our house-view on industrial developments in our monthly publications, and forecasted developments in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries. Amit has also contributed to a wide range of economic reports, including evaluating the drivers of competitiveness in the European chemical industry as well as being heavily involved in the production of our series of well-established Global Construction reports.

Dr. Mo Abuali is a senior director at Wipfli with over 23 years of experience in providing consulting services to manufacturing companies. Mo is passionate about driving and sustaining change in Manufacturing. He serves manufacturing and distribution clients with Industry 4.0, Industrial IoT (IIoT) and digital transformation technology solutions. Mo has worked with companies like IBM, P&G and Toyota, and is an advisor to multiple companies in the A.I. and Industry 4.0 space.

Douglas K. Woods joined AMT as its President in 2009. A lifelong manufacturing professional, Doug is dedicated to promoting the world’s most innovative manufacturing technology and positioning AMT as a leader on issues that impact the industry. Doug sits on several industry boards, including the Reshoring Initiative; the MTConnect Institute; the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, and others.

Peter Eelman’s business career has always been centered around IMTS. Peter entered the manufacturing technology industry in 1980, working for an exhibitor. Today, 40 years later, Peter heads all things IMTS, including IMTS.com, IMTS Network, and IMTS spark. In addition to IMTS, Peter runs AMT's international trade shows, including major events in China, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and throughout Europe.

Travis Egan spearheads product and business development at AMT, focusing on strategic growth through membership, partnerships, community engagement, and revenue generation. With nearly 30 years of experience, he has played a crucial role in bridging the gap between buyers and sellers of manufacturing technology, both domestically and internationally. His expertise encompasses the dynamics and purchasing trends between manufacturing technology suppliers and durable goods manufacturers. Before joining AMT, Travis dedicated 23 years to Gardner Business Media, where he made significant contributions in integrated media brand management, strategy, and new product development across print, digital, and event platforms. His roles included Vice President of the Metalworking Media Group, Publisher of Modern Machine Shop, and Co-Founder/Publisher of Production Machining and Additive Manufacturing media brands. Travis holds a degree in Engineering Technology from Illinois State University.

Chris is currently the Principal Economist at AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology where he examines trends in the overall economy that affect the demand for manufacturing technology. For over five years, Chris has managed surveys which compile the data necessary to get a full picture of the U.S. manufacturing landscape. Prior to AMT, Chris held varied roles in data analytics, research, sales, and marketing in an array of industries and settings. Chris holds a master’s degree in economics from The American University.