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Robotics Manufacturing

Hardware and software come together to reimagine recycling

Hardware and software come together to reimagine recycling.
Artificial intelligence and robotics converge to create a cutting edge technology for recycling, enabling real-world positive impact for a challenged industry. AMP Robotics is producing a scalable system that reduces the cost of recycling and enables smart recycling facilities, a process which calls for a multitude of different skill sets and roles.

Software developers design computer applications or programs. Many software developers work in computer systems design and related services, in manufacturing, or for software publishers. They often work in offices and on teams with other software developers or quality assurance analysts and testers.

Software developers typically need a bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology or a related field. Some employers prefer to hire developers who have a Master’s degree.

Carter Schultz works as a software manager for AMP Robotics. AMP Robotics creates a scalable robotic system that reduces the cost of recycling and enables smart recycling facilities. “Robotics provides a really visceral way to interact with software,” says Schultz. “I’m extremely proud that we found a way to apply a cutting edge technology like neural networks to a problem like sorting recycling and make real-world positive impact.” Software managers like Schultz lead software design teams from translating an idea to plans to execution.

The median annual wage for software developers was $110,140 in 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Employment of software developers is projected to grow 22 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations. About 189,200 openings for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, for instance, due to retirement.

Maria Van Dyke is the production team lead at AMP Robotics. “My job is to make sure that the team has what they need, making sure that the assemblies are running smoothly, that we aren’t out of product, and that the team is building the assembly safely and to the drawing specs,” says Van Dyke. “You do not need a college degree in order to have the position that I have; a lot of it is hands-on learning.” Production team leads like Van Dyke play a critical role in terms of maintaining the pace needed to fulfill demand of a manufactured product.

Production managers like Van Dyke oversee the daily operations of manufacturing and related plants. Most industrial production managers work full time and some work more than 40 hours per week, and they typically need a bachelor’s degree and several years of related work experience.

In 2020, the median annual wage for production managers was $108,790. Employment of industrial production managers is projected to grow 5 percent from 2020 to 2030, according to the BLS. Despite limited employment growth, about 13,900 openings for industrial production managers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Most of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.