Thomas Lent has more than 30 years of experience in various engineering, operations, financial and managerial positions with industrial, manufacturing and financial services companies. He has been employed by DuPont & Co., Inc., Air Products, General Motors, Prudential Securities and Trilogy Group, Inc.
Lent has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.S. degree in Engineering from Drexel University.
Vincent Graziano has been the chief executive officer of RISE Engineering, a division of Thielsch Engineering, Inc., since 1980. In this capacity, he has worked in conjunction with program administrators, energy companies, and government officials on the design and implementation of efficiency programs throughout the United States and Canada. Graziano currently directs a staff of 175 professionals who deliver turnkey services to residential, commercial, and industrial energy users throughout New England and New York. RISE is a pioneer in the delivery of “one-stop” program delivery, and has arranged for over $400 million in improvements under Graziano’s direction.
Prior to joining RISE, Vincent Graziano was the Principal Planner for Conservation and Renewable Energy Programs for the Rhode Island Governor’s Energy Office. He holds a B.A. from Clark University in government and resource economics and an M.B.A. in accounting from Bryant College.
Peter Kennefick joined Thielsch Engineering as a field engineer, performing routine inspections, remaining-life studies, specialized weld repairs, and failure analysis for the electric utility industry within the United States and abroad. He currently serves as Vice President of the Field Engineering Services Division overseeing the field engineering, inspection and fabrication/construction services of the three regional offices within the Field Engineering Services Division.
Kennefick is a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and holds B.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Marine Engineering. He currently holds an Unlimited Horsepower Coast Guard First Engineers License.
Trent Theroux has overall responsibility for Thielsch Engineering’s Corporate Finance, Accounting, Purchasing and Information Technologies teams. He manages all company treasury functions and financial compliance; monitors the Company’s financial position and manages its working capital, invested assets and credit facilities; maintains relationships with external financial bodies; oversees annual audits; and manages the Company’s suite of insurances.
Theroux has 20 years of accounting experience in the banking, manufacturing and service industries and ten years of tenure at Thielsch Engineering. He has a B.S. degree in Accounting from Providence College and a Master of Business Administration degree from Bryant College. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Feinstein Graduate School of Business at Johnson & Wales University.
Ara Nalbandian, P.E. is Vice President of the Professional Engineering Division of Thielsch Engineering. He is responsible for engineering activities involving major technical problems and the resolution of situations involving mechanical engineering, materials metallurgical engineering, manufacturing processes, welding technologies, nondestructive examinations and other aspects of plant operations and engineering.
Nalbandian has over 35 years of experience in failure analysis, product design and development, performance testing and evaluation and condition assessment. As part of his broad failure analysis experience, he has been extensively involved in major failures including boiler explosion, refinery and chemical plant fires and explosions, steam and gas turbines, compressors, gas generators, HRSG, pumps, heat exchanger, reformers, reactors, pressure vessels, piping, valves, draglines, Yankee dryers, paper machine dryer rolls, crank shaft, gears, internal combustion engines, forging and extrusion presses, aluminum smelters and electrolytical cells. His experience also extends to power and recovery boilers, condenser chiller, oil and gas transmission pipelines, mining equipment, and water and waste-water systems.
As a consulting engineer, he has extensive experience in the areas of product liability, cause and origin investigation, patent infringement, litigation and arbitration. He has provided expert testimony in the United States, Canada, Europe and Latin America. Mr. Nalbandian has also lectured at local and national engineering conferences, seminars and meetings.
Nalbandian serves on major Committees for various Standard and Code writing organizations. He has extensive experience in the interpretation of Codes and Standards of the ASME, ASTM, AWS, API, ABS, NACE, NFPA and ISO. He is a registered professional engineer in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
Ara Nalbandian received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and holds an M.S. degree in Industrial Management from the University of Rhode Island.
Cary Franklin is Vice President of Engineering Services. He is responsible for marketing the existing services of Thielsch Engineering and developing and implementing new engineering services and programs.
Mr. Franklin was previously employed by the Georgia-Pacific Corporation where he served as the Director of Engineering, Training, Maintenance, and Automation for G-P Corporation. He also coordinated the Chemical Division’s Capital Spending program, developed a long-term automation strategy for all plants, and implemented a Mechanical Integrity program across the company.
Additionally, Mr. Franklin developed and managed projects in G-P’s Pulp and Paper Group and the Resins Division, serving as Director and Manager on the initial corporate task force for the implementation of Process Safety Management. Prior employment included Olin Chemicals in the United States and abroad in various capacities.
Mr. Franklin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University and is a member of Tau Beta Pi Honorary Engineering Fraternity.
Ray Morris is the Director of Human Resources. In that capacity, he is responsible for developing policies and programs which provide an employee-focused, high performance culture. His main areas of responsibility include organizational planning and development, regulatory compliance, recruiting and staffing, performance management, employee communications, compensation, benefits, safety and employee services and counseling.
Morris has more than 30 years of experience in various administration and human resource operations including time spent with the U.S. Army and the American Red Cross. He has a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Salve Regina University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Roger Williams University.
John J. Goetz is a Metallurgical Engineer at Thielsch Engineering responsible for the operation of the Metallurgical and Mechanical Testing Laboratory, which provides a broad range of metallurgical and materials evaluation, mechanical testing and related analytical services.
He has over 30 years of experience in laboratory testing of engineering materials, equipment and components. This includes the solution of manufacturing and fabrication problems of specialty materials. He has performed process analyses and evaluations involving ferrous and non-ferrous metals, precious metals, and electrical ceramics. Other experiences included financial analysis and cost determinations, quality improvement and product development. He has served as a consultant to industrial plants in the United States and in foreign countries where he provided expertise in cost savings, process and quality improvement, ISO 9000 compliant quality systems, and reduction of excess capacity.
Other specific areas of expertise include trouble shooting with strip and wire products, composite materials, castings, stampings and weldments. Special experiences include failure analysis, reverse engineering, dealing with raw material issues, product development, solving manufacturing process problems, and product qualification testing.
Mr. Goetz has a B.S. in Metallurgy and Material Science from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from Rutgers University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in New Jersey, certified as a Manufacturing Engineer by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and in Integrated Resource Management by APICS. Additionally, he has given expert testimony and authored and co-authored several technical papers.