Abremski began his career as an engineer with the Department of Defense (DOD), which led to startup opportunities in the growing consumer WiFi market, and eventually to Qualcomm, where he collaborated with wireless carriers and industry partners to launch
nationwide data services. He then became a founder and startup executive, focusing on wireless technologies in markets ranging from consumer to enterprise, to Software as a Service (SAAS) and healthcare. Over the past three years, Abremski has been an active mentor in the National Science Foundation sponsored Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program at the Jacobs School’s von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center, a key program within the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur. The von Liebig center has become renowned for engaging experienced business advisors who have successfully mentored faculty, students, and post graduate scholars who want to see their inventions commercialized for the public good.

Jimmy’s role as a mentor to many chief procurement officers and emerging professionals in the field of supply chain management earned him the Institute of Supply Chain Management’s (ISM) J. Shipman Award, ISM's highest honor bestowed on an individual.

After studying mechanical engineering at École Nationale Supérieure d'arts et Métiers in Paris and Stanford University in California, Jean-Francois began his career as a Research Engineer in 1981 in his native France. He then spent two years as Operations Manager for oilfield services giant Schlumberger moving on to lead the Supply Chain for the PC Division at Hewlett-Packard from 1984 until 1994.

Jean-Francois became Procurement Director at Compaq in 1994 where he worked under the direct leadership of Apple CEO Tim Cook, before being hired into Nokia Corporation in 1999 as Senior Vice President and CPO.

Under his leadership, Nokia’s supply chain was recognized in 2007 by AMR Research as the best in the world. Jean-Francois also won a 2010 EIPM-Peter Kraljic Award for Excellence for Organisation of the Year.

Dan’s career spans nearly 30 years leading procurement, sourcing and supply chain management systems across several industries. Most recently, he served as Chief Procurement Officer of Schneider Electric, and, prior to that, he held various leadership roles at ABB Ltd., leading both companies’ multi-billion-dollar procurement programs.

Dan was awarded 2023 CPO of the Year from the World Procurement Awards and he helped lead Schneider Electric to various industry awards, including the top spot on the Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2023 and the Environmental and Social Impact Award and Supply Chain Initiative Award at the 2022 World Procurement Awards. He also serves as an Advisory Board Member for several organizations, including World 50 Group’s Procurement Leaders, business sustainability ratings provider EcoVadis, and the University of California’s Institute for Supply Chain Excellence and Innovation.

Dan earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in production operations management from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and an Executive MBA from the Institute for Management Development.

Fernández de Castro is founder and former chair of the Department of International Studies at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) in Mexico City. He has published numerous academic articles and written several books, including “Contemporary U.S.- Latin American Relations: Cooperation or Conflict in the 21st Century?” and “The United States and Mexico: Between Partnership and Conflict” with Jorge Domínguez.

He also worked as the Project Director of the UNDP’s Human Development Report for Latin America 2013-14, “Citizen Security With a Human Face: Evidence and Proposals for Latin America.” He is the founder and editor of Foreign Affairs Latin America and contributes to the daily newspaper El Financiero and a regular contributor to Televisa.

His current research includes a book on leadership and decision-making in Mexican foreign policy and he serves as a principal investigator along with Professor Jenny Pearce from the London School of Economics for the project “Co-constructing Security Provision in Mexico: A Methodology and Action Plan from Communities to the State”. The project, funded by Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology and the UK’s the Economic and Social Research Council, works with community, civil society and state actors to build shared understandings of the differential impacts of violence, insecurity and security provision to develop local security agendas constructed from the ground up in four cities severely affected by violence: Tijuana, Apatzingán, Acapulco and Guadalupe.

Before her role at GPS, she served as the global director of Trade, Investment, and Competitiveness at the World Bank, and has held a variety of other senior positions at the institution. She began her career at Federal Reserve Board, was a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and has worked at the IMF. Her research, published in leading academic journals, focuses on explaining trade patterns and the effects of trade policy and regional agreements. Her book Rich People Poor Countries: The Rise of Emerging Market Tycoons and their Mega Firms, received high praise in the Economist and Financial Times.

Shahid brings more than 25 years of procurement leadership and supply chain expertise across multiple industries and geographies. Prior to joining Aimbridge, he was Chief Procurement Officer at TIAA, a global financial services firm. He was JLL’s Global Chief Procurement Officer, transforming the global sourcing and procurement function with a combined purchasing power of over $30 billion, implementing category management and utilizing data analytics and technology-based solutions for the commercial real estate services firm. Shahid was BP’s Chief Procurement Officer for the U.S. onshore business, managing a multi-billion dollar annual third party spend.

Shahid has a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and an MBA and MS in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Stanford University
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Prior to joining UC San Diego in 2006, Ted held the position of Director of Global Integrated Supply Chain at Sony Electronics and Director of Procurement at Hitachi Home Electronics, which included international assignments in Japan and Mexico. After receiving his BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Ted was awarded a fellowship from the Japanese Ministry of Education to pursue his Master’s degree in International Business Management at the University of Tsukuba.

Gaurav grew up in India, and majored in Economics at the University of Delhi. He received his MSc in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford, and PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining UC San Diego, Gaurav was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C. and a consultant for the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Unit.

You can learn more about him at the UCSD GPS faculty webpage: https://gps.ucsd.edu/faculty-directory/gaurav-khanna.html, or on his own personal website: http://www.econgaurav.com/

Mr. Linton spent 20 years at IBM, developing and founding several world-wide trading and technical centers. After leaving IBM, Mr. Linton helped found E2Open, Inc., a supply chain software company. He has served as chief procurement officer of Agere Systems, Freescale Semiconductor and as executive vice president and chief procurement officer at LG Electronics.

Mr. Linton is a widely recognized expert on procurement and supply chain and was honored with the Institute of Supply Management’s prestigious J. Shipman Gold Medal in 2019 and the Life Time Achievement Award from the Procurement Leaders Organization at the World Procurement Congress in 2017. In 2015 Mr. Linton received Procurement Leaders award on Global Risk Management.

He is a former chair of the Institute of Supply Management which issues the monthly Report on Business® and the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI®). He recently co-authored “The Living Supply Chain; The Evolving Imperative of Operating in Real Time”, currently a leading book on Supply Chain Management. His many articles and talks on supply chain management have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Supply Chain Management Review, Inside Supply Management, Supply Chain Management Review and The Procurement Leaders Quarterly.

In 2017 Mr. Linton was inducted into the Chief Procurement Officers Hall of Fame. Also in 2017 he received Gartner’s Supply Chain Innovator Award for “flex Pulse”, an industry leading real-time digital supply chain information system.

In 2018, the Financial Times of London recognized Mr. Linton with its Intelligent Business Award as one of the “Top Ten People Globally Directing Technology to Change the way business is Done”.

Recently, The Economist Magazine featured Mr. Linton in its July 2019 Supply Chain feature on global risks. Mr. Linton is the holder of several key supply chain patents the digital monitoring and collecting of supplier information over the Internet and he has six additional patents pending with the US Patent Office.

Along with living over 25 years in Asia, Mr. Linton has served as a Vice President of the Chinese Relief and Development Foundation in Chengdu, China. CRDF is a humanitarian organization founded as a result of the devastating earthquakes that have struck the Sichuan Region.

Mr. Linton currently serves as a Senior Advisor at Mckinsey and Company as well as Project 44 , 09 Solutions , Trade Capital Corporation, Regrello, Breville and Lutron. He also served as an independent board member of Sierra Wireless (SWIR) for two years prior to its sale to Semtech Corp. in 2022.

Mr. Linton’s current book “Flow – How the Best Supply Chains Thrive was released in late 2022.

Most recently, The Harvard Business Review magazine on AI in the January/February 2025 edition featured Mr. Linton’s co-authored article on “How Generative AI Improves Supply Chain Management”.

His current company Linton Advisors LLC consults broadly on supply chain and procurement and operates out of Virginia where he resides with his wife Dr. Cheryl Linton.

Previously, as the Director of Business Operations Intelligence at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sean led a multi-group operational analytics team dedicated to enhancing the predictability, efficiency, agility, and resiliency of global operations. His team provided meaningful, consistent, and connected insights by implementing advanced analytics and enterprise data strategies across a diverse data ecosystem.

Sean has a proven track record of building and leading successful supply chain analytics teams. He has driven inventory reductions of over $200 million through advanced insights and optimized business productivity via factory optimization analytics. Additionally, he has developed scalable and robust business tools that empower decision-making across standard business processes.

With extensive experience in operations leadership, Sean has successfully managed factory transitions, spearheaded global improvement campaigns, and overseen supply planning and scheduling teams. He has conducted S&OP for executive leadership, translating production strategy into actionable plans on the shop floor and within ERP systems. Sean also leads the development and implementation of business process automation tools, ensuring an efficient and effective supply chain.

In all his roles, Sean is committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences, optimizing operational financials, and fostering high employee engagement. He is passionate about driving success through operational insights, data-driven decision-making, and leading high-performing teams with a clear vision.
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Past Highlights: Mark’s executive roles in multinational companies spanned industries like electronics, industrial manufacturing, pharma, and enterprise software. Some names include: IBM, Celestica, ABB, Corning, Dassault Systemes.

Within these companies Mark oversaw business functions including category management, supply chain excellence, M&A integration, engineering services, JDM outsourcing, solution architecture, customer pricing & proposals, value engineering and product development lab.

In the first half of his career, Mark setup several multi-billion dollar supply chain service companies around the world including Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Switzerland.

Recent: In last 10 years with emergence of Web 3, Mark has embraced blockchain & AI technologies as enablement for new business models - orchestrated adoption into sustainable convergent systems which create private & public sector value.

Mark enjoys teaching and mentorship. Currently Mark is BitAngels Zug City Leader and holds several advisory roles including: Nature Centred.org, AI Value Protocol, Smart City Council, ISEI.

Multi-disciplinary practitioner in value chain transformation and ecosystem building.

Advisory

• BitAngels City Leader
• AI Value Protocol
• NatureCentred.Org
• Smart Cities Council
• Thoughtwire

Past Setups & Transformations

• Supply Services
• Electronics trading
• Web 3 development
• Staking & Validation
• Factory automation
• W3 investment club
• Senior living - peace of mind
• E-reading
• Pharma / drug dev’t
• Vehicle charging

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Prior to joining JWO, Hardy spend 4 years at Amazon Business, most recently as the Sr. Leader for US Commercial Sales, with a focus on FinServ, Retail, Industrials, and CPG organizations. Prior to joining Amazon, Hardy led business development efforts at Office Depot/OfficeMax in a variety of roles across all verticals in Private and Public sector business.

Hardy, his wife Danielle and two children live in Washington, DC.

Steve also served as Chief Procurement Officer at Disney, where he supported marketing, IT, corporate services, facilities and many other functional areas. He helped open Hong Kong Disneyland and launched global sourcing and procurement teams in India and China, as well as leading a team that managed corporate facilities in Los Angeles, New York, London, Mumbai, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong and elsewhere. As Chief Supply Chain Officer at P.F. Chang’s in Scottsdale, AZ, he was responsible for sourcing, distribution, food safety and facility management across over 400 US P.F. Chang’s and Pei Wei locations. Steve’s responsibilities have included improving internal client services and managing $500 million to over $10 billion in annual supplier spend, plus over 7 million square feet of office space. He has consistently helped companies save money while improving the quality and timeliness of goods and services received. Prior to Steve’s procurement and supply chain career, he worked for ten years in the IT industry, developing, deploying and supporting supply chain technologies that enabled achievement of more effective and efficient processes – skills that he continues to leverage today.

Recent research focuses on regional economic growth in China and its relationship to foreign trade and investment. He has addressed economic reform in Chinese cities, trade and trade disputes between China and the United States and economic interactions among China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Naughton has written the authoritative textbook “The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth,” which has now been translated into Chinese. His groundbreaking book “Growing Out of the Plan: Chinese Economic Reform, 1978-1993” received the Ohira Memorial Prize, and he most recently translated, edited and annotated a collection of articles by the well-known Chinese economist Wu Jinglian. Naughton writes a quarterly analysis of the Chinese economy for China Leadership Monitor.
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Under Jeff's visionary leadership, UC San Diego has become a trailblazer in integrating cutting-edge technologies into retail operations. He has successfully implemented three Amazon Just Walk Out Markets, with two more under construction, pioneering this technology in the university sector.

A dedicated educator, Dr. Shin has been honored with numerous teaching accolades, including the Chairs' Core Course Teaching Award at Kellogg, a distinguished teaching award and outstanding faculty teaching award from the university, 14 Excellence in Teaching awards, and eight Most Valuable Professor awards at UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management.

Prior to joining the Rady School, Dr. Shin was an Assistant Professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Dr. Shin earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, a M.S. in Statistics from the University of Chicago and an M.S. in Management Engineering and B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Professor Wade’s objective is to ensure that research is conducted and curriculum is developed in systems engineering that will have the greatest impact on addressing the critical challenges that face our global society and nation. As such, his focus has been two-fold. First, it is to guide and inspire the overall field of systems engineeri
research. The second is to lead research in the area of systems engineering education which has the greatest possible impact due to the multiplier effect of reaching the most students and practitioners in the field.

Jon Wade is a professor of practice at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California at San Diego where he is currently designing transdisciplinary education and research programs oriented around the fundamental principles of contemporary closed-loop systems engineering design. Previously, Dr. Wade was a research professor in the School of Systems and Enterprises at the Stevens Institute of Technology where he also served as the chief technology officer of the Syst Engineering Research Center (SERC) UARC. His industrial experience includes serving as executive vice president of Engineering at International Game Technology (IGT), senior director of Enterprise Server Development at Sun Microsystems and director of Advanced System Development at Thinking Machines Corporation. Wade received his S.B., S.M., E.E. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As the Founder of WCG, Helen provides C-level mentorship and coaching, delivers keynote speeches, and facilitates leadership workshops for global companies.

At UC San Diego, she contributes to curriculum development, serves on the board of the Institute for Supply Chain Excellence & Innovation, and teaches courses at the Rady School of Management, including "Leading with Emotional Intelligence" and "Innovation to Market."

Helen is also the Founder  and CEO of Oceanside Perspective, a 501(c)(3)
non-profit that produces educational content, sharing authentic stories from
business leaders, tech innovators, and entrepreneurs to inspire future generations.

Her research interests lie primarily in machine learning, especially for large-scale spatiotemporal data. She is particularly excited about AI for scientific discovery. She has won Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), DARPA Young Faculty Award, ECASE Award, NSF CAREER Award, Hellman Fellowship, Faculty Awards from JP Morgan, Meta, Google, Amazon, and Adobe, several Best Paper Awards, Best Dissertation Award at USC. She was named as MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 in AI.

Susanna has more than 20 years of supply chain management, manufacturing, strategic sourcing and business transformation experience across multiple industries. Prior to Bath & Body Works, Susanna led the end-to-end Supply Chain and Manufacturing Operations and held the position of Chief Procurement Officer for The Hershey Company. Prior to Hershey, Susanna held positions of increasing responsibility at PepsiCo Inc and United Technologies Corporation.

Susanna has a Bachelor’s degree in International Finance from Shandong Institute of Economics (China), an MBA from the University of San Diego; and is a graduate from the General Management Program (GMP) from Harvard Business School. 

Zhu currently serves on the Board of Institute of Supply Management (ISM), BalletMet, and the Institute for Supply Chain Excellence & Innovation at UC San Diego.