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Management
Team
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William G.
Klehm III President
and CEO
Director
Bill Klehm brings over 20 years of automotive-related experience
to Fallbrook Technologies Inc. (Fallbrook). With numerous leadership
positions in the automotive business, including finance, marketing,
sales, product development, and manufacturing operations, he
has a proven track record of leading and growing successful
organizations. Most recently, Bill served as President and
general manager of Newgen Results Corporation, an automotive
customer relationship management firm. During his three-year
tenure, Newgen’s revenue and profit grew from $60 million
to over $108 million and $6 million to over $15 million respectively.
Prior to joining Newgen, Bill served as President and SBU director
for Visteon Climate Control Systems. He was instrumental in
developing and launching Visteon’s $1 billion Aftermarket
Division. Bill started his career with Ford Motor Company in
1985 and held a variety of posts within the Ford Customer Service
Division where he was responsible for developing and executing
the marketing/growth strategy for the $5 billion customer service
parts business.
Bill holds a B.A. in Management and Marketing from Northwood
University and also participated in the Executive Development
Program at Harvard University. |
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Donald
C. Miller Founder
and Vice President, Advanced Research
Director
Don Miller has developed and patented numerous practical inventions,
including the NuVinci™
technology developed for Fallbrook. Over the past
several years he has worked almost exclusively on the development
and refinement of the proprietary technology for continuously
variable transmissions and linear drive systems
.
Prior to his work with Fallbrook, Don owned a real estate sales
and mortgage company and founded Homes For America, a not-for-profit
company that rehabilitates housing for low to moderate-income
earners and first time homebuyers. An avid cyclist, Don created
a faster bicycle which included the initial design of Fallbrook’s
continuously variable transmission.
Don holds a B.A. from San Diego State University. |
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Alan M. Nordin
Vice President, Sales and Business
Development
Al Nordin has 20 years of successful sales, product development,
and business development experience in the automotive industry,
both in the US and international markets. Prior to joining Fallbrook,
Al served as Vice President of Sales for Newgen Results Corporation,
an automotive customer relationship management firm. While at
Newgen, Al managed a sales group of over 100 people, and was
instrumental in building company sales from $60 to $108 million
over a three-year period. During that period, Al grew Newgen’s
automotive dealer base by over 35%.
Al’s previous experience also includes service as Division Manager of Global Aftermarket
Operations for Visteon Corporation and global sales/marketing
roles at Federal-Mogul and Echlin Inc.
Al holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Western Michigan
University. |
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Jeffery A.
Birchak Vice
President of Intellectual Property
Jeff Birchak is an intellectual property (IP) attorney specializing in IP portfolio development strategy and management as well as patent defense and enforcement strategies. Prior to joining Fallbrook, Jeff practiced at the law firm Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP.
Previously, Jeff served as a nuclear engineering instructor in the U.S. Navy submarine force, and
worked as a program engineer for AlliedSignal Corporation.
Jeff holds a B.S.E. cum laude in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University and a J.D. cum laude from California Western School of Law where he was the managing editor of the California Western Law Review and the California Western International Law Journal. He is a member of the State Bar of California and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and the Supreme Court of the United States. |
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Robert A.
Smithson Vice
President of Product Development
Rob Smithson is an author of several publications in the area
of motor vehicle transmissions with over 16 years of engineering
and management experience in the automotive, aerospace, and
robotics fields. Prior to joining Fallbrook, Rob served as the
group leader of the Drivetrain Design & Development Group for The Southwest
Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas.
Rob's career includes serving as a product development engineer for The Ford Motor Company
in Dearborn, Michigan. He also was Vice President of Robot Design and a co-founder of ARM
Automation, Inc., and worked as a spaceflight hardware engineer for the McDonnell-Douglas
Astronautics Company. Rob was the first to recognize that the NuVinci variator was
kinematically equivalent to a variable ratio planetary gearset, hence the term
"Continuously Variable Planetary" or CVP.
Rob holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University and an M.S.
in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Additionally,
he holds an Executive M.S. in Science & Technology Commercialization (named Kozmetzsky
Scholar and Outstanding Graduate) from the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. |
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Donald W. Sparkman
Vice President of Operations
Don Sparkman has over 30 years experience in leading strategic initiatives, joint ventures, and P&L responsibility at Ford Motor Company. Prior to joining Fallbrook, Don was the executive director, North American sales planning & distribution for Ford.
Don previously held numerous other senior management positions at Ford including Director of
National Franchising and Business Development for Lincoln Mercury, Executive Vice President
for Marketing and Sales for the Percepta Joint Venture, Regional Manager for the Lincoln Mercury
and Ford Customer Service Divisions, and Media and Diversity Advertising Manager, Ford Division.
Among Don's many accomplishments during his career was leading the successful implementation of
a comprehensive $160 million business processing reengineering effort to develop world-class ordering, scheduling, and production planning systems for franchised distributors and assembly plants in North America. Additionally, he led a comprehensive strategic initiative in California that
returned the Lincoln Mercury brand to profitability in that market within two years.
Don holds a BS, Business Management from Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
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David W.
Markley Director
of Engineering
Prior to joining Fallbrook, David worked for BAE Systems where
he led the award winning Low Cost Precision Kill laser-guided
missile development project. Previously, as a rotating machinery
consultant with Radian International and Mechanical & Materials
Engineering, he was the program manager for Datalert™
which provided engineering & maintenance services to 120
plants in the utility, chemical, and petrochemical industries.
While working for General Dynamics Fighter Aircraft Division,
David provided analytical and test support for the F-16, YF-22,
and other military aircraft.
David has a B.S. and Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering
from Auburn University and is a registered Professional Engineer
(PE) and Project Management Professional (PMP). |
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Nicole T.
Nicks
Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer & Assistant Secretary
Nicole Nicks has over 12 years of accounting, financial reporting
and SEC filing experience. She has worked in various industries
such as database management and customer retention, real estate
investment trust, home building & land developing, healthcare, public sector-enterprise fund, manufacturing, and not-for-profit organizations.
Immediately prior to joining Fallbrook, Nicole worked as an
independent consultant specializing in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
Previously, she served as Controller for Newgen Results Corporation
where she helped support the company’s revenue growth from $60
million to $108 million in 2003. Nicole also served as Senior
Audit Accountant for the San Diego office of Deloitte & Touche, LLP.
Nicole holds a Business Administration/Accounting degree magna
cum laude from San Diego State University’s Honors Business
Program. She is a California Certified Public Accountant. |
Executive Consultants & Advisors
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Barry F.
Berkov
Business and Marketing Strategy Consultant
Barry Berkov is an independent consultant with over 30 years of senior executive and consulting experience who
currently specializes in assisting start-up and early stage companies. He assists Fallbrook with overall business
strategy, marketing and public relations planning, infrastructure requirements, and general management
consulting. He also provides support for the development of Company’s financing and investor communication
documents and directs the management of the Company’s website.
Barry has provided a wide range of consulting services to clients including major corporations, small
technology ventures, and venture capital firms. After relocating to San Diego in 1999, he was the
President and COO of boxLot, an Internet startup and subsequently served as the interim General Manager
of SignOnSanDiego, the website of the San Diego Union Tribune. Previously, Barry spent nearly 20
years at CompuServe. As the Executive Vice President of the CompuServe Information Service, he
grew revenue from $97M to $393M over a four year period.
Earlier in his career, he worked in various analyst and managerial capacities for Xerox Corporation.
Barry holds a B.A. in Government from Pomona College and an MBA from The University of Dallas.
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John J. Pagliaro
Marketing and Branding Consultant
John. Pagliaro is a nationally recognized marketing and branding expert with 25+ years experience
managing technology, business to business and business to consumer programs for companies ranging
from early-stage startups to global, Fortune 100 corporations. John assists Fallbrook with ongoing
marketing and branding related assignments and assists in the direction of public relations
activities. In conjunction with Terry Hogelucht, an independent graphic designer with whom he
works regularly, John created the Fallbrook logo as well as the look and feel of the Company’s printed
materials and website. John also was personally responsible for creating the NuVinci™ name for the
Company’s technology.
John previously was the founder and co-owner of Pagliaro/Kuhlman, a San Jose-headquartered advertising
agency. His strategic positioning and branding work for companies like Sun Microsystems, NCR (NCR Tower),
Memorex, SyQuest, Siemens, Symantec/Norton, and Toshiba garnered international recognition and won many
industry awards. John relocated to San Diego in 2000 where he served as the Executive
Vice President of Advertising for the Townsend Agency before subsequently becoming an independent consultant.
He holds a B.A. in Communications/ Advertising from the California State University, Fullerton. |
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