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Our People
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Us > Our People
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(Note:
Page position does not refer to senority or tenure.)
 Joe
R. Bekker, B.S.M.E.
- President
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- Joe R. Bekker is the founder and President of Thrustmaster
of Texas, Inc. Joe is a graduate of the University of Amsterdam
in the Netherlands, holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering. He is a member of the Society of Naval Architects
and Marine Engineers (SNAME) and the American Society of Naval
Engineers (ASNE).
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 Shaw
X. Dou, B.S.M.E., M.S.M.E., Ph.D.
- V.P. Engineering
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- Dr. Shaw X. Dou, is a specialist in geared power transmissions
and holds both a B.S. and M.S. from Jiao Tong University in Shanghai,
China, and a Ph.D. from Tennessee Technological University, all
in Mechanical Engineering. Shaw has been designing cyclo-palloid
and rotational gear transmissions and sub-systems for marine
thrusters at Thrustmaster for more than 10 years. She is a member
of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
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 Jim
Jennings, B.Sc.M.E.
- General Manager
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- As the General Manager of Thrustmaster Jim brings over 30
years diverse management experience. Originally from the United
Kingdom Jim has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering
from Newcastle upon Tyne University. Jim has over 25 years experience
in subsea, offshore and marine industries and came to America
15 years ago while working with Coflexip Stena Offshore (now
Technip) as the General Manger for it's umbilical plant. Jim
also worked with Cameron Subsea Systems. While a Senior Project
Manager for Noble Drilling Jim ordered fourteen Thrustmaster
TH3000ML thrusters before joining the Thrustmaster leadership
team.
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 Adam
P. Jost, B.Sc.E.E.
- Production Manager - Project Manager
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- Adam Jost brings a wealth of project management experience
for manufacturing equipment, controls, and industrial electrical
systems. Adam earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas
A&M University and has extensive knowledge of project planning,
execution and management. Adam Jost is assigned to manage Production
Operations along with a broad range of projects involving Thrustmaster's
marine propulsion equipment. Adam is a member of the Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
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 Robert,
Cook
- Manufacturing Manager
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- With more than 28 years experience as both a materials and
plant manager, Bob Cook is now Thrustmaster's Manufacturing Manager.
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 Fred
Brasher
- Service Manager
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- Fred Brasher has over 25 years combined maintenance and service
related experience, including 18 years as certified machinist
and as a field service technician in the heavy industrial equipment
industries as well as six years as a Field Service Engineer with
Thrustmaster. Fred Brasher is in charge of managing Thrustmaster's
service department as well as handling customer requests for
service, repairs and rebuilds.
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 Norm
Waters
- Facilities Manager
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- With a Canadian background Norm brings over a quarter century
of experience in managing and lead positions in maintenance,
facility operations / relocation, and on the manufacturing floor.
Norm has worked for Thrustmaster for several years and was instrumental
in filling various roles during Thrustmaster’s continuous
growth. Norm is also an experienced pilot and owns his own airplane.
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 Bert
Ault
- International Sales Manager
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- Bert has more than thirty years experience in sales of engineered
capital equipment all over the world and travels extensively
to visit customers anywhere in the world. In addition to
direct sales Bert is manager of the Sales and Marketing departments
and frequently heads up entertainment and socials for the company.
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 Rick
Stinson
- Southeast Sales Manager
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- Rick Stinson has over twenty years experience in marine propulsion.
After leaving the U.S.
Army as a missile technician, Rick started in production
at Halter Marine's fiberglass boat facility in Pearlington, MS,
rising to quality control manager and later to general manager.
Rick is the Southeast Sales Manager for Thrustmaster, and covers
the U.S. Gulf Coast including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Texas.
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 Y.
B. Tan
- General Manager, Asia Pacific – Thrustmaster Asia
Pacific Pte Ltd
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- Y. B. is a Singaporean and a trained Marine Engineer with
higher academic qualification in Sales & Marketing as well
as Financial Management. He joined Thrustmaster in 2008 and brought
with him more than 20 years of working experience in the marine
& offshore market in the region. Y.B. is responsible for
the daily operation of the office in Singapore to provide better
service and support to our valued customers in the Asia Pacific
region.
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 Jack
Chancellor, B.A.
- U.S. Sales Manager
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- Jack achieved his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration
at Nicholls State University in 1973 and brings more than 30
years of experience in managing substantial business commitments
and sales to major industrial, marine, and offshore customers.
He was Sales Manager 2000 to 2009 for Schottel Inc. in
St. Rose. La. responsible for development and maintenance of
customer base in the Americas. From 1981 to 1988 Jack worked
with Wartsila Diesel, Inc New Orleans, La. with regional sales
responsibility for the Southeastern United States and also held
other General and Branch management positions involving various
diesel marine engines, oil field and marine supplies and equipment.
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 Simon
de Koning
Sales Manager Asia - Thrustmaster Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.
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- Simon de Koning is a Dutch native and studied Mechanical
Engineering (MechE). After graduation he first worked as a Field
Service Engineer in the Packaging Industry which included worldwide
installations and services. With a history of shipbuilders in
his family it did not take long for him to become a Project Manager
afterwards with a shipyard in The Netherlands, managing rebuilds
and conversions of vessels worldwide. At Thrustmaster, Simon
is responsible for the Sales activities in South East Asia. His
activities take place from Thrustmaster Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
in Singapore.
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 Wim
La Maitre, B.Sc.M.E.
General Manager, Thrustmaster do Brasil Ltda.
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- Wim La Maitre has 25 year experience in marine propulsion
and propulsor-engine interaction, with experience both in engineering
and sales of complex propulsion solutions. He has a Bachelor
of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from HTS Tilburg
in the Netherlands with additional training in marine hydrodynamics
from Marin, the Netherlands.
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 André
Araujo, B.Sc.M.E.
- Sales Manager, Thrustmaster do Brasil Ltda.
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- André is a brazilian native with over 14 years working
experience in both sales and service of marine propulsion systems.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from
PUC Rio, Brazil, with additional MBA courses in Marketing from
IAG PUC Rio and Service Management from FGV Rio. Prior to joining
Thrustmaster André worked for Volvo Penta, Cummins and
Voith.
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 Walter
Leenes, B.Sc.M.E.
- Sales Manager Europe - Senior Mechanical Design Engineer
- ICE Class Vessels
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- Walter Leenes is a Dutch native with more than 20 years experience
in the design and manufacturing of rotating machinery and marine
propulsion systems. Walter has 10 years experience in the design,
manufacture, and installation of azimuthing thrusters including
design of cyclo-palloid right-angle gear transmission systems
in accordance with major marine classification society rules.
Walter earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
from HTS Rotterdam in the Netherlands and has completed hydraulic
systems design course as well as the Klingelnberg gear design
course in Zurich, Switzerland. At Thrustmaster, Walter Leenes
specializes in the design of azimuthing thrusters used in ice
class applications.
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 Kendall
Baudoin, BBA
- Sales Manager - Government/Military Accounts
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- Kendall has a Bachelors degree in Business Administration
from Loyola University New Orleans and studied small craft naval
architecture at Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology. Kendall
has over 20 years experience in sales, marketing, and public
relations, in addition to over 17 years serving the U.S. Navy
and U.S. Navy Reserves. At Thrustmaster, Kendall Baudoin is responsible
for military and government sales worldwide.
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 Paul
Martin, B.Sc., Manufacturing Engineering
- Quality Manager
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- Paul has over 20 years of shipbuilding
experience with General Dynamics, Electric Boat, building fast
attack and ballistic missile submarines for the U.S. Navy He
was selected as Six Sigma Champion for General Dynamics leading
the six sigma black belt program. Paul served for 3 years on
the United States Department of Defense Joint Government and
Industry Council. He has served 3 years on The National Association
of Corrosion Engineers, Technical Committee T-11 (NACE). He is
also a member of the Society Of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and
American Society for Quality (ASQ). Paul holds undergraduate
degrees in Manufacturing Engineering and Management Science.
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 Ira
Woods
- Quality Control Manager
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- With over 20 years experience in rotating equipment and over
13 years experience as a Certified Lead Auditor, Ira brings to
Thrustmaster a wealth of experience. Ira has numerous certifications
in Non-Destructive Testing including Level II ultrasonic as well
as magnetic particle and liquid penetrant procedures. In his
position as Quality Control Manager, Ira is responsible for maintaining
day-to-day quality procedures throughout the company, supervision
of the quality control inspectors, as well as monitoring strict
adherence to the Thrustmaster ISO-9001:2000 quality program.
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 Jason
D. Small, B.Sc. Marine Engineering
- Engineering Manager
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- Jason Small is a graduate of Texas A&M University and
holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Engineering. Prior
to coming to Thrustmaster, Jason conducted research in dynamic
positioning control logic and served aboard ship for Kirby Inland
Marine as a member of the deck department holding a U.S. Coast
Guard master's license for near coastal motor vessels. Jason
is responsible for the overall management of work flow through
the engineering department as well as design of hydraulic and
electrical power transmission systems.
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 Babu
Sridharala, Ph.D.
- Engineering Supervisor
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- Dr. Sridharala has a doctorate in mechanical engineering
from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he conducted
research on product optimization and Finite Element Analysis
(FEA). Babu's undergraduate education was in mechanical engineering
at the Bapatla Engineering College in Southern India before earning
a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Tennessee Technical
University. Since joining Thrustmaster, Dr. Sridharala has enhanced
the expertise of the engineering department particularly in the
areas of solid and 3-D modeling, shock analysis, and FEA where
he has been widely published. Babu Sridharala is a member of
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Society
for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (SAMPE),
and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
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 Venkat
Mudupu, Ph.D.
- Design Engineer
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- Venkat Mudupu is a specialist in design of control systems
for dynamic applications including programmable logic controllers
for both marine and aerospace applications. Dr. Mudupu has a
doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas, where he conducted research on feedback control, adaptive
and fuzzy logic, and non-linear control systems. Dr. Mudupu is
responsible for design and implementation of both analog and
digital thruster control systems.
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 Yonghee
Lee, M.Sc.M.E.
- Design Engineer
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- Yonghee Lee hails from Seoul, Korea, where he earned a Bachelor
of Science in machine design from Sungkyunkwan University's College
of Science and Engineering before working as an engineer for
Hyundai's automotive division. Mr. Lee then decided to pursue
a Master of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University,
graduating with honors. At Thrustmaster, Mr. Lee is responsible
for the design of mechanical power transmission systems including
3-D modeling of thruster components and systems.
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 Phani
K. Bolloju, M.Sc.M.E.
- Hydraulic Systems Design Engineer
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- Phani Bolloju comes to Thrustmaster's engineering team with
diversified hydraulic systems design experience including the
design and development of hydraulic tools for rail maintenance
and the designing and prototyping hydraulic systems for heavy
off-road machinery equipment for Caterpillar, Inc. Phani earned
a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Osmania
University in India prior to completing his Master of Mechanical
Engineering at the University of Kentucky. Phani Bolloju is responsible
for the design of hydraulic power systems both for marine propulsion
and motive auxiliary power for thruster functionality.
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 Matt
Noble, B.Sc.M.E.
- Mechanical Design Engineer
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- Matt Noble earned a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering
from Texas A&M University prior to joining Thrustmaster's
engineering team. Matt has experience in designing ocean structures
such as spar rigs and the testing of effects of wave dynamics.
Matt Noble currently supports the engineering department through
the automation of manufacturing and engineering resource planning.
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 Arthi Vasudevan,
M.S.E.E
Electrical Engineer
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- Before joining the Thrustmaster team Arthi worked with Terex
Mining and was involved in the design of Electrical schematics
and induction motors. She earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree
in Electrical Engineering in India prior to completing her Masters
Degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Kentucky.
At Thrustmaster Arthi is responsible for design and implementation
of analog and digital thruster control systems. She is a member
of Society of Women Engineers (SWE).
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- Louis
James, (Jim) Levy
- Drafting Manager
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- Jim Levy has overseen the engineering design graphics department
at Thrustmaster for over 12 years. Jim is a graduate of the Maryland
Drafting Institute in Springfield, Virginia, and has earned various
certifications in mechanical and architectural drafting as well
as completing advanced training in AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Geometric
Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T), and the design of hydraulic
fluid power systems.
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 Robert Dushek,
B.S., M.E.
- Project Manager
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- Robert has over 28 years in Mechanical Engineering Experience.
As a Senior Engineer and 5 year stint as VP of Engineering with
over 30 patents in diesel emission and filtration technology,
Robert has designed marine power systems for CAT, Detroit Diesel,
Scania, Volvo, Yanmar, etc.. engine manufacturers to meet ISO
and EPA Tier 1 through Tier V standards. He managed technical
and financial business development for newly patented technologies
that included power production by turbine, wind, solar, and fuel
cell technologies, fuel development of alternative fuels including,
natural gas, ethanol, and hydrogen systems, and energy storage
using battery, flywheel and Tesla breakthrough technologies.
Robert also held Chair positions in ASHRAE, ISO, CARB, EAU, JIS,
and EPA.
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 Kenner Adams,
B.S.Mfg.E.
- Special Projects Manager
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- Kenner Adams is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University
and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Manufacturing/Industrial
Engineering and is a member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
He has experience in material testing, quality control, manufacturing
process improvements, and fixture and product design. Kenner
is responsible for managing and planning Thrustmaster’s
special engineering projects for both in-house, and customers
engineering needs.
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 David
M.A., Hollaway, B.Sc.Avn.E.
- HSE Safety Manager
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- Dave Hollaway has more than 25 years experience in the marine
and aviation industries including seven years as a Senior Applications
Engineer for Thrustmaster before becoming the HSE Safety and
Training Manager. Dave earned a Bachelor of Science degree in
Aviation Engineering from American Technological University as
well completing numerous safety and mishap prevention courses
from the U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, and is a graduate of the
U.S. Department of Transportation Safety Institute (TSI). Dave
earned the Associate in Claims (AIC) and an Associate in Risk
Management (ARM) ratings from the Insurance Institute of America
(IAA) as well as holding Advanced Ground Instructor (AGI) and
Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI) certificates from the Federal
Aviation Administration. Dave has taught technical systems and
safety courses for NASA, Boeing, Bell Helicopter Textron, Continental
Airlines, Lockheed-Martin Space Systems, the U.S. Coast Guard,
and the Federal Aviation Administration. Dave Hollaway is a member
of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME)
and American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE).
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