Board of Directors
Katie Coperich - Board Member (Chair)
Katie Coperich is a 2005 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. She began her professional career at FedEx Ground where she has held various positions. She is currently a Senior Strategic Planning Analyst and is focused on new revenue generating initiatives. Katie has held several positions within our leadership team and Board of Directors. She is active in IIE’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) and FedEx Ground’s STEM steering committee. Katie enjoys running, Crossfit and cooking. She resides in Collier Twp. with her husband, Ron.
Lisa Vincenty - Board Member
Lisa Vincenty has been a member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers for 10 years. The positions that she has held on the Leadership Team include Programs committee member, Programs Chair, and most recently as a member of the Board of Directors. Lisa graduated from MIT with a BS in Materials Science and Engineering in 1993 and from the University of Pittsburgh with a MS in Industrial Engineering in 2005. Upon completion of the graduate program, she joined the Management Sciences Group at PPG Industries. Lisa is now a member of the Supply Chain IT Team at PPG Industries and is focused on Inventory Optimization. Lisa lives in Canonsburg, PA, and enjoys attending Penguins games.
Mike Karnish - Board Member
Mike Karnish joined the Institute of Industrial Engineers in 2004, as a student at the University of Pittsburgh. While at Pitt, Mike executed four co-op rotations with his current employer, UPS, and accepted a full-time position within the Industrial Engineering department after receiving his degree in December of 2007. Mike's current position at UPS is a package planning coordinator in Industrial Engineering for the eastern half of the United States. Mike is also a district coordinator of the UPS Congressional Awareness program. Outside of UPS, Mike is a realtor estate agent helping his clients in the sale and acquisition of real estate.
Matt Howard - Board Member
Matthew Howard graduated from Solent University in the UK and moved to Pittsburgh in 2007. He has spent the past five years as a technical recruiter and account manager with Aerotek Engineering. IIE has played a huge role in his professional development, specifically the networking events; which has given him access to events and chapter members that represent a diverse cross section of local Industry. Matthew served as the Membership Chair for 3 years, Vice President in 2013 and President in 2014. Hailing from England, Matthew enjoys sports, travel and the outdoors. He resides in Ohio Township with his wife, Julia and son, Nolan.
Leadership Team
Sugani Leman - President
Sugani Leman is currently a Manager of Human Resource Compliance at FedEx Ground. Prior to his recent position in HR, he was the Regional Operation and Engineering Manager and has had extensive experience within the field of Industrial Engineering for over twelve years. Prior to joining FedEx, Sugani has worked extensively with other multinational and Fortune 500 companies such as Littelfuse, Hewlett-Packard, and General Mills. Sugani received both his Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. His technical works on Business Analytic and Decision Support System has been published in various engineering and technology journals. He has also been a keynote speaker for several international conferences on workforce planning in Boston, USA and Melbourne, Australia.
Rob Sweeney - Vice President
Rob Sweeney currently works as an engineer in the Vision Operations group at FedEx Ground, where he develops technological solutions on the pickup and delivery side of the business. Prior to joining FedEx, he worked in the manufacturing industry, primarily for Joy Mining Machinery as an Operational Excellence Leader. Rob has been involved with IIE since 2004, when he joined the student chapter at the University of Pittsburgh. Graduating with a BS in Industrial Engineering in 2007, he then joined the Professional chapter where he has served as the Community Affairs Chair and the Programs Chair. Outside of work, you can find Rob spending time with his family or on the golf course. He currently resides in the South hills with his wife, Kate, and daughter, Madison.
Jared Dunlap - Secretary
Jared Dunlap is a Consultant for the Operations Workforce Optimization (OWO) group at Accenture. He is aligned within Products–Retail North America. The group offers retail, distribution and manufacturing clients the tools, training and guidance necessary to improve workforce performance and eliminate waste. Jared has been staffed to numerous projects within retail and distribution environments. During these projects, he used lean principles to deliver process improvements, develop engineered labor standards, validate staffing models and implement 5S programs. Jared graduated magna cum laude from West Virginia University with a B.S. in industrial & management systems engineering in May 2013. Jared is a current IIE Young Professionals (YP) co-chair for the Mid-Atlantic Region and the Secretary for the IIE Pittsburgh Professional Chapter.
Leigh Pardun - Treasurer
Leigh graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2005 with a BS in Industrial Engineering. After graduation, he accepted a position as a Management Trainee with United Parcel Service. In April of 2006, he was promoted to his current position of Industrial Engineering Supervisor at UPS. Leigh has had various responsibilities in this role, including District Work Measurement Coordinator and Division Planner. In his current role, he is responsible for the work measurement and operational planning of nine facilities in the Western Pennsylvania area. Leigh grew up in Central New Jersey and has been a resident of Pittsburgh since 2001. As Treasurer, Leigh is looking forward to maintaining the Chapter’s strong financial status and also enhancing the membership value for current and future members.
Joshua Ciampini - Programs Chair
Josh is a project/change manager at Logile, where he helps clients drive continuous improvement in labor management. Prior to joining Logile Josh spent over 7 years at Accenture in their Workforce Optimization group. Over his career Josh has partnered with clients in a variety of industries, including: retail, grocery, manufacturing, and distribution. Josh graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007 with a BS in Industrial Engineering and completed 4 co-op rotations with H.B. Maynard while in school. Josh is a resident of Murrysville, PA and in his spare time enjoys boating, attending Pitt and Pirates games, video and board gaming, and travelling abroad.
Mike Speese - Community Affairs Chair
Employer - UPS, Title – Package Flow Technology Ops Improvement IE, Mid Atlantic District. Mike graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in December 2000 with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. He was a student chapter member during his years at Pitt and also spent multiple years as a senior chapter member. He has been employed with UPS since his graduation and has held various engineering positions within the corporation, supporting both Transportation and Package Operations. Mike currently resides in Greensburg with his wife Erin and daughter Stella. Mike looks forward to serving the chapter by continuing to actively grow and expand the community involvement of the Pittsburgh chapter.
Victoria Gettinger - Membership Chair
Vicki holds BS degrees in Industrial Engineering and Psychology and a BA degree in History & Philosophy of Science, all from the University of Pittsburgh. Vicki began her career at FedEx Ground in 2004 as a Co-Op in the Technology Research group, and joined FedEx Ground fulltime in 2006 as an Engineer in the Customer Information Engineering group. During her FedEx career, Vicki served as the lead engineer for Project Vision’s Recipient Database project and Project Manager for the enterprise SHARE & eGIS initiatives. She is currently a Manager in the Location & Geographic Systems group, responsible for the strategic direction and day to day management of the new SHARE FedEx enterprise technology platforms. Vicki has been an IIE member since 2007, holding the position of Secretary from 2010-2013 and Membership Committee Chair in 2014. Vicki lives in Beaver, Pa with her husband and three children. Outside of work she enjoys reading and running.
Karen Bursic - Academic Affairs Chair
Karen is an Assistant Professor and the Undergraduate Program Director for Industrial Engineering. She received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining the department she worked as a Senior Consultant for Ernst and Young and as an Industrial Engineer for General Motors Corporation. She teaches undergraduate courses in engineering economics, engineering management, and probability and statistics in Industrial Engineering as well as engineering computing in the freshman engineering program. She is a senior member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, American Society for Engineering Education and a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.
Christopher Mensah - Communications Chair
Christopher is a Senior Decision Support Analyst at Highmark Health. He received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering in 2010 from the University of Pittsburgh where he also earned his MBA from the KATZ Graduate School of Business in 2015. This is his third year serving as the communications chair for the chapter. His focus is on process improvement in Healthcare and has seven years of experience with UPMC. In his free time he enjoys going to Pitt games, reading, working out, and participating in sports leagues with friends. He is a resident of the Friendship area within Pittsburgh.