The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, or ARM, Institute today announced the promotion of three current employees to reflect the increasing diversity of the organization's capabilities at it continues to promote U.S. competitiveness.
Dr. Charles (Chuck) Brandt has been promoted from senior director of technology development to vice president of technical initiatives. Arnold (Arnie) Kravitz's role has been modified from chief technology officer to chief innovation officer. Suzanne (Suzy) Teele has been promoted from head of marketing and communications to vice president of strategic initiatives and outreach at the organization.
“These newly created roles reflect each individual’s expanding responsibilities and contributions to the ARM Institute as the organization advances forward,” noted Ira Moskowitz, CEO of the ARM Institute. “The ARM Institute team and our board of directors congratulates Chuck, Arnie, and Suzy on their new roles and thanks them for their continued commitment to the ARM Institute mission.”
About the new executives
Chief Innovation Officer Arnie Kravitz
Kravitz joined the ARM Institute in 2018. As the institute’s CTO, he drove the creation and execution of its technical strategy. Kravitz has spent more than 39 years designing, developing, and manufacturing a large portfolio of products.
They included weapon systems and countermeasures, aquatic robots, autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality vision systems, self-learning inference engine-based systems, commercial consumer electronics, cryptographic and counter cryptographic devices.
Kravitz has taught as an adjunct professor at The Johns Hopkins University and has significant experience exploiting emerging tools and techniques to rapidly transform new ideas into manufactured products.
He is an experienced executive and entrepreneur serving as CEO, chief operating officer, president, and vice president of numerous Fortune 500 companies. Kravitz has also served on several corporate boards. He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
In his new role, Kravitz will drive the ARM Institute’s innovation activities, to evolve and grow the organization. He will work to advance its mission of increasing U.S. global competitiveness by accelerating the discovery and transition of innovative solutions to the market, developing new partnerships, and launching ventures.
Kravitz will also guide the institute in securing new opportunities that make robots, artificial intelligence, and autonomy more accessible to U.S. manufacturers and the defense industry.
Vice President of Technical Initiatives Chuck Brandt
Dr. Brandt joined the ARM Institute in 2018 as deputy director of technology development before being promoted to senior director earlier this year. He joined the ARM Institute from Innovation Works, where he was the vice president of technology programs.
Prior to joining Innovation Works, he was the chief technology officer at the Technology Collaborative in Pittsburgh.
In these and prior roles at Northrop Grumman, Westinghouse, and Raytheon, Brandt has demonstrated his ability to coordinate technology initiatives, early-stage product development, and university-based commercialization, said the ARM Institute.
Brandt holds a Ph.D. in electronic materials from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor of science in chemistry from the University of Illinois. He has presented over 50 papers and holds six patents.
In his new role, Brandt will lead the ARM Institute’s technical strategy and program planning, continue to manage the ARM Institute program management office, and lead the Mill 19 robotic engineering plans and investment strategy.
Vice President of Strategic Initiatives & Outreach Suzy Teele
Teele joined the ARM Institute shortly after its creation in 2017 and has led development of the consortium's national brand and growing its membership of more than 330 organizations.
She has over 20 years of experience in business strategy, product management, customer acquisition and retention, marketing, sales, and business development. Teele was also an executive at several software companies, driving revenue growth as a chief operating officer or chief marketing officer.
Teele has been recognized as an Indiana University of PA (IUP) Distinguished Alumni and has been inducted into the IUP Business Hall of Fame. Other accolades include a Greater Pittsburgh Athena Award finalist and BusinessWomen First Award.
Teele helped to start the Pittsburgh Chapter of WELD (Women for Economic and Leadership Development) and has coached many women-owned businesses. She is also an advisory board member for the Pittsburgh Robotics Network (PRN).
In her new role, Teele will continue to drive the ARM Institute engagement strategy and ongoing efforts for sustainability, build relationships with key stakeholders, and oversee product development strategy.
About the ARM Institute
The ARM Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Agreement Number W911NF-17-3-0004, and it is part of the Manufacturing USA network.
The Pittsburgh-based organization nurtures an ecosystem of members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and AI more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small. Its goals include training and empowering the U.S. manufacturing workforce, strengthen its economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience.