The CABA Board of Directors

Brian Ensign is Vice President, Marketing at Superior Essex Communications, a structured cable manufacturer focused on delivering industry leading product solutions focused on enabling technology and intelligent spaces with sustainability in mind. In his role, Ensign leads a team of marketing and demand creation professionals focused on customer engagement and the creation of industry-leading solutions. Ensign’s industry experience over the last 26 years has centered on technology, market-development, and marketing activities in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) community with a focus on structured cabling, intelligent spaces, sustainability, partnerships, and cyber security. Ensign holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from the SUNY Polytechnic Institute along with RCDD, NTS, OSP, and RTPM designations from BICSI, where he is a BICSI Past President. Ensign is a frequent public speaker on industry, technology, and trends at various industry events and functions.

Richard Campbell is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Kele, Inc. Kele is a leading global value-added distributor of building automation system (BAS) products and controls solutions serving the $50+ billion BAS market with over 400 brands and 1.8 million parts in stock that ship same-day. Kele’s value-added services include custom assemblies, panel fabrication, and technical support. Kele’s primary customers are controls contractors, mechanical contractors, and OEMs. Richard also serves on the board of Applied Systems Technologies, a distributor specializing in high quality aluminum piping systems for industrial applications. Richard began his career as a sales engineer with Trane working with mechanical engineers and contractors. Today he has over 30 years of experience in the commercial and industrial buildings space and has held various leadership roles with both Ingersoll Rand (IR) and Trane brands, including vice president of IR’s compressed air business in North America, vice president of product management for Trane’s unitary product portfolio globally, and vice president of Trane’s central territory in their North American field sales and service organization. Richard earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

Eric Harper joined Snap One in 2010 as co-head of Product Development and now leads Product Marketing & Market Management for the company. He has spent the last 20+ years serving the residential technology industry, including product and marketing executive leadership roles at ELAN/Sunfire (CORE Brands), Integra (ONKYO) and as a custom integrator in the 1990s. Eric holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Duke University.

Pete Horton is Vice President, Market Development at the Legrand North and Central America Electrical Wiring Systems (EWS) Division. In this role he is responsible for driving IoT innovation and technology across five business units. Previously he was Vice President of the WattStopper business unit at Legrand’s Building Controls Systems Division where he architected the Digital Lighting Management platform and led the acquisition of AIC Wireless. Earlier he was the Lighting Control Marketing Manager for Legrand in Europe. In 1985 he founded Horton Controls Inc, a software, technology provider, and partner with GE Lighting, which was sold to Legrand in 2000. Horton currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Haystack Organization. He also serves as the technical co-chair on the Alliance to Save Energy’s Systems Efficiency Initiative. In the past, he served on the board of directors of Wireless Environments in Cleveland, OH which was acquired by Ring.com in 2017 and Amazon in 2018.

Erin Walker is a seasoned executive with 20+ years of experience in corporate strategy, marketing, channel enablement, operations, and human resources. In her current role as the Director of Residential Smart Communities at TELUS, she spearheads TELUS’ Residential Smart Communities line of business, leveraging technology to enhance the lives of residents while improving operational efficiencies, and driving better environmental and social outcomes within buildings and communities. Erin was a recipient of Business in Vancouver’s ’Forty under 40’ award in 2019, and served as Global and GTA Chair of Connections – The TELUS Women’s Network.

Scott Cochrane is President and CEO of Cochrane Supply & Engineering, a leader in smart building automation and building controls. Under his leadership, Cochrane Supply & Engineering has experienced significant growth, opening 11 branch locations in six states, and Canada. Scott is an advisory council member for multiple industry manufacturers such as Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Distech Controls, and Tridium. He is a co-editor of automatedbuildings.com, an online source for smart building news, he is also an advisory board member at Realcomm/IBcon, and he is the Executive Chairman for Controls-Con – Cochrane Supply’s own Smart Building Controls Conference. Cochrane Supply & Engineering has been the recipient of multiple prestigious awards over the course of Scott’s 20 years in the industry, including the Vykon Summit Award and Platinum Distributor Award, Honeywell Diamond Distributor Awards, CGNA High-Performance Award, Yaskawa Top 10 Building Automation Partner, ACI Outstanding Distributor, and numerous others. Scott holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, with minors in marketing and finance from Eastern Michigan University. He also holds an additional minor in HVAC Technologies from Macomb College.

Tom Daenzer is Manager of Digital Business Development for Belimo Americas since 2018. He leads a team responsible for supporting the growth of HVAC valves and actuators that harness smart and/or connected capabilities. One of Tom’s primary roles is to guide development of the services and APIs that compliment these connected products through relationships with industry peers and technology partners. He leads the Belimo Americas IoT Committee, and is a member of the global IoT Core and IoT steering committees. Prior to his Digital role, he was Business Development Manager for Belimo’s Shared Logic line of intelligent actuator solutions. Before working for Belimo, Tom spent 17 years on the construction side of the building automation industry, with roles ranging from software engineer and project manager to department manager. He is passionate about leveraging technology to improve occupant comfort while reducing a building’s energy footprint.  Tom holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University.

David Eckell has been Graybar’s National Market Manager for CIG and Data Communications solutions since 2018. In this role he develops marketing and sales enablement strategies across commercial, institutional and government markets. As well, he helps set strategic direction for technical solutions such as IoT, AV, Security, Data Centers and Wireless. David is currently a member of the CompTIA IoT Advisory Council as well as the Communications Cable and Connectivity Data Center committee. Before working for Graybar, David spent 19 years in the telecommunications industry in a variety of roles ranging from network engineer and program manager to channel sales and ultimately market strategy.  He enjoys helping companies navigate new technologies to gain tangible competitive advantages from them.  David holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and an MBA from East Carolina University.

Paul Faby is the Director of Engineering and Technology at Rheem Manufacturing. A creative engineering business leader with experience and proven expertise in all aspects of system and product development, Paul brings over 20 years of experience in the industry, with strengths and leadership in the areas of new product development, product life cycle management, customer solutions, digital distribution and user experience, IoT, and connected devices.

Mark Fernandes is the President of Functional Devices, Inc. which manufactures a broad range of products to serve multiple industries including building automation, HVAC, lighting, electrical, panel shops, fire & safety, wireless, and power monitoring.  Functional Devices is best known for its RIB® (Relay in a Box®) brand product lines. Mark has 18 years of experience in the building automation industry, all with FDI where he started his career as an engineer designing and developing products and supporting manufacturing efforts. He has held multiple management positions, including Engineering Manager and VP of Manufacturing and Engineering before assuming the role of President in 2014. He earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering Technology with highest distinction from Purdue University.

Stephen Holicky is the Director of Product Management at Tridium and is responsible for overall strategy, product planning, marketing, and financials for all products built on the Niagara Framework. He works closely with customers, engineering teams, and business stakeholders to define, manage and deliver a product roadmap and vision which impacts over 1 million instances worldwide. Prior to joining Tridium, Stephen worked with the Niagara Framework as a System Integrator and Commissioning Agent, while specifying its use for smart building integrations.

Charles Hume is the Director of Digital Power Technologies at Southwire. In this role, Charles investigates new and transformative developments in the areas of power and data transmission. Charles is also one of the key members of Southwire’s Spark Studio, an innovation center at Georgia Tech, where he leads research projects with members of the Georgia Tech faculty along with leaders from government, business, and other universities. Before joining Southwire, Charles spent over 20 years in leadership roles in the defense and commercial industries with companies such as General Atomics and Illinois Tool Works. Charles began his career as a naval officer and division director at the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School. He holds a master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech and an MBA from the University of Florida.

David Kaufman is a Director of Business Development for Resideo Technologies Inc. He has over 30 years of experience in automation holding various executive sales, marketing, and general management roles consistently achieving organic business growth totally over $500M. He is currently the primary Resideo representative for any Internet of Things (IoT)-related standard or alliance. He has held key positions in the Wireless Industrial Network Alliance, the HART Communications Foundation, and the Open Connectivity Foundation. David was a charter board member of the Wireless Compliance Institute, the Energy Information Standards Alliance, and the OpenADR Alliance. He has been recognized with numerous awards for his industry contributions including 2 awards from the US National Institute of Technology (NIST). He has a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University, an MBA from St. Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania, and a Six Sigma Black Belt certification from Honeywell. David also holds multiple US patents. He is a published author on wireless technologies and a recent 3 time All American Triathlete. David currently resides in the Phoenix, Arizona area with wife and children.

Daniel Kufer leads the North America Strategy team at Siemens Smart Infrastructure Solutions & Services. Daniel is based in Chicago, IL. In his role, he is responsible for identifying and executing organic and inorganic growth opportunities to expand Siemens’s market position in the smart building space. His team leads projects to ensure Strategy is aligned with market and customer insights. Daniel has 10+ years of B2B experience including in Buildings & Infrastructure, Industrials and Healthcare Technology. Prior to joining Siemens, Daniel was Director of Strategy at ThyssenKrupp North America, Inc.  Daniel holds a BSc. degree in Business Administration from the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt and is an MBA Candidate at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

Chris Lane is the Director of Product Management for Building Automation System (BAS) products at Johnson Controls, the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings. In this role, Chris leads a team of product managers responsible for defining the strategy and direction for Johnson Controls’ global portfolio of BAS products. Previously, Chris was a product manager for the Metasys and Facility Explorer brands of building automation systems as well as a variety of standalone controllers and devices. Chris began his career with Johnson Controls over 30 years ago, spending the first third of his career in customer service, technical support, and OEM sales. Chris earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Wisconsin – Platteville and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University.

Daniel Niewirowicz leads Special Projects Group at CyberPower Systems (USA), Inc. Dan drives strategic product development; automation & IoT at CyberPower and is responsible for development of power management solutions across the critical data path from the data center to edge devices for building automation. Dan has 30 years of experience in the built environment sector. From building envelope to the latest smart facility integrations, he has extensive experience in electromechanical systems and has managed multi-million dollar MEP projects in educational, medical and commercial environments.

Charles Pelletier began his career with Distech Controls over 20 years ago, gaining unparalleled experience in the Building Management System market, while also establishing himself as a respected leader in the industry. Currently, as Vice-President of Product Management, Charles is widely known for leading the product vision & strategy of the business and focusing on innovation that drives people and businesses to become more successful.

David Rellinger is Vice President of Systems Transformation for Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management and building automation. In this role, David is responsible for execution of strategic operational initiatives that ensure market share growth and high customer satisfaction for US operations teams in Digital Buildings. David’s experience spans 20+ years in sales, operations, and service of building management systems, integrated security systems, and IT infrastructure.

Dwight Stewart founded Igor, Inc. in 2013. As CEO, Dwight grew the company to a dozen employees, led multiple investment rounds, and proved the quality of the PoE technology through installations. In October 2015, Dwight became Chief Technology Officer and focused his attention on Igor’s products, partners, and brand voice. In September 2021, Dwight transitioned back to the role of president and CEO. Dwight has a strong reputation as an innovator, leader, and operator. Dwight is established and recognized within the CleanTech industry for consistently conceiving transformative ideas and turning them into a reality. In 2011, Dwight founded Stewart Strategy, Inc. as an IoT product and contracting company, which grew to six developers and served customers including Siemens, a Switzerland-based building technology business. Prior to founding Stewart Strategy, Dwight Stewart co-founded QAS with Craig Engelbrecht, which grew to over 40 employees without any external investment over four years. Dwight built businesses during his tenure at Iowa State University while pursuing a computer science major. He was widely known throughout the university for his algorithms to find, consolidate and organize MP3s. Through that notoriety, Dwight started advertising the ability to build computers for classmates. Soon after, Dwight started a website called CollegeRoute.com that was an online portal for students: a place to buy and sell textbooks, ride-sharing, tutoring, and roommate matching as well as providing a virtual campus town. Within a year, CollegeRoute.com had dominated Iowa State and scaled to several other major college campuses.

Fabian Weber is the Chief Innovation Officer at Dwyer Instruments, Inc. a trusted leader creating safe and sustainable solutions for the worldwide IEQ, Process Automation, and Critical Environment markets. Headquartered in Michigan City, Indiana with satellite locations around the globe, Dwyer holds over 650 technical patents and takes great pride in the intellect and integrity of their employees who are passionate about the work they do, the products they develop, and the customers they serve. Fabian comes to us with more than 20 years of Innovation, Business Development and R&D experience with telecom/datacom systems, decarbonization of vehicles, and specialty connectivity solutions. He acquired and managed key customers around the world, established and led international subsidiaries for developers/manufacturers of smart drive systems and connectivity solutions, and built numerous innovation and R&D partnerships on an international scale. Fabian holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a major in Microelectronics from the University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland, and got certified as a Professional Innovator from University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, as well as MIT Sloan School of Management for Artificial Intelligence and its implications for business strategy. Fabian grew up in Switzerland with French and German mother languages and spent the last 15 years in California and Michigan.