Board of Directors Biographies

Alex (Mike) joined the Association in 1973, when AFE was still known as the American Institute of Plant Engineers (AIPE).  He holds a BSME and MSME from the University of Illinois and worked most of his career as a facilities professional in the pharmaceutical industry.  He spent 10 years as a consulting engineer and project manager for facilities projects in the aerospace industry before retiring in 2001 from Baxter Healthcare in Los Angeles.  Mike’s AIPE/AFE experience spans four chapters and includes service as Chapter President and Regional Vice President.  In 2006-2007 he was instrumental in the committee which crafted the restructuring of the AFE Board of Directors.  In addition to AFE, prior to retirement he was a member of ASHRAE, NSPE, ISPE, and ASME.  Mike’s public service has included numerous church activities, the Boy Scouts of America, and Mathcounts.  He currently serves as a youth mentor with the local YMCA.

Dan Bittel, CPE
Immediate Past Chair
dbittel@ix.netcom.com
(603) 424-0314

Dan became our AFE Chairman of the Board after holding several AFE leadership position. He severed one year as our president elect and five years as our Chairman of the Chapter Relations Committee. Dan, a CPE since 1994, has held positions as Regional Vice President, Chapter President of three chapters in the northeast, With a special interest in Customer / Membership Service, he now heads up several committees within the association aimed at ensuring members' interests are always at the forefront of Board decisions, and the grassroots membership is the ultimate decider when considering any new program or service. Dan owns his own engineering consulting firm in New Hampshire and his main non-AFE interests are in organizing his town's 4th of July activities, and is very involved in the Rotary club of Merrimack and other public activities in his home town of Merrimack, NH.

George Howe, CPE
Academic Director
ghowe@maritime.edu
(508) 830-5000

George holds a Master of Science degree in engineering management from Northeastern University; Master of Science in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In 1999, following a 22-year Coast Guard career, George joined the Engineering Department faculty at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He was designated MMA's first facilities engineering Program Area Coordinator. Shortly thereafter, he became a member of AFE and South Shore Chapter 88. In 2000, he became the faculty advisor of the maritime academy's AFE student chapter. He remains the student chapter's advisor.

Laurence Gration, CAE
Chief Executive Officer, AFE
LGration@AFE.org
(571) 203-7234

Laurence has 25 years of association management experience in both the U.S. and Australia, coming to AFE in 2006 after serving as Executive Director of the Disaster Recovery Institute. He is a graduate of several universities including the University of Technology Sydney and is active in the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) in Washington, D.C., where he earned his Certified Association Executive (CAE) status. Laurence has been in the U.S. since 1998 and lives in Reston, Virginia.

Roy E. Nation, Jr.
Industry Director
rnation@jfahern.com
(920) 907-5534

Roy has been a member of AFE since 2006, serving as Treasurer of AFE Southeast Wisconsin Chapter 12 before being elected to the Board of Directors. He has more than 22 years of industry experience, and is currently the Industrial Contracting Division Business Development Manager at J. F. Ahern Co., where he is responsible for acquiring new business from existing customers and developing relationships with new clients for future business opportunities. He joined Ahern in 1989 as an assistant project manager, was promoted to project manager in 1993, then business development manager in 2003. He received an Associate's degree in architectural drafting from the Massey Business College in Houston, Texas in 1984.

Stephen W. Nicholas, CPMM
CoR Director
snicholas@airinds.com
(978) 682-9993

Stephen is President of Air Industries, Inc. and has over 24 years of experience in HVAC air filtration and equipment. He is a Certified Air Filtration Specialist and Certified Technician for Installation of Bag-in/Bag-Out applications for Chemical, Biological, and Radioactive, (CBR) contaminants. He is also a Certified Air Testing and Balancing Technician for Commercial HVAC systems.

Stephen has authored a number of technical articles published in various national trade journals and currently serves on industry committees such as the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) Indoor Air Quality Committee and the National Air Filtration Association, (NAFA) Education, Guidelines and Technical Committees. He is Past President of NAFA and is a NAFA Distinguished Lecturer. He is also a recipient of the National Air Filtration Association's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Nicholas is also a U.S. Army Veteran and was educated at Bryant and Stratton Business School in Boston, MA, and also attended the Harvard School of Public Health. Before being elected to the AFE Board of Directors, Stephen was both a board member for and President of AFE Chapter 74 and was Vice President of AFE Chapter 33-Boston and 74-Worcester Area-Central, MA. He is an AFE Service Recognition Award recipient and a member of AFE's Corporate Relations Council. He also served as the Region 8 (New England) Membership Chair and is an instructor for AFE's CPMM certification program.

Gerald A. Olson
CoR Director
gaolson@wmconnect.com
(262) 620-3610

Lane T. Pierce, CPE, CPMM
Vice Chair of Finance
pierce-lane@aramark.com
(630) 240-7190

Lane has been involved in AFE for more than a decade. He served as National Treasurer for two terms (4 years), helping guide AFE through re-structuring, re-statement of financial position, changes in the auditing process, and transparency in financial reporting. Results were unanimous board approvals for new reporting mechanisms, new budgets and program growth initiatives. He is also a past National Director of Educational Programs for AFE, another two term effort to invigorate the training and education programs of AFE during which AFE added one new certification, that of Certified Plant Supervisor (CPS).

Lane has amassed an extensive background in Academic Facilities Management throughout his 25+ year tenure at Aramark. His roles have included Assistant Director of Energy Management, Program Developer, Facilities Director, Research Engineer, Surveyor of New Business, Educator and Trainer, Organizational Effectiveness Evaluator, and Best Practices Policy Advocator. In October 2006, Lane moved into his current position in the Operations Excellence team of Higher Education, bringing innovation and new programs as a Director of Operational Excellence.

Lane received a BS in Engineering Physics from Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, and is currently studying for a LEED-AP. He is an instructor for AFE's CPMM and CPS certification programs, and is also a member of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), the Association of Physical Plant Administrators (APPA) and the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA).

Wayne P. Saya, CPE
Wayne.Saya@Yahoo.com
(603) 566-6088

A patented design engineer in electronic alarm systems and published within a variety of trade publications, Wayne has over 30 years of all around building operations and facilities engineering experience. As a certified plant engineer, Wayne is the New England Vice President and sits on the national board of directors of the National Association for Facilities Engineering. As an electronic design engineer in 1980 for a Security development company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Wayne designed and patented one of the first fire & security wireless alarm systems in the Country, and is highly experienced with the various technologies and associated systems used within electronic security industry. Wayne is a member of the United Inventors Association of America and the New England Inventors Association which regularly meets at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Terry L. Wireman, CPMM
Vice-Chair Membership
twireman@vestapartners.com
(203) 517-0401

Terry is one of the industry's foremost experts in maintenance management, having specialized in the improvement of maintenance management and reliability for more than four decades. He helps customers develop "Best-In-Class" maintenance and reliability policies and practices and has assisted hundreds of clients in North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim to improve their maintenance effectiveness. In addition, he has authored 20 books and numerous white papers and articles related to maintenance management process and technology.

Terry has also conducted numerous technical seminars for major colleges, universities and technical societies. He is a frequent speaker for the National Plant Engineering and Maintenance Conference and was previously the Maintenance Editor for "Engineer's Digest" magazine with a circulation of over 100,000 copies per month. He also served as the Chairman for The International Maintenance Conference sponsored by the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Currently, Terry is a Vice President at Vesta, where he provides strategic guidance to help the company shape its market strategy and long-term direction.