Rick Bernheim Email & Phone Number

Convergent Elements provides an integrated set of services designed to help high-tech businesses achieve operational excellence & yield superior business performance.These services include:• Strategic plan development & cross-functional alignment.• Mergers and acquisitions due diligence.• Market analysis.• Products & services positioning & direction.• Partner & Customer development.• Technology assessments, studies, & transfers.• Intellectual property protection & portfolio management.• Engineering, Operations, & Product Lifecycle process development.• System and product design, development, & manufacture (including off-shore).• Supply chain optimization.• Project management.Current and previous clients include: Starfire Energy, Quandary, Biocare, SunTech Drive, Elintrix, Lockheed Martin, Dominion Power and Power Tagging Technologies

Denver, Colorado, Us

Starfire Energy is a clean energy company that walks the walk. We are a registered Colorado Public Benefits Corporation. Our focus is carbon-free ammonia (NH3) and Hydrogen (H2) fuels. We have a proprietary and flexible process for making ammonia and hydrogen from air, water, and clean energy. The emissions from ammonia fuel use are nitrogen and water. We are providing a COMPLETELY carbon free way to make and use fuel for long term energy storage, transportation, and heat & industrial process applications. What we deliver to the marketplace are modular chemical plants for deployment around the world.

Denver, Colorado, Us

Denver, Colorado, Us

Longmont, Colorado, Us

• Actively influenced corporate functions: hiring, HR, compliance, risk management, contract negotiations, corporate policies/procedures, facilities management, vendor relationships and product manufacturing.• Achieved first volume production delivery on schedule, meeting the needs of a major new customer.• Drove adoption of numerous operational improvement systems, including cloud based BOM management, ECR/ECO, EDN, ECL, MCO, Risk Buy, PPAP, PFMEA and Behavioral Interviewing.• Increased annual production by a factor of 10.2, with peak month yr./yr. production by a factor of 25.3.• Co-authored one patent application.

C Factory Systems, Inc., developed novel, patent-pending, reusable, humidity control technology for portable and/or small spaces, addressing the needs of over 25 areas of modern life, while eliminating the environmental problems associated with traditional chemical-based single-use solutions. • Developed business plan & pitch deck. Raised initial funding.• Lead development of proof-of-concept prototype.• Authored PCT (international) patent application.• Won regional Dartmouth Entrepreneurship Award for innovative new business.

Strategic partner funded startup developer & manufacturer of unique grid location awareness & telecommunications equipment for the utilities/power industry.• Led company through a Dominion Resources & Lockheed Martin acquisition.• Established new strategic and technological directions, resulting in game-changing reduction in product cost, size, weight, & power consumption (by 90%, 98%, 92%, and 95%, respectively). • Restructured company to achieve key strategic imperatives.• Negotiated funding round with strategic investors.• Co-authored nine utility patent filings.

Strategic partner funded startup developer & manufacturer of unique grid location awareness & telecommunications equipment for the utilities/power industry.• Established a strategic product roadmap to meet stated market requirements• Authored Product Requirements Specification.• Implemented sufficient processes & restructured organization to deliver to product roadmap.• Delivered critical milestones 13.5% ahead of project plan, below budget by 15%, meeting requirements established by investors, & securing additional financing.• Assumed the duties of the CTO following his resignation.• Authored three utility patents filings.

Chandler, Arizona, Us

$800M international products, systems, & services division in the Telecommunications Test & Measurement industry.• Resolved cultural, staffing & business integration issues associated with a Chinese acquisition involving a multi-month Beijing assignment.• Responsible for global organization with 14 facilities in the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Malaysia & China.• Established an outsourcing program resulting in 75%+ reduction in cost and delivery of prototypes.• Established an internal professional "social network" to enable sharing of expertise, best practices, production methodologies, testing procedures & product/module designs.• Established a diviision-wide database for publications, standards methodologies and designs, assuring common processes, & eliminating duplicate activities across geographically-dispersed locations.• Implemented an organization-wide efficiency improvement program, reducing the number of unique design & NPI tools by over 40% while maintaining schedules.• Established standards for solder mask colors for state of PCBAs (POC, Prototype, Pilot, LPA, & Production), preventing accidental release of non-compliant product into a customer environment while providing clear indication of state of product development.

Chandler, Arizona, Us

$120M international products, systems, & services division of JDSU in the telecommunication Test & Measurement industry.Recruited by President of parent organization to drive the division to operational excellence.• Transitioned division from post-bankruptcy mindset to a growing vibrant organization.• Exceeded 1st year financial objectives (Bookings, Revenue, GM, & CM) by 4%, 6%, 2%, & 4% respectively while simultaneously writing down ~ $1M in legacy inventory issues.• Developed a multi-year strategic plan that identified key market areas & geographies resulting in market share dominance.• Innovated Business Triads & restructured international business development, project management, engineering, & testing, resulting in increased revenue & >70% GM.• Introduced Miller Heiman training for all directors, facilitating improved communications across departments.• Implemented a metrics based organization, increasing visibility & driving greater accountability for quality, performance & meeting commitments.• Implemented advanced project management process to drive multiple simultaneous complex product developments to success.• Resolved legacy quality & customer satisfaction issues, leading to increased sales, market share, GM, & customer loyalty.• Implemented Customer Briefing, demonstration & training facility.• Improved legacy manufacturing first pass yield on DSAM product line (65% to 94%). Subsequent new products first pass yield > 94%.• Reduced cost of key product line, improving bottom line by $2.5M.• Created unique Original Design Manufacturer program yielding a new product at ½ previous best-case time-to-market, & opening new market segments for the division.• Launched industry first DOCSIS 3.0 field test meter with 8 channel upstream bonding, securing leading market share position.• Implemented a Six Sigma training program leading to certification of 23 Green Belts & 5 Black Belts, & substantial improvement in overall quality.

Liberty Lake, Washington, Us

Venture-funded developer & manufacturer of telemetry & telecommunications equipment for the utilities/power industry. Business sold to Itron for $100M.Recruited by CEO to affect a revitilization of technology & achieve positive EBITDA.• Resolved severe legacy quality problems that forced a pre-tenure 25,000+ unit product recall and inhibited product line expansion. Recovered program and revenue.• Co-authored strategic business plan.• Assisted CEO in $10M financing round working directly with venture capital & strategic partner community.• Led strategic alliance initiatives with global companies, including IBM, Siemens, GE and ATT.• Executed market, channels, & strategic partner SWOT analysis. Refocused business into profitable sizeable markets. • Planned/implemented a strategic business re-alignment program. Assessed organization bench strength & initiated staffing program. Created functions of PLM, PM, CKO, & DVT. Expanded Client Services.• Established technology direction of the corporation• Updated product lines from two-way paging to latest cellular technology and expanded the number and type of meters in which the products were integrated.• Established a strategic development program to accelerate time-to-market by transitioning product development from individual target-specific designs to a HW, SW, and DVT module library creation, resulting in > 60% reduction of development time.• Transitioned sourcing, manufacturing, & integration process to directed distribution & industry partners.• Implemented industry’s largest wireless full-load meter laboratory to facilitate reduced product development cycle time.• Implemented rapid, low cost, production ICT, functional test, and system test equipment.• FY07 revenue & shipments during first 10 months exceeded 150% of total FY06 performance.

Melbourne, Florida, Us

$350M international telecommunications products, systems, & services division of Harris CorporationPost-acquisition promotion to rapidly improve performance & cost effectiveness of the division’s Engineering organization. Operating budget of $26 M with a staff of 185 in USA, & Canada, with Russian subcontractor.• Planned/implemented a strategic restructuring program, closed three facilities, created & staffed a new facility, resulting in $20M annual cost reduction, while keeping major product development programs on track.• Established technology direction of the corporation.• Developed 2 major product lines, expanding addressable market, replacing legacy product lines – significantly improving gross margin & factory yield. 18 month post release revenue > $130 M, with sales in 46 countries.• Delivered Truepoint 5000 & Truepoint 4000 microwave communications systems to spec, schedule & product cost expectations.• Established a Value Engineering team to focus on legacy product issues, eliminating historical quality problems, & improving gross margin & value proposition, resulting in bottom line improvement of more than $5 M.• Implemented a carrier-class laboratory to facilitate reduced product development cycle time.• Created the function of DVT to assure quality product development.• Implemented an in-house DFx program to reduce development cycle time.• Established a currency hedge to mitigate impact of shifting exchange rate.• Senior member of Harris Engineering Council.

Venture-funded developer & manufacturer of broadband telecommunications equipment. Business sold to Harris in 2000 for $175M.Recruited by CEO following a down-round to affect a turnaround & liquidity event. Operating budget of $12 M with a staff of 85.• Established a strategic product roadmap to meet market requirements of multi-media transport for high valuation.• Achieved first office application of point-to-multipoint product, meeting customer expectations.• Established a product development methodology that amplified the strengths & minimized weaknesses of the organization, significantly reducing time-to-market, & increasing intellectual property portfolio by 20+ filings.• Established a HW, SW, and DVT module library development program, resulting in more than a 50% reduction in development time• Established and chaired the Architectural Review Board to keep cutting-edge product development on schedule and desired path.• Negotiated several strategic technology development/manufacturing partnership agreements.• Assisted CEO in financing round working directly with venture capital & strategic partner community.• Authored two utility patents that have subsequently been granted.

Venture-funded intellectual property development & marketing company.Recruited by CEO for development, marketing, & sale of telecommunications intellectual property to OEMs.• Identified target markets, market size, & prospect list for digital telecommunications technology.• Developed intellectual property marketing plan with specific programs for high return prospects.

• Developed prospectus & coordinated presentation & due diligence activities for sale of divisions.• Member of Board of Directors of two subsidiaries, ComStream Israel & ComStream de Mexico.

$190M international rapid-growth wireless telecommunications products & systems company. Divisions sold in 1998• Led protfolio analysis leading to the creation new divisional structure.• Combined two under-performing business areas into single division, & led it to become the most profitable division, growing revenue 23% to $53 M, & operating profit to 15%.• Developed business plans with focus in Asia & Latin America, negotiated & closed volume sales agreements yielding annualized revenue of $4.6 M, & grew market share from 24% to 29%.• Launched the CM601 product line to address emerging market for low cost high quality satellite modems.• Created a unique product development partnership to replace problematic supplier, resulting in a $400K bottom line improvement.• Created a dial-out sales function to mine existing customer base combined with a legay product refurbishment program resulting in a $500K bottom line improvement.

$140M international rapid-growth wireless telecommunications products & systems company. Operating budget of $23M with a staff of 160 in USA, Canada & Israel. • Restructured organization into three primary areas to align with company's market approach (Modems & Earth Stations, Audio, & High Volume Multi-Media) combined with shared services (ASICs, Mechanical, Tech Pubs, CAD, etc,) resulting in significant improvement in time to market.• Led development of the VSATPlusII™ telecom system, generating revenue of $40 M & $90 M, 1st & 2nd years.• Aggressively designed cost out of high volume products, resulting in bottom line improvement >$1M/yr.• Established development office in Haifa, Israel to assure availability of key talent.

Venture-funded high-tech international telecommunications services provider. Business sold to RCA in 1982, reacquired and restructured by management team in 1986, & sold to France Telecom in 1990. Transactions totaled $42M.One of a team of five executives who acquired Cylix from GE following the acquisition of RCA by GE in 1986, & subsequently sold the company to France Telecom.• Established the technology/product strategy of the corporation & led all product development activities.• Created/launched the highly successful MicroHub™ program to compete against significantly larger companies.• Developed Cylix’s Ku-Band VSAT network system.• Assisted in development of the prospectus & presentation for sale, resulting in acquisition by France Telecom.• Post-acquisition France Telecom/Cylix liaison, & member of FT’s international acquisition advisory team.

Fast-track promotions through a series of increasingly responsible positions.Promoted by President to address technical problems with communications systems offerings.

Fast-track promotions through a series of increasingly responsible positions.

• Recruited by CEO to rapidly expand technology base and lead development of key new products,• Pricipal architect of three product lines,• Developed inventive technology/business solution solving critical time-to-market problem.• Designed the industry's first two/three factor X-Ray system for operation on an 8% power line.• New products fueled 40% CAGR.• Company sold to Gendex.

Angel-funded startup focused on the design, manufacturing, and delivery of high-tech surgical drill systems.• One of four initial members of company, business started my senior year in college.• Designed and developed all electronics for system, including motor control, peristaltic pump, and fluid heaters.• Created innovative and unique "S-curve" starting ramp to bring drill from zero to 40,000 RPM in 2.5 seconds without "whipping" common of air driven drill systems.• Created positive feedback torque control combined with soft tissue detection and power back-off.• Developed high-speed brake and testing system to assure quality.• Obtained UL 544 listing on all products.• Company sold to Xomed.