Ananth Krishnamurthy assumed leadership of the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing in January 2008. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the guidance of Prof. Rajan Suri, founder of the concept and methodology of Quick Response Manufacturing. Krishnamurthy has an M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, also from UW-Madison, and an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, India.

Involved with the QRM Center for a decade, Krishnamurthy conducted and managed numerous QRM projects as a research assistant, then returned as a speaker for QRM workshops and conferences. Holding training events in the United States and Europe has earned him worldwide recognition as an expert in the implementation of POLCA, a material-control system for low-volume or custom-engineered products and a key component of the overall QRM strategy.

Krishnamurthy has consulted for Alcoa, Rockwell Automation, Ingersoll, Johnson Controls, John Deere and Trek Bicycle. He has authored numerous publications in international journals, and he is a senior member of several professional organizations. Prior to leaving the position he held as Assistant Professor from 2002–2007 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Krishnamurthy was named winner of that institution's Engineering Excellence in Education Award for 2007.

• For a more detailed overview of Prof. Krishnamurthy's research, please visit his website at the College of Engineering.

Rajan Suri served as Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1985-2008. He earned his bachelor's degree from Cambridge University (England) and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. Suri founded the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing in 1993, envisioning a consortium of companies that would work in partnership with the university and with each other to understand and implement lead time reduction strategies.

He is internationally regarded as an expert on the analysis of manufacturing systems, and he wrote the book Quick Response Manufacturing: A Companywide Approach to Reducing Lead Times (Productivity Press). Suri has consulted for leading firms including Alcoa, Danfoss, IBM, John Deere, National Oilwell Varco, Pratt & Whitney, Rockwell Automation and Trek Bicycle. Consulting assignments in Europe and the Far East, along with projects for the World Bank, have given him an international perspective on manufacturing competitiveness.

Suri has received awards from the American Automatic Control Council, The Institute of Management Sciences and the IEEE. In 1999, Suri was made a Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), and in 2006 he received SMEs Albert M. Sargent Progress Award for the creation and implementation of the Quick Response Manufacturing philosophy.

• For a more detailed overview of Prof. Suri's research, please visit his website at the College of Engineering.

Chris brings extensive experience in marketing communications in a broad scope of industries, having held marketing and communications positions with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Rural Mutual Insurance, CUNA Service Group and Bruker AXS (as he likes to describe it, "from Beethoven to X-rays and pretty much everything in between").

Wood earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and after 25 years of working in the private sector, he's thrilled to be a Badger again.