AGMA is pleased to announce the appointment of Matt Mondek of Cotta Transmission as chairman of the board for 2011-2013 and the appointment of Lou Ertel of Overton-Chicago Gear Corporation as treasurer. Four others were appointed to general seats of the AGMA Board of Directors: Sulaiman Jamal, Managing Director of Bevel Gears (India) Private Limited; Bob Sakuta, President of Delta Gear Inc.; Michael Smith, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Capstan; and Mike Suter, Vice President of Marketing of Emerson Industrial Automation.

Matt Mondek is President of Cotta Transmission Company, LLC. Mondek began his career as a mechanical engineer designing outboard motors for Outboard Marine Corporation in Waukegan, Il. Prior to beginning his career he received his Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in Mechanical Engineering. He later received an MBA from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in Lake Forest, IL. During his 23 years with Outboard Marine he held various positions in product design, management, program management, and strategic sourcing during which time he gained PE and CPM certification. In 1999, he joined Cotta Transmission as the vice president of engineering and operations and became president in 2002. Cotta Transmission is a custom designer and manufacturer of specialty gearboxes for numerous industries.

Sulaiman Jamal received his degree in mechanical engineering from P.S.G. College of Technology, Coimbatore, South India. After his technical education he worked in the P.S.G. toolroom before joining Bevel Gear Company in Bangalore where he was exposed to bevel gear cutting tools, bevel gear manufacture and heat treatment of bevels. He branched out in 1976 to start his own gear shop and expanded his business since. He now is the Chairman/Managing Director of the Jamal Group of companies, which manufacture a very wide range of bevel gears – straight and spiral including spiral grinding/curvic coupling grinding and bevel gear-related products.

Bob Sakuta has been a partner in Delta Research Corporation since 1979, and the sole owner since 1996. Delta Research is a manufacturer of prototype powertrains and their components for the automotive, off-road, and specialty sectors. In 1998, Delta Research began grinding their gears in-house, which minimized the need to purchase outsourced gears. In 2004, it further decreased its dependency on outside sources by purchasing Tifco Gage & Gear Co. In 2010, Tifco’s name was changed to Delta Gear, and it relocated to Livonia Michigan, which will soon house the nation’s first contract gear metrology lab.

Michael Smith graduated from the State University of New York. He began his career at Franklin Industries in the international sales department and moved into manufacturing; supervising manufacturing operations in seven foundries in Taiwan and China. From 1981 to 1989 he was managing director of Efel North America, an importer of manufactured cast iron components from Belgium. He joined Capstan in 1989 and has been responsible for all sales and new business development efforts. Capstan is a leading producer of powdered metal gears and structural components, with four manufacturing facilities in North America.

Mike Suter began his career with Emerson in 1984 upon graduation from Penn State University. Beginning as a sales rep in the Northeast, he held a variety of sales management roles in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta before moving into marketing with Emerson in 1998. He currently oversees marketing for Emerson Industrial Automation gearing, conveying components, chain , and clutch products, as well as their material handling business. He is also responsible for division marketing communications and works out of the power transmission solutions headquarters in Florence, Kentucky.