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Vineet Shastri
Profile
Vineet Shastri earned an Industrial Engineering degree in his native country: India. He wanted to continue his education, so he applied to 5 schools in America for a Masters. He was accepted by all 5 schools. He chose WVU’s IE program as it seemed to offer a good blend of engineering management and technology based coursework. He was also impressed with the work of Dr. Ahluwalia, Dr. Gopala, and Dr. Creese.
Vineet graduated in 2001 after completing a thesis at the NIOSH facility in Morgantown. The thesis focused on designing a dynamometer to measure muscular forces in lab rats. The thesis work gave him the experience in real time data analytics which became the basis for a career that focuses on the capturing of data through technology and the subsequent use of this data for continuous improvement of business operations.
When asked if it was hard to adapt to the American work culture, Vineet comments: My first real work experience was in the U.S., so I had nothing else as a frame of reference.
After he graduated, Vineet qualified for OPT status (Optional Practical Training). Later, after getting his green card, which is the process of becoming qualified for work-without-restrictions in the U.S. and takes up to 10 years, Vineet went on to scale new heights in his career.
Vineet has worked with many manufacturing based organizations across Industrial, Discrete, Automotive, CPG, primarily in applying information technology, data acquisition, and the use of technology in business transformation. He started as a Design Engineer, then moved to Consulting Sales and was most recently Client Partner at a $14B global consulting firm. Managing teams of 40 consultants at a time, he helped address Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality and technology challenges at several Fortune 500 companies like Caterpillar, Johnson Controls, Express Scripts and others.
Currently he is the Chief Information Officer for Western States Envelope and Label. Western States was formed in 1908 and is one of the nation’s premier manufacturers of envelopes and labels.
Vineet sees an expansive role for technology in today’s business environment.
With a focus on applying IoT, machine learning and AI to transform businesses to reach a higher potential, Vineet says he’s living the dream.
In addition to Vineet’s Masters degree from WVU, he also has a Certificate of Global Business Leadership from the Harvard Business School.
When Vineet is asked about preparation for a career similar to his, he comments: “You have to be prepared to learn a lot of new technology on your own, in addition to the University coursework. You can take online courses to prepare you, but you must support that with actual job experience via internships or project work.”
Bio
In his current role, Vineet was brought in to transform a 100-year-old manufacturing company both culturally and technologically. Vineet’s experience comes from his Consulting and Sales background working with Fortune 500 CIOs and business leaders.
Vineet is recognized in the industry for his technology insights and the ability to provide strategic technology roadmaps adopted by his clients to help in their transformation journeys.
Vineet’s success factor has been the ability to blend knowledge covering Business, Technology & Engineering to create competitive differentiators for his clients.
Vineet earned is Masters degree in Industrial & Management Systems Engineering from WVU in 2001 and lives in Milwaukee, WI with his family.
