Management Team

Our people are our #1 assets. We have a highly talented and experienced team with a lot of enthusiasm about the solutions we're developing and implementing. This spirit is embodied in NeuCo's management team:

Curt Lefebvre, Ph.D. – President & CEO:
Leading the way at NeuCo since its inception is the Company’s President and CEO, Curt Lefebvre.  Curt’s passion is for the application of advanced optimization technologies to solve real-world business challenges.  Before starting NeuCo, Curt founded NeuroDimension Inc., which remains the market leading neural network technology provider.  Prior to NeuroDimension, Curt spent seven years with IBM.  Curt is the author of the academic textbook, "Neural and Adaptive Systems,” and also holds a PhD, MS and BS in Electrical Engineering.

Amitava Bhattacharya, Ph.D. – Vice President of Engineering:
As Vice President of Engineering, Amitava is responsible for keeping NeuCo’s projects on time, on budget, and 100% successful. Working with NeuCo’s experienced engineering team, Amitava has streamlined NeuCo’s implementation process to be the fastest, smoothest, most successful, and lowest cost in the industry. He also led the development of successful and growing Customer Support program to ensure long-term customer satisfaction. Amitava brought with him to NeuCo considerable applications engineering management experience within process industries, having served as System Manager in Aspen Technology’s Advanced Process Design group. Amitava was previously Deputy General Manager of Corporate Technical Services at Reliance Industries Limited, Bombay, India. He has received numerous professional and academic awards, and has published his research in chemical engineering literature.

John McDermott, Ph.D. – Vice President of Product Management:
John McDermott leads the team responsible for determining and fulfilling NeuCo’s product vision – from new product design to mature product enhancement.  His group works closely with NeuCo’s customers and partners to ensure that the products developed fulfill critical industry needs.  John's experience prior to his joining NeuCo was good preparation for his current role.  He was a member of the AI Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University for 12 years and during his tenure there, was also, for 7 years, a member of the Boeing Corporate Technical Advisory Council.  John spent 6 years at Digital Equipment Corporation as the Chief Scientist of their 200 person Artificial Intelligence Technology Center.  He is a founder of two AI companies, Carnegie Group and Ellora Software; at both companies he guided the development and commercialization of several successful products.  Carnegie Group was acquired by LogicaCMP in 1995, and Ellora Software was acquired by Aetna in 2002.  John is a Fellow of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence.

Fred Pickard – Vice President of Technology Development:
As the leader of the Technology Development group, Fred is responsible for bringing NeuCo's product vision to life and for developing ProcessLink®, the core technology that forms the basis for all of NeuCo’s products. This includes the creation of software development and installation tools that result in faster, smoother and higher-margin installations.  Fred has more than 20 years of experience in the design and development of knowledge-based software solutions for large-scale commercial applications.  At Digital Equipment Corporation's Artificial Intelligence Technology Center, Fred led the development of Digital's Configuration Platform (DCP), an expert-systems based technology platform for discrete manufacturing solutions.  Fred was a co-founder of Ellora Software, an AI software company specializing in protocol-based products for large health care organizations.

Peter Kirk –  Vice President of Sales:
Peter Kirk, NeuCo’s Vice President of Sales, is responsible for driving the widespread adoption of  NeuCo's solutions and ensuring we are responding to the market's needs. Peter brought to NeuCo more than 12 years of experience in the energy sector as Business Development Manager with Plug Power, Inc., a developer of stationary fuel cells, and as a developer, consultant and banker with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and J.P. Morgan Chase (formerly Enron Development Corporation, Chemical Bank.) Peter’s zeal for the development of new business opportunities in the power industry stems from his academic career including an MBA in Finance from Wharton and a MA in Economics, Energy and Environmental Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Jennifer Hutchings – Vice President of Marketing:
As Vice President of Marketing, Jennifer Hutchings is responsible for driving NeuCo's overall branding, marketing and communications strategy and supporting the successful introduction and positioning of new products. Jennifer has served as Account Director and Director of Client Services for marketing agencies in Canada and the U.S., developing and directing strategic marketing initiatives, product launch campaigns and lead generation programs for a wide range of IT companies from established telecommunications corporations to Internet start-ups.

Ray Johnson – Vice President, Business Development:
Ray Johnson, manages the business operations for the NeuCo division responsible for Pegasus' technology, installations, and customer support. Ray's responsibilities include working with Pegasus customers to identify new optimization opportunities including deployment of the extensive NeuCo application portfolio. Ray was previously Chief Operating Officer at Pegasus Technologies, responsible for all technical groups in the company. Ray joined Pegasus from Pavilion Technologies where he was Vice President Operations and previously spent 20 years in various technical positions at Eastman Chemical Company. Ray has over 30 years experience in power and other process industries. He has extensive knowledge of operations, control, support systems and processes for operations.

Stephen Scopetski – Controller:
As Controller for the whole NeuCo, Inc. organization, Steve is responsible for the financial and administrative operations and controls, which include providing accurate and timely financial statements for the Company and the Board, overseeing billing, receivables, payables and cash management, taxes and insurance, human resource and benefits administration. Prior to joining NeuCo, Inc. Steve spent the past 15 years handling the financial operations for numerous New England-based venture capital funded and publicly traded technology companies, such as Picis, Inc., a venture-funded medical systems and software company and ABIOMED, Inc., a publicly traded medical device company. Steve began his career in accountancy focusing on development stage and start-up companies while working for Baril and Smith and then Price Waterhouse and Company.