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:

Peter J. Kirk –  President & CEO:
Peter Kirk was appointed NeuCo President & CEO after more than eight years with the company. Peter joined NeuCo as Vice President of Business Development in 2001 and went on to assume the role of Vice President of Sales and then Executive Vice President responsible for Sales and Business Development. Peter’s previous experience in the Energy Sector included roles 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, Enron Development Corporation, and J.P. Morgan Chase (formerly Chemical Bank.) Peter has an MBA in Finance from Wharton and an MA in Economics, Energy and Environmental Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Amitava Bhattacharya, Ph.D. – Vice President of Engineering:
As Vice President of Engineering, Amitava leads the team responsible for implementing successful, high value, cost-effective optimization projects. 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 NeuCo’s successful Customer Support program which is designed 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 NeuCo’s product vision, designing NeuCo’s product and service offerings, and ensuring customer value delivery.  His group works closely with NeuCo’s customers and partners to ensure that the products developed fulfill critical industry needs and that customer value is sustained over time.  Prior to NeuCo, John was a member of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University for 12 years and a member of the Boeing Corporate Technical Advisory Council for seven of those years.  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.

Jennifer Hutchings – Vice President of Marketing:
As Vice President of Marketing, Jennifer Hutchings is responsible for developing NeuCo's overall branding, marketing and communications strategy and supporting the successful introduction of new products, services and applications. Jennifer previously served as Account Director and Senior Director of Client Services for marketing agencies in Canada and the U.S., including Bristol Communications and Michael James & Company. In those roles, she directed and implemented 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.

Stephen Scopetski – Controller:
As Controller for the NeuCo organization, Steve is responsible for financial and administrative operations and controls, which include providing accurate and timely financial statements; overseeing billing, receivables, payables, cash management, taxes and insurance; and human resource and benefits administration. Prior to joining NeuCo, Steve spent 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.