Top 15 Industry Influencers of 2021



We’ve rounded up the top industry influencers of 2021 who kept us in the know in the first year post-COVID as industries adapted to the new manufacturing andindustrial landscape. Make sure to follow them in 2022!

It’s hard to believe, but 2021 has reached it’s end. Following the chaotic year of 2020 when the world was met with a global pandemic, labor shortages, and supply chain issues, 2021 was a year of hope and growth. And like they did in 2020 — and always have — the industrial sector rose to the occasion to keep life moving forward.

And where would we all be without the industry influencers who kept us in the know about our rapidly evolving industries during the last year? These are the individuals who used their social media and traditional media followings to keep us updated on current events, trends, and educational information in their areas, as well as the manufacturing industry as a whole.

Below, you’ll find a roundup of our 15 favorite industry influencers from the year 2021 that you should continue to follow in 2022 . Did we leave anyone out? Let us know your top industry influencers at lorid@sepco.com!


Garry Dodson, President, SEPCO (in Memoriam)

Garry Wayne Dodson began his career at an early age at SEPCO, where he proudly worked for 57 years. He retired as president. He enjoyed working on his farm, woodworking, fishing, NASCAR, and Alabama Football. According to those who knew him and worked with him, he was a man that could troubleshoot and fix or build just about anything.

Sadly, Dodson passed away in November 2021 at the age of 78. Learn more about him in this recent blog post.

Leah Friberg (in Memoriam)

Leah Friberg was a a senior strategist with Destrier Communications and renowned thought leader in the B2B and industrial marketing sectors. Her career began on the teaching side of engineering and eventually led her to work for Fluke Corporation with its in-house and field engineers, electricians, and specialists to develop a variety of continuing education materials and skill-development programs with a focus on content marketing. Friberg described herself as focusing on “Industrial & IoT thought leadership, advocacy and connections.” You may have heard her when she led the Fluke Accelix/Fluke Reliability best practice webinars or interacted with her via the Accelix Connected Reliability group on LinkedIn.  Sadly, she passed away suddenly in July 2021.

Before her passing, Friberg spent two years living in France, both to take a break from the corporate world and to spend more time connecting with her family while continuing her dedicated work for the industry.

Maura Abad

Maura Abad is the global relationship leader for ReliabilityWeb.com and the global director of women in reliability and asset management
for the Association of Asset Management Professionals. You’ve likely met her at Certified Reliability Leader (CRL) workshops or at the MaximoWorld industry trade show. She is an industry influencer and an experienced marketer, networker, and thought leader who has authored articles featured in trade magazines, lead riveting discussions on industry trends, and been featured in various forms of social media through her own channels and other leading industry channels.

You can connect with Abad on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Frederic Baudart, CMRP

Frederic Baudart is a the senior product marketing manager for Accruent, a provider of intelligent solutions for the built environment. Previously, he was the lead product application specialist for Fluke Accelix™, a suite of solutions from Fluke Corporation focusing on the company’s process, electrical, thermal, mechanical, and condition monitoring product lines.

He has more than 20 years’ experience in field service engineering work and preventive maintenance industry. He has held different field service and technical positions with responsibility for installation & commissioning as well as services management roles. Baudart is often a presenter at many trade shows and conferences and has written many technical articles and case studies for global trade publications. He is also a Thermal/Infrared Thermography Level I certified and recently obtained his Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP) certification. 

You can find Baudart on LinkedIn.

Ryan Chan, CMRP

Ryan Chan is the founder and CEO at UpKeep, the leading mobile-first CMMS/Enterprise Asset Management System helping maintenance teams deliver reliability to facilities. UpKeep was named the No. 1 Maintenance Management Software by Gartner and has also been recognized as a top place to work in Los Angeles.

Before founding UpKeep in 2016, Chan held roles as a process development engineer and iOS developer. He graduated from U.C. Berkley with a B.S. in chemical engineering and was recently featured in Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” list.

You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

Marie Getsug, CAMA, PMP, CPIP, CRL Black Belt, CMRP/CMRT

Marie Getsug is an experienced industry thought leader and the program manager in the Strategic Consulting – Asset Management division of Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. She is an experienced Asset Management subject matter expert with 30 years of experience in multiple industries including serving as the maintenance and reliability manager for four Fortune100 Companies before her tenure in consulting.

Formally trained and certified in Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM2), Project Management (PMP),Certified Asset Management Assessor (CAMA), Certified Pharmaceutical Industry Professional (CPIP), vibration analysis, ultrasound, lubrication, thermography and Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Getsug is a passionate teacher of reliability concepts, Design for Reliability (DfR), and RCM. She was also selected as one of Putman Media’s Influential Women in Manufacturing in 2018.

You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Maureen Gribble, CMRP

Maureen Gribble is the director of marketing for UE Systems and has been in the maintenance and reliability field since 2006. In her current role, she oversees all the marketing efforts as well as working closely with the training and sales departments as part of the North America Leadership Team. She regularly attends numerous industry events and has been a featured speaker. This industry influencer also serves on the SMRP Board of Directors as the Education Director. Gribble is a CMRP and certified Level I in Ultrasound.

You can find her on LinkedIn.

Michelle Ledet Henley

Michelle Henley has worked with The Manufacturing Game since 1998 as a developer of new simulations and training material. She has traveled worldwide in her capacity as a facilitator and trainer for The Manufacturing Game and other simulations developed by Ledet Enterprises, Inc. Henley has been instrumental in developing simulations with a focus on reliability, project management and distribution. She began her career with KPMG Peat Marwick in San Francisco, CA. then worked for a real estate management and development firm in the Washington, DC area. Before joining The Manufacturing Game®, Henley formed her own company, Innovative Interfaces, which provides computer programming services around the United States. She has a B.B.A. from the University of Texas—Austin in accounting and information services.

You can find her on LinkedIn.

Evan Kirstel

Evan Kirstel is a self-proclaimed “#TechFluencer,” also known as a top technology and industry influencer, with an aggregate social media audience of over 500,000 people and 35K newsletter subscribers. He helps his clients in the industrial and enterprise technology industries drive thought leadership, engagement, and more.

You can connect with Kirstel on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Andy Martin

Andy Martin is an experienced industry thought leader who has expertise in documented successful B2B sales and marketing strategies. He has worked with several global manufacturing companies and helped them leverage bottom line sales growth for customers in a wide array of industries where product meantime between repair is crucial for business continuity. He also has a proficiency in facilitating B2B sales funnel enablement tactics and customer engagement activities through marketing efforts, and has been successful in the strategic planning and execution of integrated sales plans resulting in not only achievement but exceeding specific business and sales goals. He holds a Master’s Degree in advertising design from Syracuse University and a Bachelor’s Degree in communications from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.

You can find him on LinkedIn.

Gregory Perry, eMCP, CMRP, CRL

Gregory Perry is a certified reliability leader (CRL) and the Capacity Assurance Consultant for Fluke Corporation. He has nearly two decades of experience in maintenance and operational best practices and is dedicated to positive client relationships. He brings a broad base of knowledge to customers, including MRO and storerooms, world class maintenance principles, and world-class CMMS consultation and leadership. In addition to providing implementation and consultative services, Perry also presents maintenance best practices sessions at leading industry conferences and has presented at several online best practice webinars.

You can find Perry on LinkedIn.

Chuck Tanner

Chuck Tanner is director of market development for SEPCO. He has more than 30 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry, and he graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He regularly attends industry events, conducts training classes, leads webinar presentations, and authors articles that appear in diferent trade publications.

Tanner may be reached at chuckt@sepco.com or on LinkedIn.

Jason Tranter, ARP-E/L, VCAT-IV 

Jason Tranter is the cofounder of Mobius Institute, starting the company with his partner in 1999. After gaining an engineering degree, Jason began his career in reliability and condition monitoring in 1984.

Involved in the practice of vibration analysis, the development of a wide range of condition monitoring software, and the development of the majority of Mobius Institute’s training software and course material, Tranter is passionate about helping people achieve success in their reliability improvement efforts—whether that is detecting and diagnosing future failures, or avoiding them in the first place. Tranter has worked in Australia and the U.S. and has presented courses, workshops, and technical presentations in many countries around the world.

You can find Tranter on LinkedIn.

Alex Walter

Alex Walter is the chief innovation officer at the A3J Group, a company he formed to address the need for innovative software solutions and integrated consulting services within the EAM industry. He has more than 17 years of experience in business consulting in many industries including life sciences, oil and gas, water and waste management, education, government facilities, and others.

In previous roles, Walter was responsible for many cohesive and compatible software interfaces to the IBM Maximo solution. In 2016, he decided to start the A3J Group to bring the best value to clients during their Maximo experience by utilizing all aspects of technology including cloud based solutions, KPIs tailored specifically to clients’ industries, and enhanced support designed to allow clients to realize the full value from their investments.

You can find him on LinkedIn.

Rendela Wenzel, CMRP

Rendela Wenzel is the global maintenance and reliability leader and rReliability engineering consultant at Eli Lilly and Company. She is a CMRP,  U.S. Army veteran, certified Six Sigma Green Belt, and a trained RCM facilitator with many years of experience in pharmaceutical, automotive, and food and beverage operations. In these roles, Wenzel designs and implements reliability programs, and then facilitates reliability discussions and on-site failure analysis for the company’s 21 manufacturing sites in 13 countries.

As global process owner for reliability, Wenzel is responsible for all of Lilly’s policies and direction for reliability and predictive maintenance. She was also selected as one of Putman Media’s Influential Women in Manufacturing in 2018.

You can find Wenzel on LinkedIn.


Check out our top industry influencers from 2020 here and here in this two-part roundup!

About the Author
Anna Claire Howard is a contributing writer, editor, and content marketing specialist for Sealing Equipment Products Co. Inc. (SEPCO) and has been since Spring 2019. Before those two big life changes, she was the content marketing specialist for Fluke Accelix; assistant editor for Grand View Outdoors, publisher of Bowhunting World, Predator Xtreme, Whitetail Journal, Tactical Retailer, and Shooting Sports Retailer; managing editor for Media Solutions, Inc., publisher of Gear Solutions, Wind Systems, and Thermal Processing magazines; assistant editor for MSI; and the editorial intern for B.A.S.S., LLC, publisher of Bassmaster Magazine and Bassmaster.com. In these B2B/B2C roles, Anna Claire developed an appreciation for the industrial sector, as well as the operators and technicians who make up the workforce. You can find her on LinkedIn at bit.ly/ACHowardLI.