Leadership
Operational Expertise You Trust. Results That Matter.

Michael McCarren is a Managing Partner at TieOx, where he leverages over 25 years of cross-functional leadership experience to drive operational excellence, strategic growth, and business transformation for clients across diverse industries.

Previously, Michael served as the Americas Project Management Office Leader for Hyster-Yale, leading portfolio strategy, execution, change management, and organizational development across the PM discipline. His tenure at Hyster also included roles as Director of Marketing & Sales Strategy and Director of Operational Excellence, where he led initiatives in manufacturing efficiency, product planning, and continuous improvement.

Michael began his career at John Deere, managing global product development projects exceeding $100M and purchasing portfolios over $200M. His engineering background includes extensive work in off-road vehicle design, procurement, and standards development.

In addition to his corporate leadership, Michael is the Co-Founder and President of Greenville United Football Club. Since founding the club in 2020, he has spearheaded its growth from an amateur team to a National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) franchise, building strong community support and organizational infrastructure.

Michael’s passion lies in helping businesses and people reach their full potential through innovation, collaboration, and results-driven leadership.

Clay has been Chief Executive Officer of One3 Design since June 2022. Before assuming the role of CEO, Clay served as the Director of Engineering from 2015 and will now be joining TieOx as a Managing Partner overseeing TieOx’s Engineering projects.

Clay brings over 25 years of experience as a professional consultant and trainer specializing in PTC’s suite of digital engineering solutions. Clay’s expertise spans complex and Class-A surface modeling alongside feature-based parametric CAD model construction. Clay has spearheaded numerous initiatives to implement CAD/CAM technology for clients, leveraging his deep understanding of manufacturing processes. This expertise not only enhances client solutions but also solidifies One3 Design’s reputation as an industry leader. Clay leverages his extensive industry experience to forge strong client relationships and promotes the diverse strengths of One3 Design. He also shapes the direction, speed, and culture of this expanding organization.

A native of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Clay is a graduate of Oklahoma State University, where he earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology and Mechanical Design Technology. His innovative contributions to the field are underscored by the twelve patents he holds.

When not in the office, Clay enjoys activities with his family like hunting, traveling, and attending sporting events.

Hariharan Viswanathan is a senior executive leader with over 20 years of global experience in R&D, manufacturing, and operations across the industrial, agricultural, and material handling sectors.

He specializes in commercializing complex machinery and electrified platforms, scaling high-growth operations, and aligning technology roadmaps with strategic business objectives to drive revenue growth, profitability, and market leadership.  Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President at Solectrac, where he built product development, operations, and after-sales organizations, generating $20M in revenue by Year 2 while expanding manufacturing capacity and securing strategic partnerships.

Previously, he held progressive leadership roles at John Deere, including Director of the R&D Center for compact tractors and loaders and Director of the China Engineering Center. He also led worldwide new product development at Crown Equipment.  Hariharan brings deep expertise in global team development, capital expansion, new product commercialization, and electrification strategies.

Elizabeth Arthur is the HR Business Partner at TieOx, where she delivers people-centered HR strategies that enhance operational excellence and foster organizational growth. Certified in PHR and SHRM-CP, Elizabeth brings expertise in strategic talent management, agile people operations, and process optimization.

With a robust background in global talent acquisition, employee engagement, and implementation of HR best practices, she ensures TieOx attracts, develops, and retains top talent. Elizabeth partners with leaders to align culture and HR programs with business goals—driving performance, inclusivity, and sustainable team development.

Passionate about building strong team dynamics, Elizabeth transforms HR into a strategic business driver, helping TieOx and its clients thrive through effective people solutions.

A Senior Software & Analytics Solutions Developer with over 18 years of experience, Ahmed Kafil architects, builds, and deploys robust full-stack software solutions that leverage data and analytics to solve complex business challenges. He excels at translating intricate business requirements into technical strategies and leads the development of end-to-end software solutions, from back-end logic to user-facing applications.

He is a trusted advisor who specializes in designing and implementing scalable data solutions. Ahmed guides clients and teams to deliver high-performance applications and data platforms that drive tangible business value, ensuring best practices are followed across the entire software development lifecycle. He also specializes in establishing data governance frameworks and creating insightful visualizations that provide actionable business intelligence.

Swapnil Gujarathi is a highly accomplished Senior GD&T Consultant & Trainer with over 24 years of experience in Plastics & Sheet Metal Product Design, Development, and Tolerance Analysis. As an ASME-USA Certified Senior-Level GD&T Professional (GDTP-S), he brings world-class expertise in ASME Y14.5 and ISO GPS Geometrical Tolerancing Standards, empowering engineers and organizations to achieve precision, quality, and manufacturability in product design.

With an extensive track record of conducting 600+ training programs and mentoring 11,000+ engineers across India, USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, China, Malaysia, and Singapore, Swapnil has established himself as a trusted authority in GD&T, ISO GPS, and Tolerance Stack-up Analysis. His training approach blends in-depth technical expertise with real-world applications, ensuring participants can apply concepts effectively in design, manufacturing, and quality processes.

Operations & Environmental Health and Safety Leader

Doug Ward is an operations leader with more than 25 years of experience in manufacturing and industrial production environments. He has led engineering, maintenance, and plant organizations where safety, reliability, and production discipline directly determine business performance.

His career began in equipment design and manufacturing engineering and progressed into plant leadership and enterprise reliability strategy. Doug has worked within complex production environments to improve flow, strengthen standard work, reduce variability, and align maintenance and capital execution with operational demand.

He is known for bringing structure to operations — establishing clear performance expectations, reinforcing accountability at every level, and embedding safety into daily execution rather than treating it as a parallel function. His approach reflects a deep understanding of how disciplined production systems support both people and performance.

Doug holds professional certifications in reliability and safety and has contributed to the development of national safety standards. He views operational excellence as a daily discipline — driven by visible leadership, clear standards, disciplined problem solving, and continuous improvement embedded in everyday execution.

Rick Frazier is a Learning & Development strategist, LMS architect, and certified leadership facilitator with over 20 years of experience helping organizations elevate performance through technology-enabled training, people development, and operational excellence. As the owner of RFC Learning and administrator of enterprise-level learning ecosystems, Rick partners with manufacturing, healthcare, and service organizations to build scalable, modern learning environments that drive capability, accountability, and measurable business results.

Rick has deep technical expertise across today’s leading learning platforms, including Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, OpenOlat, Workday Learning, and SAP SuccessFactors Learning. He specializes in custom LMS implementations, system migrations, instructional design workflows, and HRIS/LMS integrations—most notably with ADP—which enable automated learning assignments, compliance reporting, and multi-site workforce development.

A certified facilitator in Situational Leadership® II (SLII), Everything DiSC®, Agile EQ®, and a practitioner of FranklinCovey and Bob Pike instructional design methodologies, Rick blends behavioral science with practical training design. He is known for simplifying complex leadership concepts into actionable tools that empower frontline leaders, supervisors, and emerging talent to communicate effectively, lead with clarity, and perform with confidence.

In addition to his corporate learning leadership, Rick is the co-owner of Wave Diagnostics, a diagnostic imaging practice serving communities across Mississippi and Alabama. Through this venture, he applies his strengths in operations, compliance, and customer-centered process design to the healthcare sector.

Rick’s passion lies in helping organizations and people reach their full potential through innovative learning technologies, world-class leadership development, and results-driven performance strategies.

Millissa is a seasoned business and private equity strategist specializing in generating revenue velocity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) poised for growth.

For nearly 20 years, she has provided simple, turnkey marketing and project management solutions to accelerate revenue in areas including all facets of marketing, relational marketing, goals-based team management, E&C-level experiences, event management, cause & loyalty marketing programs, capital campaign management, AI-driven social media and Google Ads, along with asset acquisition and repositioning.

A Ferris State University graduate, Millissa spent over 11 years at Whirlpool Corporation in roles across human resources, consumer services, sales & marketing, PR, and communications. She advanced quickly within the KitchenAid brand, holding various management positions while successfully managing two national product recalls that were later recognized as best practices for building customer and brand loyalty.

In 2005, she became Director of Marketing for Cornerstone Builders, a custom home builder in southwest Michigan, leading the company to its most profitable years and earning it recognition as one of the region’s premier custom builders. That same year, she launched SBS Forward.

Millissa has served on several boards and been actively involved with organizations such as the Farmville Chamber of Commerce (current member), New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce (former member and client), New Bern Military Alliance, Defense Alliance of North Carolina, and the Junior League of Greater New Bern (former board member).