Production System Optimization

Mark Spearman is the Technical Director of the Project Production Institute and Director of Technical Solutions for Strategic Project Solutions.

Before joining SPS, Spearman was associate professor industrial engineering and management sciences at Northwestern University, professor of industrial and systems engineering at Georgia Tech, and Department Head of industrial engineering and systems engineering at Texas A&M University.

After leaving academia in 2001, he formed Factory Physics, Inc., a consulting and software company dedicated to helping manufacturing companies improve their operations. In 2018, FPI was acquired by SPS and he joined the team.

Spearman is coauthor with Wallace J. Hopp of the book, Factory Physics, named the Institute of Industrial Engineers Book of the Year.

H.J. James Choo, Ph.D is Chief Technical Officer of Strategic Project Solutions, Inc. and a member of the Technical Committee for Project Production Institute (PPI).

He has been leading research and development of project production management and its underlying framework of Operations Science knowledge, processes, and systems to support implementation of large capital projects globally since 2001.

James has worked with high profile organizations in oil & gas, life sciences, heavy industrial, civil infrastructure, aerospace & defense and other industries.  He has also worked with many manufacturing companies to improve their service levels by reducing lead times and optimizing inventory through the use of Operations Science.

James is a frequent contributor to research and curriculum for Texas A&M University, University of California at Berkeley, and California Polytechnic State University.

Prior to joining SPS, his experience included roles as a construction site engineer, research associate at research institutes, teaching assistant at universities, and software developer. He has been developing computer systems for implementation of Lean Construction since 1997 during his Ph.D. studies at UC Berkeley.

James has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Yonsei University, Korea.  He holds a Ph.D. in Construction Engineering & Management from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of University of California at Berkeley.  He is also certified as a Master Factory Physicist from Factory Physics, Inc.