Our Team

Dean Bartles, Ph.D., FSME, FASME

President & Chief Executive Officer, Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group (MTDG)

After serving on the board of NCDMM since 2010, Dr. Bartles was appointed President and CEO in 2019. In 2020, he established the Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group (MTDG), where he currently serves as President and CEO. Dr. Bartles has also held leadership roles as past President of the National Tooling and Machining Association, the North American Manufacturing Research Institute, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Previously, he was the Director of the John Olson Advanced Manufacturing Center at the University of New Hampshire and the founding Executive Director of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII) in Chicago, IL. Prior to his work with DMDII, Dr. Bartles spent 31 years at General Dynamics Corporation, where he managed manufacturing operations in Egypt, Turkey, and the U.S. He also worked as an Industrial Engineer on the A-10 program at Fairchild Republic Company.

Dr. Bartles served as President of the North American Manufacturing Research Institute (2016-2017), President of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (2016), and was the founding Chairman of the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition. He has also chaired the NCDMM Board. Dr. Bartles earned a Ph.D. in Technology Management with a focus on Manufacturing Systems from Indiana State University.

He currently sits on the boards of the National Small Business Association, the National Institute of Metalworking Skills, the MTConnect Institute, and advisory committees for Penn State’s College of Engineering and St. Petersburg College, where he is the 2023 Chair of the Engineering Technology Advisory Committee.