T. Bruce MacKinnon Biography

T. Bruce MacKinnon is executive vice president of Elevator World, Inc., international publisher for the building transportation industry. He takes great pride in continuing the vision of his grandfather, Elevator World founder William C. Sturgeon, who saw Elevator World as the nucleus and main communicator for the industry, while providing it a worldwide marketing platform. Over the past 10 years, MacKinnon has expanded Elevator World through partnerships and new product launches. The company now reaches all corners of the globe through its magazines, including ELEVATOR WORLD, ELEVATOR WORLD India, ELEVATOR WORLD Turkey, ELEVATOR WORLD Middle East and ELEVATOR WORLD China, books and digital newsletters. MacKinnon has spent most of his career in sales/marketing and management and has won numerous sales awards and profit achievements. He earned an associate’s degree in International Business from AIU university.

Marco Waagmeester Biography

Marco graduated from Business Administration at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and started his career as a marketing & sales manager at Avis Autoverhuur B.V. After a few years he became the Commercial Director of the Benelux for Nestlé Waters Direct. One of his results was the introduction of Nestlé Aquarel, the replacement of their own water brand, involving all commercial and operational actions concerning the introduction. After this success he decided to leave the country for a world trip for almost a year. Upon his return he was employed at Vitae as a regional director. Vitae is active in recruitment and in outsourcing interim professionals. He started his career at Liftinstituut Holding B.V. as Director Business Unit Inspections and as of October 2015 he is managing director of Lifinstituut Holding B.V. He is married and has two children.

Bülent Yılmaz Biography

Bülent Yılmaz was born in 1978 in Elazığ, Turkey. He served in Turkish Army for 15 years. He has a masters's degree in international economics. He started worked with Elevator World, Inc. as managing director of Turkey Office in 2014, was also appointed Elevator World Europe and Elevator World Middle East Managing Director. He is currently working at Elevator World, Inc.'s Istanbul Office as Regional Director of Company and MENA representatives of AFAG Messen und Ausstellungen GmbH from Germany.

Ricia Hendrick Biography

Ricia Sturgeon-Hendrick, Publisher and Editor-at-large, grew up with Elevator World, a 67-year-old magazine founded by her father, William Sturgeon. After college in Missouri and working as a staff artist for a Minneapolis-based company she returned to Mobile, Alabama and became Manager of Advertising and Production of the magazine in 1966. She moved to the editorial side of the magazine in 1976 when she became Managing Editor. Hendrick was named publisher in 1986 and president in 1995. Her son, T. Bruce MacKinnon, joined the company in the late 90’s and is now President. Hendrick has served on the NEII Safety Committee for over 35 years overseeing the editing and production of a series of Safety Handbooks, continuing education tests and other Safety products. She has also served on the NAEC Education and Technical Committee for 20 years guiding her company in producing education and training materials for the CET/CAT Education Programs. Active in many industry organizations, including the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation, she was recognized with the NAEC's William C. Sturgeon Distinguished Service Award in 2002 and became an Honorary Member in 2019.

Marjon Oosting Biography

Marjon Oosting her first big wins were in the equestrian sports, being a National champion in dressage and working at the stable of the 10 fold World Champion Anky van Grunsven. After this Marjon started writing her thesis at Nike HQ to fulfill her study Business Administration at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. During her study, Marjon joined exchange programs in Portland (OR), USA and Buenos Aires, Argentina. She started her professional career at design agency Design Bridge. She joined Liftinstituut Holding B.V. in 2008 and is now responsible for all Liftinstituut’s business units marketing activities. One of her latest wins was introducing Liftinstituut’s new logo and branding. Another annual event which Marjon’s team is responsible for is the Safety Awareness Week (www.saw.org) in which the initiative of EESF in ‘Creating awareness for safe use of escalators and elevators’ is expanded.

Louis Bialy Biography

P.E. has 46 years' experience in the design, development and testing of industrial products, including 32 years in elevator and escalator engineering. Mr. Bialy established the Otis Canada R&D Department in 1980 and, since 1984, has led the development of many Otis products in hydraulic, geared and gearless elevators as well as door systems.

In addition, Bialy is an active member of the ISO/TC178 Plenary Committee on lifts, elevators and moving walks as well as several ISO working groups, and serves as a voting member on the ASME A17 Standards Committee on Elevators and Escalators.

Luciano Faletto Biography

Mr Faletto has long-life experience in standardisation and EU legislation in the lift sector. Before the election as Secretary General in June 2017, he has been working with EFESME since its creation in 2005 as technical expert within the CEN/TC10 and ISO/TC178 (lifts, escalators and moving walks) and the UNI (Italian Standardisation Body). Mr Faletto graduated in Mechanical Engineering and, since 1965, he covered different positions in various companies in the lift and escalators sector as Engineering, Marketing & Sales as well as General Manager. Furthermore, since 1999 he is Director of the S.A.L.A. Consulting S.a.s. company with which he provides technical expertise and know-how to SME companies concerning development, disputes and standardisation of lift products. Mr Faletto speaks English fluently in addition to Italian, his mother tongue.

MJ. Mohamed Iqbal Biography

M.J. Mohamed Iqbal, BS in Engineering with specialization in Electrical & Electronics from University of Madras and hold an Master of Business Administration degree with specialization in General, Contractual Management.

Iqbal is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Inc (USA), a Chartered Engineer and Fellow with the Institution of Engineers (India) and a Life Member of All India Management Association. Mohamed Iqbal had authored book on Science. He has been mentioned in “Marquis Who’s Who” in the category of Science & Engineering.

Mohamed Iqbal started his career in Elevator field with Mitsubishi Elevator, Dubai, UAE and occupied various key positions and presided over work on more than 11,000 elevators, escalators and moving walks and supported many major elevator projects in Middle East and India.

Iqbal has successfully instituted Projects Support Office Management, Concurrent Engineering Management and trained & developed many hundreds of Engineers.

After joining with Toshiba Elevator Middle East in 2006 as Managing Director & CEO, he developed Toshiba in Middle Eastern countries particularly UAE, Saudi Arabia, Doha, Azerbaijan, etc.

As an elevator professional who has been working in Elevator Industry for more than 32 years, Iqbal says, younger generation to consider VT as a carrier field. He said, Safety, Quality, Engineering, Technical knowledge and Environmental Protective are all important attributes, the industry needs. Coupled with Sales, Marketing, Installation, Maintenance and design roles, the sector offers a range of opportunities for new blood to help, as Iqbal says, “Make the industry more sound with Safety & Quality intact.”

Iqbal is also Elevator World Correspondent for EWI, EWME and he has been contributing articles for more than 21 years regularly. He also listed in EW Technical Advisory Committee.

John W. Koshak Biography

John W. Koshak is head and founder of Elevator Safety Solutions, Inc., and a member of Elevator World, Inc.’s Board of Directors and Technical Advisory Group. Directly prior to reactivating the company in September 2008, Koshak served as director of Codes and Standards for North America for thyssenkrupp Elevator. He was formerly in research at thyssenkrupp Research, Innovation and Design. Koshak got his start in the industry in 1980 at Westinghouse Elevator Co. and has worked for Dover Elevator, Amtech Elevator and Adams Elevator Equipment Co., where he was vice president of Technical Support. He was a National Elevator Industry Educational Program instructor from 1982 to 1991, designed the LifeJacket hydraulic-elevator safety and holds several patents for elevator-component designs. Koshak is a member of the ASME A17 Standards Committee and a past chairman of the Elevator Escalator Safety Foundation.

Donald Gelestino Biography

With 38 years in the elevator industry, Donald Gelestino has built a career defined by leadership, service, and philanthropy. Starting as a helper in 1986, he rose to found Ver-Tech Elevator Co. and later Champion Elevator, which now services over 6,000 elevators. Donald’s dedication extends beyond business — he's an active supporter of causes like the Maurer Foundation, SUNY Old Westbury, and Tomorrow’s Hope. A past NAEC President and William C. Sturgeon Award recipient, Donald’s impact combines technical expertise with a deep commitment to giving back, ensuring his legacy continues to inspire both industry peers and his community.

John van Vliet Biography

John has a technical background. He graduated for his Bachelor’s Degree from the HTS Rijswijk in Telecommunications. He started his career as a Technical commercial employee at Hestel Electronica in De Bilt. After a year he made the step to Liftinstituut where he started as an inspector of lifts and escalators. Since then he has fulfilled several functions within Liftinstituut such as manager business development. In 2012 he became Technical Director for Liftinstituut Holding B.V. Since October 2015 he is Managing Director for Liftinstituut B.V. He has a wife and two children.

Serdar Tavaslıoğlu Biography

Tavaslıoglu graduated from the Middle East Technical University (METU) Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, Industrial Electricity and Motor Control in 1980. He joined the industry as a cofounder at Astaş A.Ş. He worked as installer and engineer regarding the lifts. Working in the Lift Commission of the Izmir Branch of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers (EMO), Tavaslıoglu worked as Technical Manager, Quality Management System and Technical Consultant as part of the Lift Directive and Machine Safety Directive at SERKON Danışmanlık Ltd. Şti., which he founded, after 1996. During this duty, he participated in the preparation and form-writing of lift controls and control criteria at EMO and MMO Izmir Branches Joint Lift Commission. He worked as a de facto control officer for a long time in the lift control works carried out by this commission in Izmir. He participated in the training activities and establishment of laboratories of the Chambers of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He made an effort to popularize training studies carried out in various cities on lift controls. He also strived to ensure that courses on lifts were given at the university and the establishment of laboratories in the Lift Departments of the Industrial Vocational High School. Tavaslıoglu, who served in the ASTEK Lift Standing Commission and Sub-technical Committees of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, has two published books, “Elektrik Mühendisleri İçin Yapı Denetim Kriterleri” (Building Inspection Criteria for Electrical Engineers) and “Asansörde Pratik Bilgiler” (Practical Information in Lifts). The second edition of the latter was then expanded and published again as “Asansör Uygulamaları” (Lift Practices) in 2005. Additionally, technical and general evaluation articles on lifts have been published in the Chambers’ media channels and lift industry magazines. His last book “EN Elevator Design” printed by Elevator World in 2025. Serdar Tavaslıoglu took a role in the executive boards of the Izmir Lift Symposium and the executive committees of Inelex Izmir Lift Expo. He carried out development works at various manufacturing companies where he worked as a consultant, on lift components such as engines, machines, system solutions, doors, cars, regulators, electro-mechanical and mechanical brake. Serdar Tavaslıoglu currently works as a freelance technical consultant. He publishes articles on www.serdartavasloglu.com.

TAK Mathews Biography

TAK Mathews has over 3 decades experience in the construction and vertical transportation industry. Mathews is a representative on the committee constituted by the Bureau of Indian Standards for rewriting the Elevator & Escalators Codes. He is the Convener of the Panel for writing codes for Lifts and Escalators of the National Building Code of India.
He is a member of the International Association of Elevator Consultants (IAEC), Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)
Mathews was the founder Editor of Elevator World India and the co-founder of the Elevator & Escalator Safety Trust (EEST), a non-profit entity set up with the objective of training users on safe practices while using elevators, escalators and moving walks.
Mathews is a Qualified Elevator Consultant and a Qualified Elevator Inspector. He is a Chartered Engineer.

Robert Cuzzi Biography

A Mechanical Engineering graduate of Manhattan College class of 1986, Robert Cuzzi has dedicated over thirty-four (34) years in the New York City Elevator and Construction Industries, with the last twenty-two (22) years at VDA Elevator Consultants, an industry leader in vertical transportation, where he is currently President and one of the Principal Owners. Robert is extremely active in the elevator and real estate industries, holding various licenses including the QEI (Qualified Elevator Inspector), NYC Elevator Agency Director license, among others; and active in various organizations, including the Elevator Conference of NY (ECNY), IAEC, NAEC, NAESA, REBNY and BOMA, in addition to various charitable organizations.
VDA has been providing consulting services since 1980, worked on many high-profile projects throughout the world, and presently has over thirty (30) offices and 175 employees in the United States.

Jesús De la Peña Biography

Jesús studied industrial engineering in ETSII UNED and Master Industrial Marketing in UPM Madrid Spain, later I collaborated in different industrial companies until I started in the Elevator industry with Kupp Ibérica as sales manager up to 1992, Madrid Sales Manager Schindler iberica up to 1995, to start my development in the Wittur group, I have developed different positions Head of Lift Systems Europe, America and Africa up to 2015, Head of modernization Europe and Africa up to 2018, after 23 years in the Wittur group I started lift Systems Consultant for Gervall & Mechanical and Electrical Components for Vertical Installations (MEVLIFT) COO & CTO up to 2021. Currently Chairman of AECAE since 2016.

Hilkka Hämäläinen Biography

Hilkka Hämäläinen earned her Master of Science (M.Sc.) in mechanical engineering from Aalto University in Finland in 2013. With KONE, from 2014-2017 she was design engineer, 2017-21 chief design engineer, from 2021-22 lead engineer and from 2023 Hilkka Hämäläinen is Senior Lead Engineer.

Fernando Guillemi Biography

Passionate about vertical transportation, Fernando Guillemi has more than 30 years of experience in elevator development and manufacturing. He is the founder and director of Guillemi Tec and Guillemi Group in Argentina, and the creator of the innovative System C, designed for the replacement of hydraulic elevators. Currently, he is the president of the CAA (Argentine Elevators Chamber), directs and writes for the magazine "Subir y Bajar". Additionally, he is a member of the IRAM (Argentine Institute for Standardization and Certification) standards committee. He is former president of FACARA (Federation of Associations and Chambers of Elevators of the Argentine Republic) and CAFAC (Argentine Chamber of Elevator and Component Manufacturers).