JOHN HYDE
Founder & Chairman

John Hyde is the Founder and Chairman of the Board for Hyde Engineering + Consulting, a firm of 80 professionals specializing in providing process systems design, commissioning, validation and FDA compliance services to biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturers. 

Prior to the formation of Hyde Engineering + Consulting, John was Senior Project Engineer with Synergen, a biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing company located in Boulder, CO. His work at Synergen included design, start-up and validation of key process systems and the overall responsibility for the cleaning validation programs for the firm's large scale and clinical manufacturing facilities. From 1982 to 1992, John was Manager, Process Systems Design with Seiberling Associates, Inc., an engineering firm specializing in the design and start-up of pharmaceutical, dairy and food process systems and the application of CIP technology.

John has presented papers at numerous engineering conferences and short courses on topics including biopharmaceutical process systems design, cleaning and cleaning validation principles and practices, FDA compliance strategies, and control systems design for manufacturing processes. He has published ten articles on these subjects. John served as a member of the PDA Subcommittee for Biopharmaceutical Cleaning Validation and in this capacity he contributed two chapters to a book on the subject. John serves on the board of the Society of Bioprocess Professionals (SBP) and he is a regular speaker on conferences presented by SBP, ISPE, PharmaConference, IVT, Microrite and other professional societies. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in Food Science and Business Administration, and a Master’s degree in Food Engineering, all from Ohio State University.

SIMON FORDER
Principal Consultant & CEO

Simon Forder is President and Chief Executive Officer for Hyde Engineering + Consulting, where is he responsible for strategic leadership and growth of the organization.  In addition to his leadership responsibilities, Simon is responsible for developing and executing sales strategy, business development and driving the company’s marketing efforts.  
Simon joined Hyde Engineering + Consultingin 2003 and was responsible for opening and developing West Coast operations in South San Francisco and San Diego.  Responsibilities included overseeing engineering and validation programs for a number of biopharmaceutical manufacturing companies. 

Prior to joining Hyde Engineering + Consulting, Mr. Forder held the role of Process Development Project Manager with Nektar (formally Inhale Therapeutic Systems), a pharmaceutical research and manufacturing company located in San Carlos, CA. His responsibilities at Nektar included design, procurement, start-up and validation of key process and utility systems for pilot stage and clinical development of ExuberaÒ inhaled insulin.

From 1991 - 1995 Mr. Forder worked for Archer Daniel Midland (ADM)/BioSys. There he was responsible for plant start-up, technology transfer and manufacturing operations at ADM Bio-products Division.

Prior to ADM/BioSys, Mr. Forder held positions at Cetus/Chiron (now Novartis) in the manufacturing of fermentation and cell culture based process systems. Mr. Forder holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fermentation Science from the University of California at Davis.

Peter Watler
Principal Consultant & CTO

Peter K. Watler, Ph.D, is currently the Chief Technical Officer for Hyde Engineering + Consulting (Hyde ) where he is responsible for the strategic direction of Hyde and its expansion into new technical markets. Dr. Watler joined Hyde in 2007 as the Vice President of West Coast Operations. Dr. Watler brings 19 years of process development and GMP manufacturing experience in the biotechnology industry.  His areas of expertise include process validation, fermentation, centrifugation, filtration, chromatography, process modeling, capacity planning, economic/COGs analysis, facility validation and manufacturing operations.  He has prepared 3 IND and BLA submissions and participated in four FDA inspections and numerous GMP audits.

Dr. Watler began his career in Toronto, Canada as a Process Development Engineer with Allelix Biopharmaceuticals. Dr Watler then spent 12 years at Amgen leading process development, manufacturing support and pilot plant operations. As an Associate Director, he oversaw the start-up of a 35,000 ft pilot plant for monoclonal antibodies.  He also developed teams and systems for technology transfer, scale-up and pre-clinical production. His commercial experience includes the scale-up, optimization and process validation for Neupogen®, Stemgen®, Kepivance® and Infergen®.

Dr. Watler was most recently Vice President, Manufacturing Operations at VaxGen, where he led the design, construction, commissioning and validation of a 1000 L microbial manufacturing facility. In addition to overseeing production operations, Dr. Watler led the CMC team, and prepared submissions for the FDA, NIH and DHHS.

Dr. Watler has authored over 30 publications and presentations on manufacturing operations, process validation and process optimization. He holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Yamaguchi University, Japan.

CHUCK POSKIE
Principal Consultant & CFO

Chuck Poskie joined Hyde Engineering + Consulting in 1996 and is currently the Chief Financial Officer. Chuck's responsibilities include the day-to-day business operations, including the management of all financial and infrastructure services.

In addition to his duties at Hyde Engineering + Consulting, Chuck was the Director of the 2004 and 2005 Society of Bioprocessing Professionals course "Automation Technologies for Bioprocessing Operations" and was the Director of the 2002 ASME BioProcess Technology Seminars course "Control Systems and Automation Technologies."  

Prior to joining Hyde Engineering + Consulting, Chuck spent fourteen years as a Quality Engineer at Warner Lambert Company where he was responsible for the manufacturing of a wide variety of pharmaceutical and consumer products and R&D pilot plant operations. Chuck has a B.S. in Chemistry and Business from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and a Master’s in Business Administration from Rockford College in Illinois.

RONALD BERK
Principal Consultant & COO

Ronald Berk joined Hyde Engineering + Consulting Consulting (Hyde ) in 1999.  As Hyde Engineering + Consulting's Chief Operating Officer, Ronald is responsible for the management of all professional services and the management of projects involving process design, control systems and validation services for pharmaceutical and related processes across North America and international locales.  Ronald has extensive experience in project management, process CIP/SIP design, design consultation and engineering services for new and existing biotech pilot and production facilities, including commissioning, system start-ups, cycle tuning and troubleshooting for process equipment, CIP systems, SIP and related manufacturing systems.

Ronald's career began in the Netherlands, as a Process and Design Engineer with Nucon Nuclear Technology, stationed in San Jose, CA. He was responsible for plant layout design including piping plans and isometrics of various cooling and clean-up systems in addition to serving as liaison engineer for the European office for the Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (SBWR) project. In 1992 he joined Stork Engineers and Contractors, later to be Jacobs Engineering in the Netherlands. Ronald was responsible for safety analyses, process/system design, and project engineering at various projects for Nuclear Power Plants in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Ukraine.

In addition to his depth of experience in design and project management, Ronald has served as an expert witness and consulted on complex litigation cases for large construction projects, providing liability, responsiveness, man loading and cost analyses. Ronald graduated from the Higher Technical College Amsterdam with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1987 with a minor in Business Management and completed training in Total Quality Management in 1995 when working for Stork Engineers and Contractors.