Officers
Michael W. McMahon is the Chief Executive Officer. Mike has 35 years of executive experience in operations and business development of Fortune 100 companies such as Fluor and Jacobs. Throughout his career he has been responsible for over $19 billion of engineering, construction, startup and commissioning of facilities worldwide, primarily serving clients in the high tech industry, DOE and DOD. He has compiled a record of personal achievement in project turnarounds, business development, process controls & improvements, startups, joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions and profit improvement initiatives. He recognizes issues vital to organizational success and then focuses his team on overcoming all obstacles to progress. Mike’s management skills are complemented by a talent for translating creative thought into an actionable strategies, and by his ability to recognize, communicate, and keep his teams focused on the core issues at hand.
Board of Directors
Edward S. Adams - Chairman of the Board – Ed co-founded Focus Capital Group, Inc., a former investment-banking firm Ed is the cofounder of a business consulting and financial advisory practice, which through acquisition and organic growth grew to $30 million in annual revenue. As an attorney, business advisor and consultant, Ed has billions of dollars of transactional experience. Ed has written and spoken on various corporate and commercial topics to over two hundred law firms, bar groups, and companies, and has served on numerous private and public company boards of directors.
Dr. Robert C. Linares is a co-founder of the Diamond Technology and will serve on the board of directors of Scio Diamond. Dr. Linares brings extensive and diverse experience in the field of crystal growth technologies. Dr. Linares holds a doctorate in chemical engineering as well as a master’s in business administration. He began his career at Bell Laboratories and Perkin Elmer, where in each case he was responsible for the development of single-crystal substrates necessary for specific technologies, including some of the first high-powered ruby and YAG lasers. Later, as head of a development team at M/A-COM (now part of Tyco Electronics), his work focused on the development of single crystal Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) as a viable semiconductor medium. He subsequently founded Spectrum Technology, Inc., which designed and built a very efficient manufacturing facility that within three years became the number one manufacturer of GaAs wafers in the U.S. (and number two in the world, second only to Sumitomo in Japan). Following the sale of Spectrum to NERCO Advanced Materials (NYSE: NER), Dr. Linares began fundamental research into a number of advanced semiconductor materials, especially diamond, that would allow electronics and optics technology to move beyond the limitations of silicon based devices.
Bern McPheely joined the Scio Board of Directors in August 2012.
Mr. McPheely has been in leadership positions at Hartness International for over thirty years, currently serving as President. A leader in total solutions to the packaging industry, Hartness provides equipment to customers in more than 100 countries. From startup and under Bern’s guidance, Hartness has been profitable every quarter since 1982. He spearheaded short and long term strategic planning, including four major company-wide transformations to reposition the Hartness value proposition, product portfolio and go-to-market strategy. Bern negotiated and executed the sale of Hartness to ITW (Illinois Tool Works) and was responsible for shepherding the transition from a family owned business to a public company. He has also been responsible for successful synergistic acquisitions.
From 2000-2002, Bern was chairman of the PMMI (packaging association representing members with $6 billion in sales). Bern was honored by Start Magazine as one of the top ten “CEO Visionaries Who Ignite Technology” and has briefed President Clinton and cabinet members on the state of US business.
Bern previously worked with the US Department of Commerce. A graduate of The Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management, Bern also received his undergraduate degree from Albion College in Albion Michigan.
Michael R. Monahan – Board Member – Michael co-founded Focus Capital and has more than fifteen years experience as an investment banker he focused on financings for early stage companies preparing for significant growth. He has considerable experience as a strategic advisor on new product and market analysis, competitive landscape development, strategic planning development and implementation, corporate structuring, financial modeling and valuation analysis, financings, transaction support, deal management and coordination. Michael is an honors graduate of Siena College, and of Albany Law School.
Theodorus Strous brings over 20 years of diamond industry experience at the highest levels to Scio Diamond.
Theo was a Managing Director and a member of the Executive Committee of the Antwerp Diamond Bank until 2010. He was responsible for many aspects of ADB, including strategy and management of the home market, international division, and product development for the bank.
Prior to the ADB, Theo ran a diamond industry consultancy. As an executive with ABN Amro and ABN Amro Bank in the Antwerp Diamond Center, he held numerous management positions from 1988 to 1997. From 1985 to 1988, Theo was employed by ABN Amro Bank to help salvage and restructure the bank’s diamond credit portfolio, which was at the time one of the largest in the world. Through his two-plus decades in the diamond industry, Theo has gained an invaluable understanding of managing the various aspects of diamond company risks during periods of both prosperity and severe downturns.
A graduate of the Universite’ Libre de Bruxelles with a degree in economics, he also attended the Central State Jury in Brussels, Belgium. Theo began his banking career as a clerk with Generale Bank (Fortis today) and gained his first management experience at one of the investment and corporate branch offices.
