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Inside Iowa State
Feb. 20, 1998

Bakker leads tech center

by Tracy Griffin, News Service intern

Willem Bakker, chairman of Manufacturing System Services Inc. and director of ERS-Tech Inc., Peoria, Ill., was appointed director of the Iowa Manu-facturing Technology Center (MTC), Ankeny, effective Feb. 1.

Manufacturing System Services Inc., a company Bakker founded in 1993, designs, repairs and services factory automation. ERS-Tech Inc., which Bakker founded in 1989, develops and markets human-performance assessment systems and other medical devices. Bakker also served as vice president of Advanced Technology Services from 1989 to 1993, and vice president of the TransTechnology Corp. from 1972 to 1988.

Bakker received a B.S. in electrical engineering (1969) from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, and an M.B.A. in marketing (1972) from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.

The Iowa MTC provides technical and business assistance to small and mid-sized manufacturers in an effort to improve the competitiveness of Iowa companies.

Field agents throughout the state conduct assessments of companies to identify areas for improvement and then link clients to the resources needed to make those improvements.

MTC is managed through ISU Extension and partners with Des Moines Community College, all of Iowa's community colleges, the Iowa Dept. of Economic Development, Iowa Assn. of Business and Industry, and other organizations that promote Iowa manufacturers.

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