Vice President, Manufacturing and World Wide Operation of National Instrument

As vice president of manufacturing for National Instruments, Rob Porterfield oversees the worldwide manufacturing organization including purchasing production, operations, and services. Porterfield and team focus on continuously improving customer satisfaction and production efficiency, lowering material costs, reducing quoted product lead times, managing inventory levels, and ensuring the timely release of new products into production. Since joining NI in 1993 as a warehousing supervisor, Porterfield has held positions including materials manager, planning manager, director of international operations and global planning, and director of international operations and global supply chain. Prior to joining NI, Porterfield worked as a design engineer at General Dynamics. Porterfield holds a master’s degree in business administration from The University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Auburn University.

VP Technology, IDA Ireland

Mícheál Smith leads IDA Ireland’s Technology Division across Texas, the Mid-West and the South-East. Mícheál works with US companies making the leap into Europe for the first time and is also responsible for maintaining the relationship between IDA and many of the leading technology brands at a corporate level across the region who already have a presence in Ireland.

IDA Ireland, the Irish Government’s inward investment agency, promotes Ireland as a cost efficient and effective bridge to Europe and EMEA for US and other international companies. IDA works with its existing client base of over 1000 of the world’s top companies in an effort to ensure the development of their internationally-focused activities in Ireland.

Mícheál has recently moved to the USA from Asia where he spend 7 years. The first 4 of those years were with Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, based in The Embassy of Ireland in Singapore, with an Asian-wide Economic and Innovation remit. He then went on to open IDA Ireland’s first ASEAN office, which he ran for 3 years.

Previous to his time in Asia Mìcheál spent 4 years as an Economic Analyst with Ireland’s Department of Communications and Energy while also working weekends and holidays in his Family’s food business.

Mìcheál holds a BSC in Management (Business & Economics) from Queen’s University Belfast and a MSC in Economic Policy Studies from Trinity College Dublin.

(FYI Mícheál is Irish for Michael and pronounced Me-Haul)

Sujiro Seam joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998. In 2001, he moved to Brussels, working as a national expert in the World Trade Organisation Dispute Settlement Unit of the Directorate General for Trade in the European Commission. In 2004, he joined the Permanent Representation of France to the European Union, as Counsellor in charge of fisheries, regional policy, outermost regions, overseas countries and territories and maritime affairs. In this capacity he chaired the working parties on these matters under the French Presidency of the European Union in 2008. 

In 2009, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, where he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for food security and economic development. He was promoted Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Public Goods in 2011 and then for Development and Global Public Goods in 2013. During these years in the Headquarters, he was in charge of the preparation of the Ministerial Conference of the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille in 2012 and led the French Delegation to the Development Working Group of the G20. 

Sujiro Seam was appointed Consul General of France in Houston on 17 June 2013. He holds a diploma from the Paris Graduate School of Management (École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, class of 1993), and also studied in the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Institut d’études politiques de Paris, 1993/1994) and in the National School of Administration (École Nationale d’administration, class of 1998).

Adriana Cruz

Vice President Global Expansion & Recruitment
Austin Chamber of Commerce
512.322.5626
acruz@austinchamber.com

Adriana Cruz is the Vice President of Global Corporate Recruitment for the Austin Chamber of Commerce, representing a five county region with a population of 1.7 million. Cruz has over 20 years of strategic marketing and account management experience with 14 years specializing in economic development marketing.
Her current responsibilities include promoting the Austin region around the globe to recruit and attract companies for relocation or expansion. Her industry focus includes corporate and regional headquarters and convergent technologies including software, semiconductor, and nanotechnology. She has assisted globally recognized companies in their relocation or expansion to Austin including Hanger Orthopedic, LegalZoom, Facebook, and eBay.
Since 2007 she has overseen the Chamber’s international program, including hosting over 90 international business delegations and dignitaries representing more than 30 countries.
Prior to joining the Chamber, Mrs. Cruz worked as an economic development consultant where she prepared economic development marketing strategies for communities across the country. Adriana also served as Director of Marketing in Governor Rick Perry’s Economic Development and Tourism Office, where she oversaw the state’s economic development marketing initiatives including the development of the “Texas Wide Open for Business” brand campaign, and the TexasOne marketing program.
Adriana received her B.B.A in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin.  She is President of the Foreign Trade Zone Corporation of Central Texas, a Board member of EDCO Ventures, and a member of the Texas Economic Development Council.

Wouter Last is a no-nonsense, enthusiastic, radiant people person. For Wouter, relationships are central. After studying Information Technology, working at Shell(NAM) & 30 years of experience in the Oil & Gas /Petrochemical Industry he is now focusing on the quickly diminishing line between IT and Automation Control. His ability to provide great work is due to his characteristics. Entrepreneurship, enthusiasm, customer focus, quality, and integrity play a crucial role. As a professional, he takes a flexible and creative approach to new challenges. Wouter values a compact enterprise where colleagues communicate well and pursue common goals.

Geert C. Visser is currently the President of the Netherlands – American Chamber of Commerce, Texas Chapter and the former Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of the Netherlands He has exercised the position of Executive Secretary of the Consular Corps of Houston, Texas, since 2006. On January 01, 2010, Geert Visser was appointed Regional Director in the U.S. for the Port of Rotterdam. Since 1982, Geert Visser has occupied the position of President of Global Marine Transport Inc. With more than 30 years of experience in the Marine Transportation industry, Geert has carried out and contributed to Marine Transportation projects throughout the world. Prior to his relocation to Houston, in 1978, Geert was Vice President of the Dutch Marine Installation company of Heerema Marine Contractors and as such was stationed in The Hague, The Netherlands, in London, England, in Aberdeen, Scotland, and in Port Gentile in the Congo. Geert’s work environments have exposed him to different cultures and his extensive work experience has consistently involved operation management, diplomacy, and technical and security issues. Geert Visser is a Dutch national and has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of The Hague, The Netherlands. Besides his native Dutch, his languages include English and German.

As an Area Director for the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), Ms. Turner helps growing U.S. businesses setup their European operations. For those companies well entrenched in Europe, she discusses and helps evaluate strategies for expansion as well as cost savings and consolidation.

Based in Atlanta, Ms. Turner reaches out to generate business expansion interest in the southeastern U.S. region, including important economic areas such as Atlanta, Raleigh, the greater DC region, Texas and the South East. Prior to joining the NFIA, Ms. Turner was project manager at the Rotterdam Municipal Port Authorities. She gained European business development experience while assisting companies as they established European distribution centers and facilitating the development of business partnerships. Previously, Ms. Turner worked at the European headquarters for Nissan Motor Parts in Amsterdam, where she focused on business planning, market research and project management.

Project Manager, Transatlantic Relations