Advisory Board

Mr. Michael Payne,
Chairman of the Board, SpaceClaim

Mike Payne brings over 30 years of experience in the software industry to his role on the Advisory board. Mike is the CEO of SpaceClaim, a provider of 3D Technology. Prior to founding SpaceClaim, Mike was Chief Executive Officer of Spatial Corporation, Chief Technology Officer of Dassault Systemes and Executive Vice President of Technology of Dassault Systemes in successive order.

Mr. Payne was a co-founder of SolidWorks and served as Executive Vice President of Research and Development for the company from 1994 to 1999. In this position, he helped establish SolidWorks in its leadership position in the mainstream design-centric market by focusing his efforts on building the right team and refining the definition of the company's products. Prior to joining SolidWorks in 1994, Mr. Payne was a founder and former Vice President of Development for Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). Prior to joining PTC, he was the director of CAD development at Prime Computer.

Mr. Payne holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southampton, a master's in physics from London University, and a master's in business administration from Pace University.

Dr. Richard Riff,
Ford Technical Fellow, CAD/CAM/CAE & PLM, Ford Motor Company

Dr. Richard Riff is the Director of the Ford's Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) initiative and Technical Fellow for Virtual Product Creation and PLM, one of five Technical Fellows at Ford. Dr. Riff joined Ford Motor Company in 1989 as a CAE Technical Specialist, for Automotive Parts Operations Electronics Division.

Before coming to Ford, he was a Professor of Aerospace Structures at Georgia Technological University in Atlanta, Georgia, and at Technion Institute of Technology in Israel, where he received a Bachelor, Masters, Doctorate, and Doctorate of Science in Aeronautic and Mechanical Engineering.