Meet the Faculty

Karen Druffel is an Associate Professor at Framingham State University in the Department of Management and Business & IT. Before joining Framingham State in 2003, she worked as a technology consultant and project manager for clients including Chase and Wells Fargo banks, eTrade, and GE.

She earned a BA from the University of Illinois, an MS from Northwestern University McCormack College of Engineering, and a JD from DePaul University.

Her areas of research include team dissensus in student teams, the effect of technology on moral disengagement, and corporate social responsibility in global supply chains.

Dr. Percy Chinoy is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Graduate and Continuing Education where he has taught courses such as Marketing Principles and Analytical Tools for Managers for the past ten years. 

Percy holds a full-time position as Senior Director, Business Development at XG Sciences where he is responsible for driving business strategy, partner alliances, new business opportunities, and sales pipeline for graphene nanotechnology across a broad range of markets.

Percy has over 25 years of experience in companies such as American Superconductor, Parker Hannifin, Rohm and Haas, and Tyco Electronics, developing new markets, commercializing new technologies and products, growing revenue, and building cross-cultural business relationships across the US, Europe and Asia.  Percy is passionate about teaching and using his extensive work experience to enrich his students’ learnings.    

Percy earned his Ph.D. in Chemical and Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY and MBA from Boston College.

Percy is a huge fan of the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics.  Percy loves tennis and has played competitively on several Boston-area club teams.  He has enjoyed travelling across the US, Europe and Asia and getting to know the local people, culture, food and of course, the business environment. 

As CEO of a mid-sized international industrial firm, Bill Carroll managed through nearly every internal and external challenge a commercial enterprise can face. The abrupt exit of the company founder and the sale of the company to a German shareholder set the stage for his assumption of the company’s leadership – a situation made fortuitous by Carroll’s having managed every major function in the company.  A subsequent joint venture merged the company with its industry rival, spurring a host of integration and culture issues to be managed. Although most mergers fail to achieve their intended ends, Carroll’s company increased both market share and profitability.  The economic crisis of 2008 slashed the top line by 35% and forced Carroll’s parent company into receivership, but notwithstanding multiple crises, no debt was incurred and profitability was still attained.

As a beneficiary of management experience ranging from a Fortune 100 to an Inc. 500 firm, Carroll underpins his instruction with perspective gained from 20+ years of international experience, including foreign assignments in Hong Kong, Japan, and Latin America.

Bill Carroll Business Coaching LLC has since its inception three years ago been supporting multiple company leadership teams here and in the United Kingdom with core challenges spanning strategy, operations, new business development, innovation and finance.

In addition to his regular and widely read Leadership and business management blog on LinkedIn, Carroll has developed and taught MBA and undergraduate Leadership courses at Framingham State University and Tufts University. His other MBA work at Hult International Business School involves coaching student teams in solving real world business issues presented by some of the world’s most influential enterprises. In 2015 his teams’ solutions were selected by Philips and IBM from among dozens of alternative worldwide competitors.

An alumnus of Framingham State University, Carroll holds an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is presently developing a virtual business coaching book draft entitled “The Business in Your Life, Your Life in Business”.

Al has a long career in accounting and business management working in diverse industries including high technology, medical devices, electrical generation, non-profit organizations, shoe manufacturing and jewelry manufacturing and distribution.   As a specialist in managerial accounting he has advanced through accounting and administrative fields holding such positions as Business Manager, Vice President of Finance and Administration and Operations Controller. He serves as an adjunct professor on the faculty of Assumption College in Worcester, MA where he instructs Finance and Accounting courses. He is also a Consultant with AdaptivePro, helping businesses improve financial planning efficiency and productivity using cloud-based corporate performance measurement and business intelligence systems. Al has a BA from The College of the Holy Cross and an MBA from Babson College.

Ivan Fernandez has been a visiting lecturer of Economics and Finance at Framingham State University since 2002, as well as other institutions in the area. Originally from Spain, he is a graduate of 1999 from Framingham State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Mathematics. Upon graduating from FSU Ivan directly consulted for the Spanish Under Secretary of Education.  Ivan then attended Brandeis University International Business School where he graduated with a degree in International Economics and Finance.

After graduating from Brandeis, Ivan joined Fidelity Investments as an Analyst in their Defined Benefit Implementation division, where he had the opportunity to work with large corporations such as PepsiCo, Ford Motor Company, and Colt Firearms. In 2004, Ivan returned to Spain to head up a series of projects for Pullmans Llaneza, a leading transit and logistics company located in Northern Spain with operations across the European Union and northern Africa.

In 2006, Ivan returned to Boston and joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA to lead a team of analysts which assessed the impact of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform on existing products.  After completion of the assessment, Ivan has since been working as a Research Analyst for the Market Planning and Product Innovation group where he currently focuses on quantitative analysis, competitive intelligence, and strategic planning.

Ivan has taught undergraduate macroeconomics and microeconomics and currently teaches FINA 929 Financial Management and QUAN 905 Managerial Science.

Bruce is currently the North American Sales Manager at QED Technologies, responsible for business development and product sales into commercial and government markets.  QED Technologies designs and builds high precision CNC systems for the manufacturing of high precision optics that are required in semiconductor fabrication, laser energy systems and space and airborne imaging.  

Bruce has developed his teaching credentials over the past several years as a guest entrepreneurship-business instructor/lecturer at the University of Rochester and Emerson College. In addition, he has worked with the National Science Foundation's I-Corp and SBIR/STTR programs as well as VentureWell.  From his professional experience as an Optical Engineer and Sales Executive, Bruce has focused on "Effective Entrepreneurship Sales" or simply said, why is it so hard to sell something new and how to get there quickly.   Bruce has had the good fortune of having outstanding mentors  from his early days at Texas Instruments through start-up opportunities at Cognex, Genuity and Advanced Electron Beams.  When people ask him what he does,  his simply replies, "I am a professional problem solver with a keen eye for economics and revenue".

Bruce spent his formative years working for Texas Instruments - Electro Optics Division as an Optical Engineer and Manufacturing Manager, where he developed a strong foundation for both the design and manufacturer of electro-optics imaging systems.  He  received his BS in Optical Engineering from the University of Rochester where he was a  DIVIII NCAA intercollegiate football athlete.   Bruce also received his MBA  from the University of Dallas Braniff School of Management.

Jake Gerstein has over 20 years of experience as a senior executive and IT leader in the financial, aviation, and professional services sectors.  He obtained a Master's of Science in Software Engineering from DePaul University and studied history at Johns Hopkins University, writing his thesis on Black Republican political power in post-Reconstruction Mississippi.  He is a member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) and holds certifications in cloud solution architecture, Scrum methodology, and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
 
Jake has presented on cloud computing solutions, and their financial and business applications, at industry conferences and community events. When not working, he practices Thai kickboxing, mentors Chicago high school students through the Chicago Scholars program, and exhibits highly mercurial reading habits.  He is currently undertaking his most important project: starting a family with his wife, AnJelique, in the Chicago area. 

Fahlino Sjuib is a Professor of Economics and the Chair of the Department of Economics at Framingham State University (FSU).  He is also currently served as the Co-Director of MetroWest Economic Research Center (MERC) at FSU.  He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Kansas State University.  His research is focusing on empirical macroeconomics and financial economics.  His recent works have appeared in Journal of Business and Economics Research, International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, and Empirical Economics Letter.  He had served as a Senior Macroeconomic Advisor for the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Economic Governance (AIPEG).  In his role at AIPEG, he provided technical support and analyses on fiscal policy and financial development issues in Indonesia.  Prior to that, he served as a member of Indonesia-Japan Economic Cooperation Working Team, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).  As a member of the team, he prepared a policy study on monetary and macroeconomic policies in Indonesia.  Dr. Sjuib teaches Economic Analysis course.