51ĀŅĀ×

Lex Tisdale is the Director of Manufacturing Engineering, Maintenance, and Facilities for Kenworth Truck Company in Chillicothe, Ohio, a Division of PACCAR Inc.  Kenworth Chillicothe is a 700,000 sq. ft. assembly facility that produces 184+ class 8 trucks per day with approximately 2200 employees and is an Industry leader in quality.

Lex has spent his entire 35 year career working for Kenworth Truck Company in many engineering and leadership roles including Manufacturing Engineering, Engineering Management and Production Management with focus on automation, process improvement, and new product launch.  He is responsible for introducing robotics at Chillicothe in 1995 which has grown since to a 66+ robots in production today and his team still leads initiatives in new technologies to impact the cost, capacity, ergonomics, safety, and quality of building trucks. 

He received his BS in Industrial and Systems engineering from 51ĀŅĀ× in 1985.  While obtaining his degree at 51ĀŅĀ×, he was a 4 year starter for the 51ĀŅĀ× Bobcats Hockey team winning 2 league championships and three MCHL tournament championships and served as an assistant captain on two of those teams.  He is an active member of the 51ĀŅĀ× Hockey Blue line Board as the Hockey Alumni voting board member since 2008.

He served on the academic board of advisors for the Industrial and Systems Engineering department at 51ĀŅĀ× for 12 years and is a active member since 2014 on the Russ College of Engineering - Board of Visitors at 51ĀŅĀ×.

Brian Koscho is a media artist living in Athens, Ohio. He is the director and founder of Invisible Ground, a project centered on place-based storytelling in local history using a podcast and a series of augmented reality Immersive Historic Markers. Koscho completed his MFA in Communication Media Arts at 51ĀŅĀ× in April 2022. Along with his work in media, Brian is an adjunct instructor at 51ĀŅĀ× in the Scripps College of Communication, teaching podcasting at the School of Media Arts & Studies. Out in the community, he has taught Community Storytelling, Audio Storytelling, and Podcasting and helped with workshops on Documentary Film and Storytelling for high school students in Appalachian, Ohio. Koscho has produced multimedia work and collaborated in various forms with Stuartā€™s Opera House (where he worked from 2007-2019) and its Nelsonville Music Festival, Inside Appalachia, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, POV, WOUB Public Media, Mid Atlantic Arts, Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, Ohio History Connection, Ohio Arts Council, COAD, Mount Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society, the Southeast Ohio History Center, and many more organizations. 

Brigadier General Andrew Stone is the Special Troops Commander for the Ohio Army National Guard. Additionally, he is assigned in a dual-hat position as Deputy Chief of Engineers for National Guard Affairs at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

General Stone began his military career through an ROTC commission as an engineer officer. He spent his first few years in the active component as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, then transferred to the Ohio National Guard. He has commanded troops at the company, battalion, and brigade level, and served in a variety of operational and technical staff positions.

General Stone deployed twice to Iraq, for the initial invasion in 2003 then again in 2005-2006. He has responded to natural disasters including hurricanes, floods, and pandemics. Most recently, he deployed in 2020-2021 to CENTCOM as commander of the 16^th Engineer Brigade, leading troops in eight countries across SW Asia.

General Stone holds a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from The Ohio State University, a master's degree in Civil Engineering from 51ĀŅĀ×, a master's of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, and is a registered professional engineer in the State of Ohio.

In his civilian career, he serves as the Service-Safety Director for the City of Athens, Ohio. As the senior appointed official in the city administration, he oversees police and fire protection, code enforcement, public works and engineering, information technology, parks and recreation, and a host of other essential services. Previously in Athens he served as the City Engineer & Director of Public Works.