Since 1925, Caterpillar Inc. has been helping our customers build a better world – making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent.
Week of November 2, 2020
Guest Speaker: Mark Vannette, Product Manager
Bio:
Mark is the Worldwide Product Manager for Medium Tractor Products (MTP) in the Earthmoving Division. He has responsibility for medium track-type tractors, track-type loaders and pipelayers worldwide, including accountability for the total business: OPACC, PINS, quality, engineered value chain, availability and new product development.
Mark began his Caterpillar career in late 1991 as a contract design engineer with small wheel loaders in the newly formed Building Construction Products (BCP) division in Clayton, NC and was hired by Caterpillar a year later. He moved into product support and then to project engineer roles in BCP before moving to Peoria in 1998 as an engineering manager in the engine lab of the Technical Services Division. At the end of 2000, Mark became the New Product Introduction (NPI) Manager for track-type loaders based in Grenoble, France. In mid-2005, he moved to Edmonton, Canada as the Canadian District Sales Manager and then to Chennai, India in 2007 as the Operations Manager of the Engineering Design Center – India. In 2009, Mark returned to Peoria and worked on special projects before becoming the North America Product Manager for MTP in late 2010, a role that he held until early 2015 when he moved to Texas as the Global Product Manager for Surface Rock Drills. In mid-2019, Mark moved back to Peoria as the MTP Worldwide Product Manager.
Mark received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Calvin College, his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University and his master’s degree in business administration from University of North Carolina.
Mark and his wife, Lynn, have been married for over 30 years and have 4 children.