Jim Herley obtained his A.A.S. in Automotive Technology from SUNY Morrisville in 1972. He worked for Adaks Inc., a consulting engineering firm in Rochester, N.Y. as a carburetion and fuel systems specialist focused on vehicular emission control. Additional tasks included climbing to the top of smokestack at Jamestown Malleable Iron Works in order to evaluate smokestack emissions. Shortly thereafter, he started working for Xerox Corporation as an engineering technician in Product Development.
As a technician, he worked on the full system, eventually leading testing efforts on several Xerox products of the 80’s and 90’s and eventually applying his systems knowledge to modular design and sub-system interactions. Several times he was selected as the lead technician to coordinate beginning development efforts on feasibility and prototype machines and was singularly recognized for his efforts to the success of the machine.
He received his B.S. in Management from St. John Fisher College in 1992 graduating with honors and as a member of Alpha Sigma Lambda, National Honor Society. He was selected as the Outstanding Adult Student in 1991 representing St. John Fisher College for the Rochester, N.Y. area colleges. At Xerox he progressed through the technician ranks and was selected to become a systems engineer, evaluating systems interactions and facilitating corrective actions amongst engineers. His efforts led to the successful launch of the Xerox 5800, a series of 100 print per minute copying machines.
His community efforts as an Emergency Medical Technician led to a career change as a Safety and Ergonomics Engineer in the Webster Manufacturing Operations where he had safety oversight of 1200 labor and management personnel. In the 5 years spent as a safety engineer, he was able to increase safety and ergonomic awareness and reduce job related injuries and illnesses by over 68%, garnering the factory Gold and Silver recognition awards from the Corporate Environment, Health and Safety organization. He co-authored a Design for Manufacturing (DFM) standard that is applied to designs to minimize ergonomic injuries to employees. In 1997 he was invited to present a paper, “Considerations for Remanufacturing Operations” at the 5th International Design for the Environment Symposium at the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). This paper was also presented at the International Environmental, Health and Safety Conference sponsored by Xerox Corporation.
He received his M.S. in Manufacturing Management and Leadership from RIT in 1998. This is a comprehensive degree program that is predominantly engineering with executive management courses designed to develop technology leaders of tomorrow. Within a team of four, he developed a safe utility knife and the team was rewarded with U.S. Patent number 6,536,115. The team was recognized for their efforts in reverse engineering and innovation by the RIT faculty.
In 1998, he then was selected to head a design team in the Fuser Business Center to design and deliver fuser modules to the small office / home office market. After a successful launch, he then again was asked to manage the design efforts of a machine for China. The team, under his direction, was able to exceed expectations and deliver the product ahead of schedule, under budget and more reliability then planned. Several more Xerox recognition awards followed as well as being selected as a Xerox Critical Skill (less than 5% of employees).
After 30 years, an opportunity to follow his wife’s career and to personally develop skills in the Intellectual Property field led him to Virginia Beach. He presently holds 4 patents and has 3 patents pending.
Current list of Cited Patents, Publications and Technical Disclosures
Color Toner Concentration Control System, James A. Herley, 8pp., patent #4721978 granted 1/26/1988
Document Handler Vacuum Belt Platen Transport Clamping System, Thomas C. Iaia, James A. Herley, Roger C. Male, William J. McLaughlin, Douglas A. McKeown, Robert W. Schaffer, Robert P. Siegel, Charles W. Spehrley, 17pp., patent #4831419 granted 5/16/1989
Developer Material Mixing Apparatus, James A. Herley, 9pp., patent #4996565 granted 2/26/1991
Automatically Retractable Safety Utility Knife, James Tabbi, John E. Bernacki, Christopher J. Hughson. James A. Herley, 14 pp., patent #6536115 granted 3/25/2003
“Considerations for Remanufacturing Operations”, 5th International Design for the Environment Symposium at the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) (1997).
“Considerations for Remanufacturing Operations”, International Environmental, Health and Safety Conference sponsored by Xerox Corporation, (1997).