James has more than 25 years experience in Aerospace, Defense and Commercial manufacturing, and Department of Energy industries. He is an experienced consultant, who most recently has served as lead systems engineer and value engineering and trade study consultant on the Pit 9 Staged Interim Action Project. He has also consulted with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., where he led a team of engineers and scientists who improved the company’s operations and reduced costs. James was also previously employed by E-Systems, Inc. in Salt Lake City. His current employer, Bechtel-BWXT, is the prime M&O contractor at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. James is also an affiliate instructor at the University of Idaho where he teaches operations courses.

He is an internationally recognized authority on value management having lectured on value engineering and design to cost at numerous universities in the Western United States. James was also a seminar track leader for an Institute of Aeronautics workshop to reduce the cost of space operations.

James earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Utah, an MBA at the University of Phoenix, and a master’s in engineering at the University of Idaho. He currently belongs to the Society of American Value Engineers, the American Society for Quality, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the International Council on Systems Engineering.