Bill Edelman is an accomplished business leader with experience in automation systems. He launched two companies early in his career. The first in 1980, an installation & field service group, and the second in 1991, an engineered systems distributor. His firms' niche market was life safety systems within which Bill designed and built numerous smoke control & purge systems for high-rise buildings. Among other unique automated systems, Bill designed and managed the deployment of an automated audio-evacuation system using digitally pre-recorded messages to organize and direct the orderly relocation & evacuation of building occupants based on the location and spread of the smoke and fire.
Although his firms specialized in custom built systems, Bill implemented many standardized processes in order to streamline production & service as well as improve quality and reliability, resulting in higher profits. Much of the expansion of his firms was due, in large part, to the admirable reputation Bill and his team earned within the industry. In order to accelerate growth, he sought out and acquired several companies to compliment his existing organization. Further, Bill undertook construction of a wireless alarm monitoring infrastructure with coverage throughout Nassau and Western Suffolk County. Primary repeater sites were commissioned atop multi-story municipal buildings and health care facilities assuring 24-access for repair & maintenance.
When New York City passed Rule 17-06 for the maintenance of smoke detectors in commercial buildings, Bill, Certified by NICET in Fire Alarm System Engineering Technologies, was contacted to develop and teach a course at NYU in order to prepare attendees to pass the required NYC Fire Department Certificate of Fitness Exam. The 1-day class was conducted by Bill once each month at NYU for over two years.
Bill’s management style along with his experience with automation made him a perfect choice as the FIRST Robotics FTA (FIRST Technical Advisor) for the Long Island regional competitions. In this role, he managed the construction, operation, maintenance, and tear-down of the competition field and electronic scoring systems which accommodated over 85 matches per event. Once Bill’s layout and procedures at the arena were proven successful and repeatable, he stepped down to turn his responsibilities over to his assistant, who has followed the formula with continued success.
Recognizing the role education plays in business and technology, Bill served 2-terms on the Board of Education for Baldwin, NY. During his tenure, he was elected Vice-President, and authored several initiatives to increase the basic computer competency of graduates. Bill is also a life member and former captain of the Baldwin Volunteer Fire Department. Amidst bringing forth other procedural improvements, when managing the fund raising carnival and annual department journal, his business acumen led to increased revenue and higher customer satisfaction in each case. As their long-time prevailing emcee, Bill hosted many department milestone celebrations, officer installation dinners, and public service events.
Following the sale of his two synergistic firms in 2006, Bill looked to improve his leadership capability by formally studying several business improvement methodologies including Six Sigma at Motorola, Project Management through PMI, and the Balanced Scorecard concept independently. He has also revisited his hobby interests in Amateur Radio and development of PIC Microcontroller based projects.