Bernard Birkett

Michael North

Michael North was named Chief Operating Officer for Avalign Technologies in September 2026.

Mr. North brings more than 25 years of executive leadership experience driving growth, operational performance, and value creation across the medical device and precision manufacturing industries. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Operations for Medical Manufacturing Technologies, leading U.S. and international operations across nine businesses. He played a key role in integrating acquired businesses, strengthening operational performance, and positioning the organization for a successful transaction.

Throughout his career, Mike has led business integration and centralization, plant turn arounds, and operational excellence by driving lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, disciplined execution, and accountability. He is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt with extensive experience leading high-performance teams and scaling regulated medical device operations.

Mr. North is a graduate of Western Governors University with a Bachelor of Business in Administration.

Ryan Richey

Ryan Richey, current Avalign VP of Finance - Operations, has been named Interim Chief Financial Officer for Avalign Technologies in October 2026.

Ryan brings over a decade of global financial leadership experience in manufacturing industries. He most recently served as Senior Director of Accounting and Finance at Yaskawa Motoman, and previously held the role of Executive Vice President at Precision Plastics, Inc.

Ryan earned his degree in Accounting, Finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He has earned a CPA and CGMA with 21 years of proven F&A accomplishments with an emphasis on improving efficiencies and profits through financial analysis, process improvement and lean initiatives.

Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He has earned a CPA and CGMA with 21 years of proven F&A accomplishments with an emphasis on improving efficiencies and profits through financial analysis, process improvement and lean initiatives.

Rick Gutierrez

Rick Gutierrez was named President of Avalign Surgical in November 2018 and assumed the reins of the business units of Avalign German Specialty Instruments and Millennium Surgical.

Mr. Gutierrez has established an invaluable track record as a senior executive with a series of market-leading medical device companies. His prior assignments have included leadership roles at BSN Medical as Sr. VP of Orthopedics, at Teleflex Medical as VP of Sales and Sales Operations and at Covidien as Area VP of Sales in the Respiratory Group. He brings an extensive experience base and strong customer orientation to Avalign Surgical.

Mr. Gutierrez holds a BBA degree in Marketing from St. Mary’s University.

Ben Thompson

Ben Thompson was named Chief Commercial Officer for Avalign Technologies in January of 2022.

He has Global responsibility for all sales and marketing activities for Avalign Orthopaedics. Mr. Thompson has over 30 years of healthcare industry experience in Sales, Sales Leadership, Operations, and Customer Service. He has 21 years of leading teams in the medical device, medical product, diagnostics, and distribution services industries. Prior to Avalign, Mr. Thompson held numerous positions of increasing responsibility, including National Vice President of Laboratory Products, National Vice President of Strategic Accounts, and Senior Vice President of U.S. Acute Sales for Cardinal Health. Prior to his senior leadership roles, Mr. Thompson held various sales, service, and sales management positions at Baxter International, Allegiance Healthcare, and Cardinal Health.

Mr. Thompson earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL.

Heidi Funston

Heidi Funston joined Avalign in 2014 as the Quality Manager of the Avalign Cutting Instruments site and later held the position of Design Quality Engineering Manager for the Avalign Research and Development department. She was named the VP Quality and Regulatory for Avalign Technologies in November 2021. In this position, Ms. Funston has global responsibility for Quality and Regulatory at all Avalign Technologies locations.Ms. Funston has over 15 years of quality and manufacturing process experience in the orthopedic medical device industry. Prior to Avalign, Ms. Funston held positions of increasing responsibility in Process Engineering and Quality at Zimmer Biomet and Tornier.    

Ms. Funston received a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and a B.S. degree in Biology/Chemistry from Trine University. 

Robin Huisking

Robin Huisking was named Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Avalign Technologies in May 2024. She has global responsibility for Avalign’s Information Technology strategy and operations, overseeing IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, enterprise applications, and digital transformation efforts. Robin brings over 30 years of experience in Information Technology across the medical device, pharmaceutical, and software industries. She joined Avalign in 2019 as Vice President of Information Technology and has played a key role in building a world-class technology function aligned with business goals.

Prior to Avalign, Robin served as Director of Global Application Development at Stryker, where she led initiatives within the company’s Global ERP Program. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Montclair State University and has extensive training and experience in program and project management. Throughout her career, she has successfully built and led high-performing, geographically diverse teams and remains focused on delivering scalable, innovative IT solutions that support organizational growth.

Tony Koser

Tony Koser was named Vice President of Operations for Avalign Cutting Instruments in June 2020 and promoted to VP of Engineering in 2021.

Mr. Koser started his career serving in the U.S. Army before joining Othy Inc. as a Manufacturing Supervisor in 1982. In 1987, he joined Zimmer as a Senior CNC Programmer and subsequently worked his way up through the ranks in both manufacturing and engineering during his 33 years there. Mr. Koser's last position with Zimmer was Vice President of Operations, Global New Product Introductions and Manufacturing Transfers.

Mr. Koser holds a BSBA in Business from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Arnie Garcia

Arnie Garcia joined the Avalign team in May 2023 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Surgical Business. Mr. Garcia comes to Avalign with over 30 years of commercial experience in the medical device industry. His previous leadership positions include roles in sales, marketing, sales training, and national accounts. Prior to joining Avalign, Mr. Garcia served as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Turn Medical, Vice President of Sales with Arjo, Western Zone Sales and Service Manager and Regional Sales Director with Covidien.

Mr. Garcia holds a bachelor’s degree in business marketing and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix.

Our Vision is to be THE high performance medical device contract supplier by exceeding customer expectations through collaborative engineering services, consistent manufacturing excellence and comprehensive quality systems that deliver fast, reliable, cost effective product systems, and service.

Our Mission is to improve patient outcomes by providing “best in class” medical device products to our OEM customers through our superior design and manufacturing services.

Our Core Values of Dignity/Respect, Responsibility, Integrity and Customer centric approach guide us each day in our work with our customers, and employees.