Allen Carlson brings to the board four decades of extensive senior management and leadership experience having served global manufacturing fluid-power and motion-control companies. He spent 20 years with Sun Hydraulics, the last 16 years as President and CEO. Prior to joining Sun Hydraulics, Carlson served in various engineering, product management and sales assignments for Vickers (Trinova), Incorporated. Allen joined the University of Florida’s College of Engineering in May 2016 to launch and grow UF’s Sarasota Innovation Station, an economic development and engineering education initiative. He is a past member of the Board of Directors for Sun Hydraulics and continues to serve as a board member on various industry companies. He is also a regent at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). Allen is a member of the national visiting committee for the NSF-funded Florida Advanced Technical Education (FL-ATE) and he was instrumental in launching the NSF and industry-funded CCEFP (fluid power research consortium). He serves as past chair for the Sarasota CEO Forum, the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA), and the MAPI presidents council. Allen is actively involved with Junior Achievement, serving on both the local and regional boards. Carlson is a graduate of the Milwaukee School of Engineering and the Advanced Management Program (AMP 157) at the Harvard Business School.