Recognized by Fortune Magazine as a Leader in Innovation in the Manufacturing Industry
Meet Our Team
At Highline Controls, our objective is to provide the engineering expertise you expect as well as excellent service. Since our inception in 1996, we have focused on delivering the highest quality solutions at a reasonable cost, so you can better serve your customers.
Gregg Ekberg, President & Founder
Gregg's previous roles include chief operating officer for Pharmatech Associates, Inc., a provider of consulting services (validation, regulatory compliance, and project controls) to the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries; general manager for ATS California, one of the world's largest providers of custom automation; VP/owner of Falcon Cold Forming, a tier-one supplier to the auto industry; and 15 years with General Motors.
Gregg holds a Master of Engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University. He was awarded "Hero of Manufacturing" from Fortune magazine and received the "Eli Whitney Productivity Award" from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
Steve Shifman, Principle Engineer & Innovator
Steve has been designing and implementing innovative solutions for manufacturing for over 35 years. His experience encompasses multiple industries, including aerospace and defense, electronics and disc drive, and medical devices. He has been awarded several patents for unique manufacturing solutions throughout his career.
Steve was a co-founder of the Livermore, California, division of Automation Tooling Systems Inc. He introduced the corporation to SolidWorks 3D CAD in 1997 and continues to use this platform as his primary design and analysis tool. His other interests include the design and manufacture of handcrafted, custom snow skis. This endeavor incorporates multiple manufacturing processes, including infusion molding of composites. Steve holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado.
Alan Schwarz, General Manager/ Senior Engineer
Alan manages the wide range of custom automation and engineering design projects at Highline Controls. He has worked for numerous medical device companies and handled projects from consumer-end product development to manufacturing automation, helping to complete the product cycle that includes the initial concept to final development and mass production.
As the senior mechanical designer at VISX, Alan developed a way to extend the range of current products by developing an add-on eye tracker lens array. He was also lead designer for one of the main assembly lines at Cepheid Inc., where he managed the building and startup of multiple units at several locations. Prior to this, Alan was the main CNC programmer and designer of machining and coating fixtures for custom, diamond-turned optical lenses. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Humboldt State University.