Meet our team

Joseph Wisne
Partner / CEO

Joseph is a visionary creative leader in the experience-design field, innovating visitor-centered design practices throughout all markets served by Roto. He provides strategic guidance for the company, and is deeply involved in every aspect of quality assurance and team growth. He has personally led the creation of more than a dozen new museums, and has credits on nearly 200 major exhibition and attraction projects. Joseph led the establishment of Roto Group in 2003 and is the firm's majority owner.

Maurice Twomey
Partner / CFO

As Roto’s Chief Financial Officer, Maurice provides leadership for financial, legal and resource management systems, allowing smooth operations across multiple simultaneous projects and market sectors. He works with the firm’s design leaders to maximize project impact, value and efficiency — relying on 20 years of experience as a financial counselor. He also brings international experience to match his CPA license in the state of Ohio, as a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Allen Boerger
Partner

Allen is a Partner and co-founder of Roto, a leading member of the company's management team, and responsible for the integration between Roto's closely-collaborating internal studios. As an accomplished project executive, art director and creative producer, Allen is responsible for many of Roto's largest and most ambitious projects across museum, zoo, and attraction sectors.

Sean Ramsay
Partner

Sean is a Partner in the company, an experienced executive in exhibit planning and production with extensive interactive museum credentials, and is responsible for leading the company's project management and exhibit development studio. As an accomplished museum planner, creative exhibit developer, and strategic operations adviser with an extensive career inside a busy museum exhibit department, Sean is responsible for many of Roto's most complex museum projects.

Neil Baker
Partner

Neil is a Partner and co-founder of Roto, a world-class art director and conceptual designer, a guiding force in Roto's reputation for design excellence, and the leader of Roto's award-winning design studio. Neil provides expert architectural and attraction planning, inspired exhibit design, and hands-on guidance and mentorship for Roto's talented design team. His creative influence can be seen throughout Roto’s versatile portfolio.

Caroline Petitti
Partner / Design Director

Caroline has an extensive background designing exhibits and environments for family-oriented experiences, and as Principal coordinates the participation of internal and client teams for projects of all scales. She is an accomplished museum planner, art director, graphic and exhibit designer, and is responsible for some of Roto's most evocative renderings, bird’s eye views, and graphic storyboards for presentation.

Dana Russell
Partner / VP of Marketing

Responsible for key strategic partnerships, talent engagement, external brand integrity, and overseeing the company’s marketing and business development functions, Dana is often an organization’s first contact with Roto. She has comprehensive knowledge of all Roto studios and past projects and provides generous assistance connecting Roto project teams and leaders to all those seeking to learn more about the company and its extensive services.

Elizabeth Fleming
Principal

Elizabeth came to Roto after a decade serving as an exhibit developer, project manager, staff supervisor, and interpretive writer, primarily with the Museum of Life and Science in North Carolina. Her in-house museum background matches that of Roto’s founders, and is reflected in the company’s core values – to design exhibits and programs from a visitor-centered perspective, relying on nimble evaluation practices, sound pedagogy, and extensive hands-on operational experience. Elizabeth’s versatility applies equally well to Roto’s science-based exhibits, children’s museums, and projects with living collections.

Robin Fraker
Principal / Design Director

As a Design Director at Roto, Robin has over 15 years experience across multiple design disciplines. Her retail design background has played an integral role in many of Roto’s prominent branded projects, including Google and Cardinal Health. Robin excels in concept ideation and design execution, utilizing her broad range of skills that range from architectural design and environmental experience design, to graphic design, branding, and identity development.

Jeff Pecchio
VP of Fabrication

With over fourteen years of experience with managing projects and custom production fabrication, Jeff is fluent in scheduling, planning, estimating, and sourcing for a variety of Roto’s projects. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Bowling Green State University, Jeff brings unique perspective to the fabrication and production for many of Roto’s projects including the High Museum, MSI: Take Flight exhibit, the GID Kid’s Adventure Club, and the Lincoln Center Zoo’s Elephant Climber.

Steve Langsdorf
Principal – Technology & Systems Integration

With over 20 years in the museum field, Steve is fluent in a wide range of operations and executive disciplines, including museum operations, strategic planning, and exhibit production and installation. At Roto, Steve is responsible for design, testing production, installation, and technical support of hundreds of new exhibit and attraction elements each year for Roto’s world-leading engineering and R&D department.

Julie Hartunian
Design Director

Julie is trained as an architect and is very experienced with the design of a wide range of exhibit elements including live aquatic exhibits, interpretive and interactive exhibits, media-based exhibits, thematic treatments, architectural finishes, and is an excellent liaison with all project participants. As Design Director at Roto's Boston office, Julie works closely with the Principal in Charge and provides the design of all other elements, plus coordination services with the entire design/build team.

Jen Ives
Director of Operations

As Director of Operations, Jen is at the core of what keeps much of Roto and its associates successfully moving forward. The consummate team player, Jen oversees the company’s technology needs while also supporting several administrative and finance functions, helping to bring all company departments together to create awesome experiences for clients.

Keegan Morrow
Interactive R&D Specialist

Keegan is a leading member of Roto’s in-house engineering department. With over 13 years of engineering experience and an entire childhood of growing up in a science center, he channels his inventive spirit and never-ending curiosity into the research, design and development of unique solutions for Roto's most sophisticated interactive experiences. Keegan’s drive for excellence helps to ensure that Roto’s solutions are safe, durable and maintenance-friendly for the lifetime of the interactive.

Molly Mackin
Design Director

Molly blends unusually versatile design talents with a deep intellectual curiosity as a senior member of Roto’s design studio. Beginning her design career as a 2D graphic and print specialist, Molly has expanded her experience while at Roto to encompass complete exhibition design, interior design, architectural space planning, and interactive media design. Her strong conceptual skills frequently bring her to the center of Roto master planning assignments, where Molly leads or contributes to the development of strategic frameworks, interpretive plans, and major facility renovations.

Meg Dunfee
Project Director

Meg has cultivated years of experience working in noted museums across the country, specializing in everything from artifact handling, paleontology and geology, to education collections. She is a skilled educator with years of experience in informal education, program and content development, and her passion for natural history collecting museums and first-hand experiences drives her to empower kids in becoming involved in hard sciences. Prior to interning at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in program design for interactive collections spaces, Meg earned her MA in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins. As a Project Director at Roto, Meg provides excellent client services, activity development and internal coordination for many Roto projects including Cincinnati Museum Center, EXPO 2020 Dubai, Frist Art Museum, and Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

Sarah Lima
Project Director

Prior to her role as Project Manager at Roto, Sarah began her museum career as a graduate student at the University of Cincinnati working with Bronze Age ceramics from southwestern Albania and Northern Greece. She later served as a Director of Exhibits Business Development for the Cincinnati Museum Center’s touring projects and citywide exhibition initiatives and co-led development of 12 permanent galleries as the museum’s Senior Director of Project Management for Exhibits. Sarah also has research and field expertise in landscape archaeology, prehistoric ceramics, historiography, and more. She is fluent in Greek, Albanian, and Spanish.

Brad Allgire
Director of Production

As well as serving as an all-around exhibit designer, Brad anchors Roto’s in-house expertise in the translation of conceptual-level sketches and layouts into reliable detail designs and precision models in preparation for highly-efficient CNC-based custom fabrication. Having worked in both Roto’s design and fabrication departments, Brad is exceptionally experienced at dimensional problem-solving, particularly for complex mechanical, electromechanical and integrated lighting systems, working within a huge range of materials and applications. Brad is a graduate of CCAD with a degree in Industrial Design.

Tom Lynch
Design Director

Tom has worked as one of Roto's top illustrators for over 10 years. His design talent includes a mix of classic hand sketches and digital renderings. In addition to his creative input, Tom also has the ability to develop unique and innovative exhibit ideas for both Children's Museums and Science Centers. Some of Roto's highest level design work has started with Tom's concept renderings. His most recent credits include the Virginia Aquarium, National Museum of American History, Columbus Zoo, and a 100,000 square-foot collections gallery for the National Museum of Military Vehicles.

David Evans, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Project Architect

As a licensed architect with nearly a decade of experience, David brings important architectural expertise to Roto's design-build projects. Prior to joining Roto, David graduated from Yale University with a master’s degree in Architecture, after earning his bachelor's from The Ohio State University. Since joining the team, David has applied his skills to several immersive design projects, including the Cox Science Center & Aquarium, the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, and the Green Cay Water Purification Education Center.

Rachel Escusa
Marketing Director

Rachel is a proven marketing and communications leader with success directing and defining brand strategy and tactical execution across multiple industries with a focus on building revenue and recognition. After earning her BA in Public Relations from Capital University, she's grown her experience in corporate, agency, and nonprofit environments. Rachel brings a passion for women’s leadership, corporate responsibility, and DE&I advocacy to her role as Marketing Director at Roto. She oversees a variety of marketing responsibilities including marketing strategy, campaign success, and content development.

Nick Braun
Lead Producer

Nick is an experienced designer who spent nearly a decade working in game development, media, and audio production in the Bay area. He received his degree from Capital University in Music & Media before launching his career at Microsoft and WB Games, where he contributed to projects including Hogwarts Legacy and Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. At Roto, his unique understanding of immersive audio, media, and virtual and augmented reality lends a competitive edge to our growing Immersive Media Studio.

Rob Hinderer
Multimedia Producer

With a degree in Art & Technology and an extensive background in physical electro-mechanical exhibit engineering and assembly, Rob leads the internal team responsible for a huge diversity of custom digital interactive features and solutions. Rob is an accomplished Flash animator, Unity programmer and media producer, providing strong internal coordination between Roto exhibit developers and designers for ensuring high-fidelity translation of client and project goals into each interactive installation.

Liz Blackford
Associate Producer

With several years of experience in exhibit design and exhibitions, including working as an Exhibition Designer at the National September 11th Memorial & Museum, Liz brings deep industry knowledge to her role as Roto Associate Producer. With a keen ability to create engaging content and experiences for visitors using multimodal and interactive storytelling skills, Liz helps bring project content to life in each project she touches.

Jessie Hughes
School Programs & Evaluations Manager

Jessie comes to Roto with over 13 years of classroom experience in Ohio and California, working with a team of teachers to create comprehensive STEM programs for 8th graders. In addition to her extensive background in curriculum development, she also brings several years of experience in providing Professional Development for teachers. Jessie earned her Bachelor of Science in Middle Childhood Education and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. As the School Programs and Evaluation Manager at Roto, she has strengthened our partnership with Dublin City Schools offering visiting school authentic, standards-based learning experiences.

Chris Moss
Human Resources Manager

As Human Resources Manager, Chris oversees all associate-related administrative activities at Roto including recruitment, benefits management, onboarding, and ongoing professional development. With more than 15 years of experience, Chris specializes in training and personnel advancement, ensuring each associate has the opportunity to grow and thrive at Roto.

AJ Wangler
Mechanical Production Manager

AJ has over 15 years of experience engineering and building museum exhibits and attractions, applying his extensive knowledge of reliable and robust components to manage Roto’s in-house electro-mechanical production team. He has a thorough working knowledge of interactive exhibits, from concept, through prototyping and production, to installation and post installation support. 

Levi Crumley
Fabrication Design Manager

Prior to becoming Production Manager at Roto, Levi spent years working in production design supporting the fabrication of interactive exhibits, interpretive displays, themed environments and structures through the development of detailed shop/construction drawings. He is well versed in Solid Works CAD as well as a Certified Welder and CNC Machining Center programmer and operator. As Production Manager, Levi employs his firm understanding of exhibit design and constructability to collaborate with the Design and Projects studios during design phases.

Tim Smith
Electrical Production Manager

As Production Manager, Tim produces high-quality solutions for custom interactive experiences. Tim is accountable for prototyping new exhibit systems and devices through mock-ups, programming, model building, and extensive testing. His invaluable troubleshooting skills and confidence to overcome new and unusual problems in both hardware and software have lent a hand to a more recent role managing small cross discipline engineering teams while working with project managers and clients to deliver on desired outcomes.

Jeffrey Stemen
Senior Designer

Jeffrey has over 18 years in the graphic design & illustration industry. Prior to Roto, he worked as an illustrator for children’s books and has studied alongside of some of the most well-known American illustrators, including Mary GrandPre. As a Senior Designer, Jeffrey focuses on developing and designing museum graphics, murals, and interactive media for a multitude of Roto museum projects including, Museum of Natural Curiosity, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Science Museum of Virginia and the Ohio History Connection’s Champion of Sports gallery.

James Sanderson
Senior Designer

James is a veteran detail designer with over 25 years of experience fine-tuning the nuances of electrical systems controls, custom furniture design and fabrication, multi-family housing projects and museums. He works closely with Roto’s design, engineering and fabrication teams to develop plans that are functional as well as visually appealing, lending his eye for detail to projects such as the High Museum of Art and the National Museum of Psychology.

Erek Nass
Exhibit Developer

Prior to joining Roto, Erek worked for 14 years as a merchandiser and design director for a fashion retailer, developing product lines across four brands. Following this experience, he pursued his MFA in art installation and interactive technology, with a subsequent period of teaching a foundations studio class at a local art college and serving as the creative director at an art gallery. Erek’s passion for unexpected and memorable immersive experiences is what drew him to Roto, and he brings this curiosity and energy to each project he’s involved in.

Zepher Potrafka
Exhibit Developer

With a diverse resume covering early childhood education, fine arts, high-end fabrication, and museum work, Zepher has filled a wide variety of roles during his time at Roto. As a craftsman, educator, and lifelong learner, he approaches each project as an opportunity to create lasting impressions, whether working with clients to distill their core ideas into unique interactive exhibits, building prototypes to prove out innovative designs, or putting the finishing artistic flourishes on a themed environment in the field. Zepher specializes in bringing Roto's ambitious designs to fruition through creative problem solving and a hands-on approach. He has played a key role on projects including the Connecticut Science Center, Exploration Place, Port Discovery Children's Museum, and the High Museum of Art.

Douaa Wadi
Marketing Manager

As Roto’s Marketing Manager, Douaa oversees the firm’s external marketing presence from print materials to all aspects of digital marketing. This includes the firm’s SEO and social media programs that have successfully expanded the firm’s brand awareness and online engagement. Ever curious, Douaa continues to analyze and optimize her approach as she works to position Roto as one of the top experiential design build firms in the country.

Katherine Heit
Exhibit Designer

A lifelong learner, Katherine Heit brings a natural curiosity and collaborative mindset to her Exhibit Designer role at Roto. Instrumental in all aspects of the firm’s design process, Katherine specializes in 3D design and modeling in Revit, AutoCAD and Vectorworks and has lent her expertise to several key projects including Cleveland Botanical Gardens' family gallery and Northern Virginia Science Center's 'Flow' and 'Wonder' galleries.

Daniel Thompson
Mechanical Interactive Designer

As a Mechanical Interactive Designer at Roto, Daniel Thompson designs and fabricates novel machines that delight and engage guests at science museums and experiential attractions across the country. With a unique mechanical engineering skillset, he specializes in 3D, CAD, machine and pneumatic system design, and has lent his expertise to several Roto experiences including Walt Disney Imagineering's 'Project Maestro' and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science 'Space Odyssey' gallery.

Courtney Billings
Design Associate

Courtney brings years of experience in interpretive content organization, exhibit design iteration, and production to her role as a Roto Design Associate. Driven to create immersive, accessible environments, Courtney creates meaningful designs that spark engagement as seen in several notable Roto projects such as the Ohio History Center, ECHO Leahy Center, National Museum of American History, and the Equal Justice Initiative.

Marah Al-Sadoon
Software Developer

Marah is a key contributor to Roto’s Media Studio bringing nearly a decade of web and software development expertise and Master’s degrees in both game design and computer science to her Software Developer role. Specializing in Unity, C#, VS, and more, her versatile skills can be seen in several interactive and immersive Roto media projects for the Cincinnati Museum Center, Orlando Science Center, National Museum of Military Vehicles, and more.

Andrew Decker
Creative Developer

Andrew is a multifaceted programmer with extensive experience in game design as well as AR and VR title development. He brings a deep appreciation for end-user experience to his work, utilizing his expertise with custom input devices and game mechanics to optimize responsiveness, develop efficient hardware protocols, and create a seamless user flow for interactive media experiences. Andrew is fluent in Unity, Unreal, Microsoft Visual Studio and a host of other development tools. He received a Bachelor of Science from Ohio University where he studied Computer Science, Game Development, and Animation.

Liv Teleha
Creative Developer

A “jack of all trades” Creative Developer with programming experience in C# and Unity, Liv is integral in developing 2D and 3D art assets for Roto. Prior to joining the team, Liv worked with VES to develop a VR product to train and assess the abilities of EMS professionals. Now part of Roto’s Immersive Media studio, her skills helped bring the Science Museum of Virginia’s “By the Numbers” and “Body Puppet” exhibits to life, driving guest engagement and education.

Sean Conner
Designer / Animator

Sean is an experienced Motion Designer, Art Director, and Game Developer with 15 years of experience working in the media production industry. He began his career in the field of motion graphics working for clients including Nike, Coca Cola, Puma, and Cee-Lo-Green. Sean’s background in providing Look Development, Art Direction, Animation, 3D Rendering, Motion Design, Modeling and Texturing for commercials, music videos and interactive apps and games makes him a versatile asset on Roto’s media projects.

Natalie Pettit
Associate Producer

Specializing in content development and large-scale project coordination, Natalie leads several client projects as a Roto Associate Producer. Natalie’s previous experience in university collections and museum archives informs her exhibit design and fabrication work at Roto where she also offers a focus on building genuine human connections through greater accessibility on projects such as the Da Vinci Science Center and the National Museum of Military Vehicles.

Gabriela Avila
Design Associate

Gabriela is an integral member of the Roto team, applying her unique graphic design and media development skillset to her role as Design Associate on projects such as the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, Parkersburg Children's Museum, the Da Vinci Science Center, and Kaleideum. With an interest in sustainable development, Gabriela continues to learn about and seek opportunities to integrate more sustainable materials and practices into her work.

Byron Utley
Associate Producer

Byron Utley is a passionate experience design “jack of all trades,” bringing significant carpentry, stage rigging, and project management skills to his Associate Producer role at Roto. With an extensive technical theater background, and experience working with international brands such as Marvel, Hasbro, and Universal Studios, Byron is a natural hands-on problem solver who instills his work with wonder and “wow.”

Derek Weidner, RA, NCARB
Senior Exhibit Designer

As a licensed architect, Derek specializes in space planning, building code analysis, and production methodologies – skills that translate seamlessly into his role as Senior Exhibit Designer at Roto. With a keen eye for design as a means of storytelling and sustainability opportunities, Derek has contributed his expertise to Roto’s Nauticus and North Carolina Museum of History projects and provided architectural coordination work for many more.

Kelsey Russell
Project Manager

Kelsey brings more than a decade of design, production, and project management experience to Roto. With a unique retail perspective based on years of experience with Luxottica and Chute Gerdeman, she also offers hands-on environmental graphics installation and production expertise from her years in print production roles. At Roto, Kelsey leads projects from design through fabrication and installation, keeping teams and clients on-time, on-budget.

Jackie Bolin
Master Production Scheduler

As Master Scheduler, Jackie not only keeps all of Roto’s custom manufacturing projects – from water tables to mechanical wonders to one-of-a-kind fabrication pieces – moving on schedule, she also sees the work through to packing and delivery, ensuring all Roto projects are delivered on-time. After more than 20 years in the production management field coordinating timelines, no job is too big and no detail too small for Jackie’s schedules.

Josh Bunn
Production Designer

Before his start at Roto, Josh spent years designing and developing architectural installations for some of the country’s most well-known brands. He brings an empathetic approach to each project he touches, creating detailed designs that keep the end-user top of mind while assuring specifications are always accurate and serving their intended function in an attractive, efficient, safe, reliable, and cost-effective manner.

Tristan Roman
Associate Creative Developer

As an Associate Creative Developer at Roto, Tristan designs and develops dazzling, impactful interactive experiences using Unity and Unreal and through exploring technologies including AR, VR, gesture recognition, and more. A natural collaborator, Tristan is driven by details and seeks to create the kinds of immersive experiences that stay with guests long after their visit.