Brett Wood is vice president of marketing, product and strategic planning and training operations for Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. (TMHU).

Wood is responsible for all aspects of marketing, product and strategic planning, as well as sales and technical training. He identifies the trends and requirements of the material handling industry and develops Toyota products and corporate strategies that meet U.S. lift truck users’ needs. Wood also manages the various training programs TMHU provides to Toyota dealers and oversees the key marketing strategies that support the growth of the Toyota lift truck brand, the number one selling lift truck.

A TMHU associate since 1989, Wood has held numerous managerial and technical support positions including market application engineer, senior product planning engineer, technical services manager, electric product planning manager, sales training manager and product planning manager. Most recently, he was vice president of marketing, product planning and dealer development.

Prior to joining Toyota, Wood held engineering positions with IBM Corp. and Northrop Aerospace, where he earned the prestigious recognition of "Engineer of the Year."

He recently served as the chairman of the General Engineering Committee for the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) and is now a member of the advisory committee for that same group. Wood is currently a member of both Modern Materials Handling’s Editorial Advisory Board and the Electric Power Research Institute’s Industry Advisory Council.

Wood has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He also is president of the Coast Soccer League, and he and his wife, Jamie, reside in Manhattan Beach, Calif., with their daughter, Madison.