People in Composites: May 2021

Hexion names global resin leader

Sanjeev Rastogi, Hexion senior vice president, Global Resins.

At the beginning of May Hexion Inc. (Columbus, Ohio, U.S.) announced that Sanjeev Rastogi has joined the company as senior vice president, Global Resins.

According to the company, Rastogi is an accomplished global executive that brings a distinguished track record of creating profitable growth and value. Throughout his 25-year career, he has held a variety of senior leadership roles. Rastogi most recently served as vice president and general manager, Performance Materials and Technologies, at Honeywell International Inc. (Charlotte, N.C., U.S.) where he had overall responsibility for the direction and results of the company’s global Fluorine Products business since January 2018.

With Honeywell since 2004, he held a number of roles with progressively broader experience and increased responsibilities, including: business director, Foam and Industrial Products and several strategic marketing and innovation director roles for several businesses. Prior to Honeywell, he served as associate principal with Arthur D. Little/Charles River Associates, a leading strategic consulting firm, and as a project scientist with Union Carbide/Univation Technologies (Houston, Texas, U.S.).

Rastogi earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Bombay, a Doctorate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware and a Masters in business administration from New York University, Stern School of Business.

“Hexion is well-positioned for continued success and we have tremendous confidence in Sanjeev’s ability to drive continued momentum in our global resins business based on his proven track record of earnings growth, strategy and innovation,” says Craig Rogerson, chairman, president and CEO. “His experience in leading global commercial teams, deep operational acumen and strong technical background make him the ideal choice to accelerate our growth strategy within our Adhesives segment. We have a deep leadership bench within our global resins team and under Sanjeev’s leadership, our valued customers can expect us to continue to provide innovative forest product resins solutions with a high degree of technical and customer service support.”

Rastogi replaces Mark Alness, who retired after more than 40 years with Hexion and most recently served as senior vice president, Global Resins.

“I’d like to congratulate Mark on his retirement and thank him for his tremendous contributions over his career,” Rogerson says. “Mark built a high-performance team culture within the Forest Product business as a lasting legacy that continues to serve us well going forward.”

Ilium Composites appoints North American technical sales manager

Ilium Composites (Hidd, Kingdom of Bahrain) advanced fiberglass manufacturer, announces the appointment of Paul Ellig as technical sales manager, North America.

Paul joins Ilium with a wealth of experience in composites manufacturing and advanced knowledge of closed mold processes. Paul will support customers during their transition to Ilium reinforcements in light resin transfer molding (LRTM), infusion processes, pultrusion and specialty applications.

The U.S. is Ilium’s fastest growing market and Paul is strategically positioned to offer closer proximity and better technical support, as well as enable customers to learn more easily about the broader product range and technical capabilities that Ilium can offer.

Society of Plastics Engineers elects Executive Board members

On May 17 the Society of Plastics Engineers (Danbury, Conn., U.S.) announced its recently elected Executive Board members as well as the advancement of Dr. Jason Lyons, business manager at Arkema (Colombes, France and King of Prussia, Penn., U.S.), to SPE president.

Lyons will assume the position of president starting on July 1, 2021. The president’s term will run from 2021-2022. Bruce Mulholland, recently retired from Celanese Corp. (Irving, Texas, U.S.), will serve as SPE’s president-elect until 2022, when he will begin his term as president through 2023. Dr. Jaime Gómez, president and CEO, Equitech (Grants Pass, Ore., U.S.), will serve as SPE’s past president also beginning on July 1.

James M. Waddell was newly elected to the Board and will serve as VP Business and Finance, a two-year term running through 2023. His term is effective immediately. Scott Eastman was reelected and will continue to serve as VP Chapters, a three-year position that runs through 2024. Raymond Pearson, also reelected, will serve as VP Publications, a three-year position that runs through 2024. Eastman and Pearson’s terms begin July 1, 2021.

Dr. Jason Lyons – President

Dr. Jason Lyons, SPE president.

Jason Lyons is currently business manager for Arkema Inc. He has been with Arkema since 2006.

Prior to joining Arkema, Lyons was research engineer for NovaComp Inc. (Philadelphia, Penn., U.S.) where he successfully managed all aspects of a Phase I & II SBIR grant with the Army Research Labs while writing and applying for additional federal grants.

From 2010-2018, Lyons sat on the SPE Engineering Properties and Structure Division (EPSDIV) Board of Directors. During that time, he introduced the EPSDIV Seminar Series, was an EPSDIV Technical Program Chair (TPC) in 2010 and 2017 and was EPSDIV Chair in 2014. He has been on the SPE Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Special Interest Group Board of Directors since 2016 and has been an ANTEC moderator since 2010. Lyons has been on the SPE Executive Board as VP Divisions since 2016.

Lyons received his Doctor of Philosophy in materials engineering from Drexel University and his Bachelor of Science degree in textile engineering from Philadelphia University.

Bruce Mulholland – President-Elect

Bruce Mulholland, SPE president-elect

Bruce Mulholland recently retired but from 1986-2021, he was Global Color Technology Fellow at Celanese and was responsible for color technology for the company’s engineered materials division. Mulholland holds 15 patents in color and appearance technologies and has presented 20+ technical papers with more than a dozen at SPE’s ANTEC conference alone.

Mulholland has been a member of the SPE Color and Appearance Division (CAD) since 1985 and was past chairman of CAD in 2001. He has been CAD’s treasurer since 2002, has overseen registrations for CAD RETEC, achieving high number attendance for the RETEC events for over the past 10 years. He was CAD RETEC Chair in 2008 and, again, in 2017 while managing registration.

Mulholland has been a member of the SPE Bylaws and Policies Committee for more than six years. He served on the Governance Task Force 1.0. He has been VP – Professional Development since 2019 and led the effort for Governance Task Force 2.0, establishing the Executive Board as the governing body of SPE to allow for quicker actions while allowing the Council to focus on more strategic activities. Mulholland has served on SPE’s Education Committee, Awards Committee, Site and Theme Committee, Color Advisory Group and Strategic Planning Committee of the Color and Appearance Division. Mulholland is an SPE Fellow Awards recipient as well as an Honored Service Member. In 2018, he was awarded the SPE President’s Cup.

James M. Waddell – VP Business & Finance

James M. Waddell, SPE VP Business & Finance.

James M. Waddell is currently managing partner for Plastic Concepts & Innovations LLC (Mount Pleasant, S.C., U.S.) using his skills developed from 32 years of consulting and manufacturing in heavy-gauge thermoforming at Curd Enterprises (Mount Pleasant). He was the executive vice president while at Multi-Plastics Inc. (Lewis Center, Ohio, U.S.). He has presented seminars on advance thermoforming techniques and materials each year across the country to both formers and end-users.

He has taught and consulted at companies in the United Kingdom, People’s Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Mexico, Ecuador and Australia. Waddell works with thermoforming companies in process improvements and product development, both in the U.S. and overseas. He is often called in as a “plastics forming 911” rescue resource for customers with all manner of forming issues, both to correct them and as an independent expert evaluating where problem(s) or issue(s) may occur.

Waddell was the COO for the American College of the Building Arts. He was responsible for the administration of a private, non-profit, four-year liberal arts college specializing in the Traditional Building Arts. This role encompassed facility management of two campuses and the construction of the new single-campus facility for the College. He was also responsible for the budget and the administration of the College.

Waddell is a long-time member of SPE and was a member of the Board of Directors for SPE’s Thermoforming Division for 32 years. He has twice served as Chair for the Thermoforming Division’s Annual Conference, served as Technical Chair for several SPE annual technical conferences, and has also been moderator for many technical conferences. While on the Thermoforming Division board, he has served as chair of several key committees such as materials, conference (including site selection), finance and ARC.

Waddell earned his BA at the Citadel and continued his graduate studies in business there.

Dr. Scott Eastman – VP Chapters

Dr. Scott Eastman, SPE VP Chapters.

Scott Eastman is currently a global key account manager at Henkel Corp. (Rocky Hill, Conn., U.S.). His key responsibilities include developing and executing a global strategy for critical aerospace accounts, manages a core team to deliver customer solutions and key innovations to advance the aerospace, space and defense industry. He champions product development programs based on market analysis and customer needs and advises executive leadership on strategic opportunities focused on driving long-term growth. Before this position, Eastman was technology/program manager and polymeric materials engineer with United Technologies Research Center (East Hartfort, Conn., U.S.). Eastman has more than 50 filed patents, eight granted patents and has been published in 10 peer-reviewed publications.

Eastman has been an SPE member since 2006. He has held many SPE positions including VP – Chapters; VP – Sections; Sections Committee member; Connecticut Section Councilor and Board Member; Connecticut Section Annual Student Scholarship Golf Outing Chair. Eastman helped to establish SPE's Communities forums and Regional Interest Group models to provide different options to organize and communicate within SPE. He also helped to facilitate the first SPE Roundtable at ANTEC 2019 that brought chapter leaders together to share common experiences.

Eastman has a Ph.D. in polymer science and engineering from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.

Dr. Raymond Pearson – VP Publications

Dr. Raymond Pearson, SPE VP Publications.

Raymond Pearson is currently the director of the Polymer Science and Engineering Graduate Program as well as a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh University. At Lehigh, Pearson developed an online distance education graduate program in polymer science and engineering. He currently serves as the program director that has more than 40 distance education students enrolled. Pearson also enhanced on-campus masters and Ph.D. programs by expanding course offerings and graduate student recruiting.

In his role as professor, Pearson guides both undergraduate and graduate students in their research. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate polymer courses and his research focuses on the mechanical behavior of polymers with a focus on fracture mechanics and corresponding deformation mechanisms.

Pearson also has industrial experience. He spent four years at General Electric’s (Boston, Mass., U.S.) Corporate Research and Development Center and three years at GE Plastics Europe. In addition to supervising an Advanced Mechanical Behavior Characterization Laboratory he co-wrote a 1986 Dutch patent on Easy Flow PC/PBT Blends and provided melt rheology characterizations for GEPE’s Mold-Flow database.

Pearson’s SPE positions include EB Secretary ; VP – Publication; VP – Education and Technology; Director, Additive Manufacturing Technical Division; and Division Chair, PMAD. He is also councilor for the Lehigh Valley Chapter where he has represented the chapter at Council meetings and was editor for the Lehigh Valley chapter newsletter. He has also led Lehigh Valley chapter activities and was the technical program chair for the past ten SPE’s Polymers Nanocomposites Conference.

SPE Executive Board

As of July 1, SPE’s current Executive Board Members will be:

Dr. Jason Lyons, President
Dr. Jaime Gómez, Past President
Bruce Mulholland, President-Elect
Patrick Farrey, Chief Executive Officer
Conor Carlin, VP Sustainability
James Waddell, VP Business & Finance (term to begin immediately)
Dr. Scott Eastman, VP Chapters
Lynzie Nebel, VP Member Engagement
Dr. Raymond Pearson, VP Publications

Boom Supersonic Adds Hypersonic Expert Mark Lewis to Advisory Council

Boom Supersonic (Denver, Colo., U.S.) welcomes Dr. Mark J. Lewis, executive director of the National Defense Industrial Association’s (Virg., U.S.) Emerging Technologies Institute, to its Advisory Council. The Boom Advisory Council reportedly includes world-class leaders in aerospace, design, sustainability and wellness: Tim Brown, Phil Condit, Dan Javorsek, Dr. Lourdes Maurice, Tekedra Mawakana and Andrea Morgan.

Dr. Mark J. Lewis is a researcher and public servant who the company says is one of the nation’s foremost experts on hypersonics. He currently leads the Emerging Technologies Institute, a non-partisan think tank focused on the future of national defense. Dr. Lewis formerly led the Science and Technology Policy Institute, an organization that helps the White House determine national science and technology policy priorities. He was also the longest-serving chief scientist for the United States Air Force and led basic research across the various defense agencies. As a researcher, Dr. Lewis is best known for his work in hypersonic aircraft and propulsion, and he has held numerous academic posts at the University of Maryland. Dr. Lewis will lend his expertise on high-Mach aircraft and engine design as Boom looks toward future programs.

“Faster aircraft are a long-overdue next step in the future of air travel, and I am delighted to share my knowledge with this exceptional team as it makes commercial supersonic flight a reality,” says Dr. Lewis. “I am excited for the opportunity to help Boom build out its long-term vision of even faster point-to-point transportation.”

According to Boom, its Advisory Board has grown significantly in depth and breadth as the company scales rapidly. “We’ve been so fortunate to attract a growing group of leaders in aerospace and many other fields who are eager to join us in our mission to make the world dramatically more accessible through supersonic flight,” adds Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. “We’re inspired everyday to bring diverse talents together and undertake truly transformational work.”

AOC appoints new regional business manager for Neoxil Sizings and Binders business

Federica Galli, AOC regional business manager.

AOC (Collierville, Tenn., U.S. and Schaffhausen, Switzerland) reports that it is actively growing its presence around the world in supplying Neoxil sizings and binders to manufacturers of glass fiber and carbon fiber reinforcements. In order to strengthen its commercial activities, the company has appointed Federica Galli as its new regional business manager for EMEA and the Americas. Also, the company notes that it is set to lead market consolidation in the coming years.

KraussMaffei appoints new CFO

Jörg Bremer, KraussMaffei CFO.

KraussMaffei (Munich, Germany) has appointed Jörg Bremer as new CFO of the KraussMaffei Group and the Shanghai-listed KraussMaffei Company Limited (KMCL), effective July 1, 2021. Bremer will also become a member of the KraussMaffei Group Management Board.

Most recently, Jörg Bremer was CFO and Management Board member of Sixt SE (Pullach, Germany). Prior to that, he successfully held the position of CFO North America and other executive roles at BROSE Fahrzeugteile (Pune, India), Coburg (Detriot, Mich., U.S. and Würzburg, Germany).

“A traditional company with a great global reputation, KraussMaffei has embodied the pioneering spirit and innovation in large-scale machine manufacturing for over 180 years. It’s an honor to have the chance to help shape such a company strategically and operationally as CFO,” says Jörg Bremer. “I look forward to contributing my experience and know-how to KraussMaffei's positive development, especially with regard to digitalization, standardization and growth.”

As CFO, he will be responsible for Finance and Controlling as well as IT, Human Resources, Treasury, Legal and Patents, Tax, Customs and Foreign Trade and Business Excellence and Facility Management. He will also assume the position of CFO for KMCL. Initially, his main tasks will include further digitalization, improving processes and optimizing the Group's cost structure.

Dr. Michael Ruf, CEO and chairman of the Management Board, adds, “We are delighted to have been able to recruit an accomplished manager as Jörg Bremer as CFO for KraussMaffei. His many years of experience in international companies are a great asset for us. I am firmly convinced that with his dynamism and competence we will achieve our ambitious growth targets.”

Composite Integration appoints new senior tooling engineer

Clyde Doyne-Ditmas, Composites Integration senior tooling engineer.

Composite Integration (Saltash, U.K.) announces Clyde Doyne-Ditmas as its senior tooling engineer. Clyde joined the company in August 2008, obtaining an extensive practical and theoretical knowledge of composite manufacturing, processes, and tool building experience.

Clyde reportedly has an important role within the workshop and tool build team supporting the internal and external R&D side of the business as well as being heavily involved in complex tool builds for commercial applications. The new role will facilitate knowledge transfer of his technical expertise, providing greater focus and support to clients with their tool building and injection processes out in the field, as well as developing strong commercial relationships.

Composite Integration is dedicated to a strong, technical and responsive approach to its client and partner projects. The growing volume and complexity of these enquiries presents a constant need to expand and improve this area of the business. According to the company, Clyde’s experience will be well used in this new role.