People in Composites: January 2021

Lilium welcomes new board member

Tom Enders, new Lilium board member.

Tom Enders, former CEO of Airbus (Toulouse, France) joins Lilium (Munich, Germany) as its newest board member. Tom’s role will involve decision-making that will influences the ongoing growth of the business.

Following an early career in the German Ministry of Defense as well as serving with the German Airborne troops as a Major in the Army Reserve, Enders’ passion for aviation led to his longstanding role at Airbus. A seasoned helicopter pilot — and keen skydiver — his tenure in the aerospace industry includes almost two decades serving in senior positions at Airbus, including his role as chief executive from 2007 to 2019.

When asked why he supports Lilium, Ender responded: “When Lilium CEO Daniel Wiegand asked me a few months ago if I would accept an appointment to Lilium's board, I didn't have to think for long. Lilium, unlike hardly any other aviation company in Europe, stands for fresh pioneering spirit, for a bold departure into new territory. This kind of pioneering spirit, innovation and entrepreneurial courage have always fascinated me — and driven me throughout my almost 30-year career in the aerospace industry.

“Probably no other aviation startup has worked as closely with the EASA in recent years as Lilium. This fact, more than anything else, underlines the great seriousness and professionalism with which Lilium has prepared for the development and scale production of its novel aircraft. What I have learned in three decades in the aviation industry, I am happy to bring to Lilium. Our industry needs nothing so much as innovation and new perspectives. That's the only way we can maintain and renew our license to fly.”

Boom Supersonic appoints new senior executives and board members

Boom Supersonic has welcomed two new senior leaders to help accelerate its next phase of growth and progress: Joe Massaquoi as chief financial officer (CFO) and Kathy Savitt as president and chief commercial officer (CCO).

Joe Massaquoi was previously CFO of Initium Aerospace (San Diego, Calif., U.S.), a joint venture established by Boeing (Chicago, Ill., U.S.) and Safran (Paris, France) to develop aircraft auxiliary power units. Previously, he served as a corporate development executive at Boeing and held senior roles at two investment banks. Over the course of his career, Massaquoi has led strategic and financing transactions that have resulted in more than $36 billion in new capital infusion.

Kathy Savitt, previously a Boom advisor, served most recently as a founder of Perch Partners (Seattle, Wash., U.S.), a growth and change management consulting firm that specializes in emerging technology, airlines, healthcare and sports/entertainment. She has served as a board member of Alaska Airlines and in a variety of C-Suite and senior executive roles at Fortune 500 companies including Yahoo and Amazon. 

Boom also recently welcomed three new members to its board of directors: Dr. Ray O. Johnson, Michael Marks and Jacqueline D. Reses. Dr. Johnson is a former Boom advisor and a veteran of Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, M.D., U.S.), where he was senior vice president and chief technology officer (CTO), leading more than 70,000 employees working on more than 4,000 programs of importance to U.S. national security.

Michael Marks is a founding managing partner of WRVI Capital (Menlo Park, Calif., U.S.). He co-founded Katerra (Menlo Park, Calif., U.S.), a construction technology company, was a founding partner at Riverwood Capital Management, a private equity fund, and served as CEO of Flextronics for 13 years, which became one of the world's largest technology companies under his leadership.

Jacqueline Reses most recently served as the head of Square Capital, expanding access to credit for small businesses. Previously, she was chief development officer at Yahoo and served on the board of Alibaba, helping facilitate its IPO. Ms Reses serves on a number of public and private boards and has a background in private equity and mergers and acquisitions.

“The accomplishments of 2020 — rolling out XB-1, signing an engine partnership with Rolls-Royce and many more — brought us closer to our vision of mainstream supersonic travel,” says Blake Scholl, Boom's founder and CEO. “With each milestone we achieve, we come closer to making the world more accessible via mainstream, sustainable supersonic travel. Both Joe and Kathy bring tremendous business growth and leadership experience to Boom. Together with our new board members, Ray, Michael and Jackie, Boom now has the team, the resources and the partnerships in place to achieve our aggressive 2021 goals and to realize our long-term vision.”

KraussMaffei Group appoints new Asia-Pacific Region vice president

Bharat Sharma, vice president of KraussMaffei Group’s Asia-Pacific region.

Effective since Jan. 1, 2021, Bharat Sharma is KraussMaffei Group’s (Munich, Germany) new vice president of the Asia-Pacific region, based in Singapore. In this role, he will be responsible for KraussMaffei’s New Machine Business and Digital and Service Solutions divisions and will report to the latter division’s Executive Vice President Nadine Despineux.

“We are delighted to welcome Bharat Sharma to KraussMaffei. Bharat Sharma has many years of experience in the management of international sales organizations, in business development and in the conception and implementation of sales strategies. His technical expertise and management skills are excellent assets that will benefit KraussMaffei,” says Nadine Despineux.

In his role as head of the Asia-Pacific region (excluding greater China), Sharma will be responsible for sales, service and project management. This includes expanding the sales and service organization of KraussMaffei by managing the country organizations and the external sales network.

“Together with my team, I will be responsible for expanding KraussMaffei's market share and competitiveness. I am looking forward to serve our customers in the region with the best suitable solutions for their business,” Sharma says.

Sharma joins KraussMaffei from Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS, Singapore), where he was most recently senior business executive for APAC control systems and field devices. Prior to that, he held various management positions at Honeywell and at a number of international business organizations.

Carbitex announces new executive hires

Carbitex Inc. (Kennewick, Wash., U.S.) a developer of flexible carbon fiber composites for performance footwear applications has announced its company growth for 2021 including two notable executive hires, expanded investment in manufacturing and operations and reinforcing an infrastructure built to dominate the composite materials market.

Erika Canfield, Carbitex vice president of global marketing.

Building out the strength of a stellar leadership team at Carbitex, Erika Canfield joins the brand as vice president of global marketing with an extensive background in the outdoor industry; she has followed executive marketing roles at Outdoor Research (Seattle, Wash., U.S.) and as creative director for PMI Worldwide (Seattle, Wash., U.S.) overseeing the Stanley and Aladdin brands. During her time at both companies, Erika achieved industry-leading metric performance and strategic growth through the programs and partnerships she created and executed. Carbitex says she brings deep experience in brand development and management, new market strategy and launch, creative direction and brand and product marketing to her new role at Carbitex.

Clark Morgan, Carbitex director of global footwear business development.

Following 20 years of industry expertise in the athletic, outdoor and action sports industries, Clark Morgan joins Carbitex as director of global footwear business development. Clark spent the previous eight years at BOA Technology Inc. (Denver, Colo., U.S.) where he drove prototyping and innovation of the BOA Fit System across the company’s portfolio of industries and is named as inventor on multiple patents with the brand. Due to his successes, Clark was tapped to spearhead BOA’s launch into the running category where he established enduring partnerships with global brand partners and facilitated new product developments. Clark brings to Carbitex a diligent focus on new account cultivation, advanced product integration and strategic business development in his new role.

Clark and Erika join a strong executive team led by Ron Boninger, CEO and Junus Khan, founder and chairman, who have each been committed to sustainable growth built on Carbitex’s CX6, AFX and DFX product platforms, solid operations and advanced engineering capabilities since the company’s inception in 2012. 

Safran appoints executive committee members

It was reported on Jan. 15 that Safran S.A. (Paris, France) has had several changes to its executive committee members and their functions.

Bernard Delpit, CFO, also responsible for corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions and real estate, has been appointed Group deputy CEO, effective Jan. 14, 2021. 

Delpit started his career in 1990 with the French national audit office. In 1994, he transferred to the budget department in the Ministry of Economy and Finance. From 2000-2007 he moved to a management role at PSA Peugeot Citroën (Paris, France). After spending three years in China as deputy CEO of the joint venture between PSA and its Chinese partner Dong Feng, he was named financial controller in 2004. He joined the office of the French President in 2007 as economic advisor, then moved to La Poste in 2009 as deputy CEO and CFO. In 2011, he became CFO at Crédit Agricole (Montrouge, France).

Since 2015, he has been CFO of Safran. Delpit, 56, graduated of IEP Paris (1985) and ENA (1990).

Sebastien Weber has been appointed CEO of Safran Aerosystems, effective Jan. 14, 2021.

Sébastien Weber started his career in 1996 at ECE (which later became Zodiac Aero Electric). He held several different positions before moving to the Services branch in Hong Kong, and then created Zodiac Services Asia in Singapore in 2008. He moved to the Cabin branch in 2011 as business development manager, working with airlines. In 2012 he joined Zodiac Water and Waste Aero Systems (Carson, California). From 2016 until this latest appointment, he was CEO of the Fluid and Water and Waste division. In 2019, he became CEO of Safran Passenger Solutions.

Sébastien Weber, 48, graduated from the Supélec electrical engineering school (1995) and holds an MBA from the HEC business school (2003).

New executive committee appointments

Frédéric Verger has been named executive vice president, chief digital officer and chief information officer (CIO) of Safran, effective January 21, 2021. He also joins Safran's executive committee.

Verger started his career in 1990 as consultant at Eurosept Associés then joined PriceWaterhouseCoopers (London, U.K.), with a focus on information systems, purchasing and industrial management. In 1995, he was named organization director, then CIO of luxury group Cartier International (Paris, France), and a member of the management committee. He moved to Deloitte Consulting (London, U.K.) in 2001 as senior manager and on-deck partner.

Verger joined Saint-Gobain (Courbevoie, France) in late 2002 as chief information officer. In 2011, Frédéric Verger was appointed chief purchasing and CIO of the company and became a member of the general management committee. As CIO, Frédéric Verger played a leading role in the Group's digital transformation and was responsible for cybersecurity.

Frédéric Verger, 56, holds degrees from Ecole Polytechnique (promotion 1985) and Télécom Paris (1990).

Bruno Durand has been appointed Safran executive vice president, production, purchasing and performance, effective Jan. 14, 2021. He also joins the Group's executive committee.

Durand started his career in 1983 with the Budget department of the French Ministry of Finance. He joined PSA (Peugeot-Citroën) in 1989, starting in the Finance department, then moving to Production. In 1994 he was named head of production, then director of purchasing for the Exhaust Systems branch in the auto parts company ECIA (Equipments et Composants pour l'Industrie Automobile).

Bruno Durand joined Valeo (Paris, France) in 1998 as head of production and purchasing, and was subsequently named director of operations for Groupe SAMAS France in 2001. In 2005 he joined Safran as head of purchasing for Labinal (now Safran Electrical and Power), being named deputy managing director several months later. He moved to Snecma (now Safran Aircraft Engines) in 2009 as vice president, supply chain. In 2012 he joined Sagem (now Safran Electronics and Defense) as vice president, production, then moved back to Safran Aircraft Engines in 2014 as vice president, production and supply chain. From July 2020 until this latest appointment, Bruno Durand was executive vice president, production and purchasing at Safran.

Bruno Durand, 59, graduated from the Ecole Centrale de Paris engineering school (1983).