People in Composites: May 2022

Zünd America announces new president to take over North American operations

Manuel Merkt, Zünd America president.

Zünd America Inc. (Oak Creek, Wis., U.S.) has announced the recent appointment of Manuel Merkt as president of Zünd’s Milwaukee-based North American operations. As a German native, Merkt began his career in industrial engineering with an apprenticeship program through Hermle AG (Gosheim, Germany), a manufacturer of high-end machine tools. After acquiring degrees in engineering from both the University of Applied Science (Constance, Germany) and from Coventry University in the U.K., Merkt moved to Wisconsin in 2010 to support the Hermle USA (Franklin, Wis., U.S.) team in various sales and business management functions and ultimately took on a leadership role as president and chief operating officer (COO) in 2017.

In his 11 years with Hermle USA, Merkt reportedly developed exceptional leadership skills which are reflected in the company’s steady growth. His intimate knowledge of both European and North American culture and business practices makes him an ideal candidate for stepping into the leadership position at Zünd America, the company says. He understands a laser-sharp focus on customer needs is essential to Zünd’s continued success in the competitive markets on this side of the Atlantic. At the same time, he intends to continue building on the company’s growth with smart recruiting practices and ongoing workforce development.

Ultimately, Manuel’s goal is to continue moving Zünd America forward with long-term business development strategies, marketing initiatives and best practices in sales and support services consistent with those Zünd pursues globally. Taking full advantage of Zünd America’s state-of-the-art HQ in Wisconsin, Merkt will push to further improve the Zünd customer experience in sales, training and support.

Tyler Painter joins Wisk as CFO

Tyler Painter, Wisk Aero CFO.

Advanced air mobility (AAM) company Wisk Aero (Mountain View, Calif., U.S.) announced on May 3 that Tyler Painter has joined the company as chief financial officer (CFO). In his new role, Painter will lead Wisk’s finance, accounting, corporate development and information technology teams and will be responsible for overseeing the company’s financial planning and objectives.

“I am excited to welcome Tyler as Wisk’s new chief financial officer,” Gary Gysin, CEO of Wisk, says. “Tyler has a firsthand understanding of our industry and a strong history of commercializing new technologies and business models. His experience and expertise in both small and large public companies, capital raising and partnerships will further solidify Wisk’s industry leadership as we continue our growth trajectory and push toward commercialization.”

Painter brings decades of financial and operational management experience to Wisk, with a wide array of experience across private, public and Fortune 500 companies. Most recently he served as CFO for Surf Air Mobility (Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.), a company focused on accelerating the adoption of electric regional air travel. Prior to Surf Air Mobility, Tyler was CFO of Fair Financial Corp. (Santa Monica) and spent ten years as the CFO and COO of Solazyme (now TerraVia Holdings, San Francisco), a biotechnology company that developed and commercialized sustainable renewable oils and ingredients, where he helped grow the company from early stages through its IPO and beyond. Earlier in his career, Tyler was corporate treasurer and VP of finance for California-based Wind River Systems (Alameda), a global company delivering software for intelligent systems with customers across the aerospace and defense industry.

“The world of mobility is changing rapidly as consumers increasingly demand more flexible and sustainable solutions,” Painter says. “With a culture built on Silicon Valley innovation and the discipline and expertise of a world-leading aerospace company, Wisk is well-positioned to lead the advanced air mobility market, which is expected to produce major growth opportunities for decades. I’m thrilled to join the team at Wisk as we push to transform how people get from one place to another.”

Trelleborg appoints ServicePLUS quality manager

Seth Grundmeier, Trelleborg ServicePLUS quality manager.

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions (Fort Wayne, Ind., U.S.), a developer, manufacturer and supplier of precision seals, bearings and custom-molded polymer components, has appointed Seth Grundmeier as ServicePLUS quality manager.

Located across the U.S., each of Trelleborg’s ServicePLUS centers are said to provide a range of enhanced services that can simplify a customer’s value chain with solutions focused on engineering, manufacturing, supply chain management and the aftermarket. This includes simplified stock replenishment, component assembly, expedited delivery services, digital tools and more.

“We continue to increase the number of customers being serviced by our ServicePLUS Centers and the complexity of assemblies those customers require,” Will Bacon, ServicePLUS segment manager, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, notes. “Seth will prepare and support each of our ServicePLUS Centers to achieve IATF 16949 quality certification, to provide alignment across all of our centers and ensure customers receive the same excellent service regardless of location. I look forward to welcoming Seth to the team.”

Grundmeier started his career at Pella Machine (Pella, Iowa, U.S.) as a quality and tooling manager. He has served in various roles as an application engineer, project manager and quality manager at Cline Tool and Service (Newton, Iowa, U.S.). Most recently he was the quality engineer at VB Seals (Ames, Iowa, U.S.) and was instrumental in the achievement of ISO 9001:2015 and AS9120 certifications for the business.

New directors join ChemQuest Group

Dr. Lan Deng, ChemQuest Group director.

The ChemQuest Group (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.), a global business strategy and external technology development firm with focus and expertise specific to the specialty chemicals markets, announces the addition of Lan Deng and Jason Woods as directors.

Dr. Deng joins ChemQuest with more than 15 years of experience in the chemical industry, having served in leadership roles in Dow Chemical, Sherwin Williams and PPG across R&D, product management and strategic planning. Most recently, she served as the global technical director for the automotive OEM business within PPG, where she oversaw the global product development of all technologies, including pretreatment, E-coat, primer, basecoat, clearcoat as well as adhesives and sealants.

Dr. Deng earned a B.E. degree in polymer materials and engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China (Anhui), and a Ph.D. degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. She has co-authored six journal articles and holds 16 granted patents. Dr. Deng’s industry recognition includes R&D 100 Awards and EPA’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.

She is also said to be very passionate about innovation, growth and job creation. As a technology leader, she wants to help accelerate the current growth trajectory. “Our society is at a point when the next innovation wave is starting to pick up and accelerate. There are tremendous opportunities in health care, sustainable energy and digital transformation,” Dr. Deng notes. “The companies that can seize the opportunity to ride these waves will have long-lasting competitive advantages in the decades to come. As a technology leader, I want to help more companies, public or private, to catch and ride these waves; I also want to help the capital market find the right growth opportunity to invest so that our whole economy can benefit. ChemQuest can provide me an opportunity to do just that.”

Jason Woods, ChemQuest Group director.

On the other hand, Jason Woods brings 25 years of experience in the paint industry, having served in leadership roles in R&D, operations and Quality in a variety of customer segments. These include automotive OEM, automotive refinish, paint sundries, protective and marine and architectural. Many of these functions also included international responsibilities in regions such as Asia, Europe and South America.

Woods studied chemistry and political science at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg), and began his career at PPG Industries (Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.).  After a variety of roles, including an expatriate assignment in Japan, he transitioned to Sherwin-Williams. Here he progressed through multiple leadership roles in various divisions. His last two positions were responsible for commercialization of North American architectural products, and R&D responsibility for Latin American architectural programs.  

Woods is particularly interested in helping clients understand the process of commercialization, the stakeholders involved and the practical steps associated with adapting a technology to a product. He is reported to be well versed in developing innovation portfolios, improving efficiencies and developing the next generation of internal leaders.

“I’ve sought a diversity of experiences throughout my career in the paint industry,” he says. “I value the opportunity to work with great people in a variety of functional areas, business segments and geographies. The more I learned about ChemQuest from my colleagues, the more excited I was at the breadth of opportunities available. I am looking forward to partnering with them and their clients to help design and implement strategies to aid in innovation, commercialization, process efficiencies and organizational development.”