People on the move: March 2017

Ascent Aerospace (Santa Ana, Calif.) has appointed Michael Mahfet as CEO, effective immediately. This role will be in addition to his current capacity as president of the company’s newly expanded Ascent integration & automation group.

Joel Rotroff, Partner at American Industrial Partners, stated, “We are very excited to have Michael lead Ascent Aerospace as its CEO. Michael has a long history of success in leadership positions in the industrial automation sector, including most recently at ABB. Michael brings significant expertise in operational and commercial excellence, technical leadership and market focus. Ascent is very well positioned to serve our customers as a market leading solutions provider, with a ‘One Ascent’ business model at the forefront of our messaging.”

“We want to thank Brian Williams for his significant contributions to Ascent Aerospace’s success over the last four years as CEO,” says Joel Rotroff. “Ascent Aerospace is performing strongly today and is well positioned for the future.”

“I am humbled and grateful to become CEO of Ascent Aerospace and look forward to working with and leading our world class employees,” says Michael Mahfet. “Ascent is in a wonderful position to continue streamlining its coordinated activities across its global footprint and technology portfolio. Through simplified, standardized and streamlined processes, we will be able to deliver a world class execution model, bringing smart tooling and integrated solutions to the market which address critical ‘rate’ and ‘automation’ needs for our aerospace customers.” 

DowAksa

Anthony Roberts has joined DowAksa as director of strategic planning.

Roberts has many years of experience in the international carbon fiber composites business. He previously authored a series of global market reports, including "The Carbon Fibre Industry Worldwide 2011-2020 - An Evaluation of Current Markets and Future Supply and Demand.”

Roberts will help develop and shape the strategic business plans that take advantage of the knowledge and business strength of DowAksa, a 50/50 joint venture between The Dow Chemical Co. and Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayii A.Ş. headquartered in Turkey with associated operations in North America and Europe.

Toho Tenax

Toho Tenax Co. Ltd., the core company of the Teijin Group’s carbon fibers and composites business, announced that Teijin’s board of directors has elected Shukei Inui, currently director, member of the board of Toho Tenax, as its next president. Inui will assume his new role on April 1.

Akio Nakaishi, the current president of the company, will assume the post of general manager, composites business unit of Teijin Limited, on the same day.

Solvay

Bill Wood, president of Solvay's GBU Composite Materials, will retire effective June 30, 2017. In the course of the Cytec acquisition, Wood made clear his wish to steer his business and team during the integration period with Solvay and once this task was complete, to leave the group to retire and move to the next phase of his life.

Eeffective April 1, 2017 Carmelo Lo Faro, head of the industrial business line and strategy and business development for the GBU Composite Materials, will succeed Wood. Carmelo brings almost 20 years of experience with the composite materials business in research and innovation, strategy, business development and management in both aerospace and the industrial business segments. He was also the Chief Technology Officer for Cytec. Prior to joining Cytec, Carmelo worked in research and development roles with ICI in the United Kingdom. He holds a PhD in Material Science from Catania University, Italy and an MBA from Arizona State University, USA. The succession for Carmelo will be published in a separate announcement.

C.R. Onsrud

C.R. Onsrud Inc. announced the addition of The Robert E. Morris Co. to its family of distributors. Since 1941, The Robert E. Morris Co. of Windsor, Conn., has dedicated its business to supplying the best CNC machine tools and customer service to manufacturers of precision parts in New England, northern New Jersey and eastern New York. The addition of The Robert E. Morris Co. brings Onsrud customers in New England the reliability associated with a trusted, established supplier.

“Known throughout the industry for their superior sales and service, they share our commitment to customer satisfaction and quality – and bring a wealth of application engineering and process expertise to the needs of manufacturers,” stated Regional Sales Manager Ken Stissel. “By adding the high-quality, large format CNC machinery that Onsrud produces to the other brands it carries – most notably, Okuma – The Robert E. Morris Co. offers a complete spectrum of CNC machinery, from routers through heavy machining mills and turning centers.”

FACC AG

The Supervisory Board of FACC AG has appointed Robert Machtlinger as the new CEO of the group.

“Robert Machtlinger is highly respected by the customers, has an excellent knowledge of the market and is a sign of continuity both internally and externally,” says Geng Ruguang, chairman of the supervisory board of FACC AG. "Besides, in the course of the current financial year, Robert Machtlinger has laid the basis for the future development of FACC AG."

Chromaflo Technologies

Chromaflo Technologies Corp. (Ashtabula, Ohio) has appointed Eric K. Thiele as the Chief Financial Officer, effective March 6, 2017.

In this role, Thiele will report to Scott Becker, president and CEO Chromaflo Technologies. Thiele’s responsibilities will include leading all financial functions, including financial planning and analysis, internal controls, capital expenditures, cash and treasury management, tax, risk management, real estate, credit and banking relationships, and financial systems across the organization. Thiele will be instrumental in driving the company’s growth strategy. Thiele will be based out of the Ashtabula corporate office.

Thiele worked for PPG for 20+ years where he held various finance leadership roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently Thiele was the vice president and business controller for the architectural coatings and protective and marine coatings segment. Prior to this, Thiele was the corporate treasurer of PPG. Thiele previously was the CFO Asia Pacific PPG and resided in Hong Kong. 

Send your professional appointments, promotions and awards for individuals (along with photos) to hcaliendo@gardnerweb.com.