People in Composites: April 2022

Toray Advanced Composites appoints European managing director

Erik Delnoij, Toray Advanced Manufacturing European managing director.

Toray Advanced Composites (TAC, Nijverdal, The Netherlands) announces the appointment of Erik Delnoij as its European managing director, effective April 1. Delnoij takes over the position from Frank Meurs, who has decided to pursue a career path outside of Toray. For the last two decades, Meurs has held senior leadership positions within the company, including overseeing the successful acquisition of TenCate by Toray Industries in 2018.

Delnoij joined TAC as director of sales and marketing in Sept. 2021. He brings a wealth of experience to the company after a career of nearly 20 years across leadership roles within the industry.

“I’m delighted to succeed Frank in the position of managing director for Toray Advanced Composites in Europe, building on a strong foundation of advanced technologies which are driving the large-scale adoption of lightweight composite materials into emergent and innovative markets and applications,” Delnoij states. “It’s an exciting time to be part of such a thought-leading company.”

Toshiyuki Kondo, CEO shares “Erik’s appointment marks a new chapter in our company’s story. I’d like to thank Frank for his dedication and contributions over the last 20 years. We’re excited to continue the legacy into the future with Erik who has an admirable set of skills and experience in the industry to drive growth and broaden our footprint in Europe.”

André Wall takes over operational management of Beyond Gravity

André Wall, RUAG International CEO and Beyond Gravity operational management.

In addition to heading the executive board, RUAG International (Bern, Switzerland) CEO André Wall will also take over the operational management of Beyond Gravity (formerly RUAG Space, Zurich, Switzerland) as of May 1. Luis de León Chardel, who held this position ad interim, has decided to take on a new challenge outside the company. A native of Spain, Chardel had been with RUAG Space since Oct. 2017, first as senior vice president operations, and from May 2020 he led the Space segment.

“I would like to thank Luis de León Chardel for his energetic commitment,” Wall comments. “He took over the reins in a time of upheaval, unraveled the business and set the new direction in motion with a great deal of passion and leadership. Thanks to his proven expertise in lean management, he has realigned the division globally and laid the foundation for transnational projects. I wish Luis de León Chardel nothing but the best for his future career.

“I am excited to enter the space business operationally. My goal is not only to grow with Beyond Gravity, but to become the innovation engine of the industry thanks to co-creation with startups and our customers, for example with 7-meter fairings, in-orbit structures or reusable launch vehicles,” Wall continues.

Wall, who is seen as customer-focused, is particularly keen to expand strategic partnerships, double the company’s U.S. business and drive the industrialization of production through automation. “The omens for growth have never been better than in the coming decade,” he adds. “We expect weekly launches of rockets, the satellite business will quintuple in the next seven years driven by commercial constellations.” Beyond Gravity intends to carry this momentum, invest more in R&D and develop into one of the leading technology giants for space.

North Technology Group appoint new CEO of mast and rigging business

James Austin, CEO of North Technology Group’s mast and rigging business.

With its four constituent parts — Hall Spars, Southern Spars, Future Fibres and RigPro all leading the fleet in their own individual market segments — North Technology Group’s (Newport, R.I., U.S.) mast and rigging business provides composite rig and rigging technology and world-class customer service to what is says is some of the most premier race boats and luxury cruisers. 

Until March 2022, the group’s mast business was headed up by Sam Watson who has now been promoted to chief operating officer (COO) of the main North Technology Group, leaving the group CEO position vacant for the incoming James Austin.

First introduced to the group as CEO at North Thin Ply Technology (Lausanne, Switzerland) in 2014, Austin has spent the last few years leading the Future Fibres business. With dramatic innovation expanding the core offering of the business, it is an exciting time for Austin to come to the helm. With a movement towards digitization with innovations like its fully integrated load monitoring and analytics system — Synapse —and DynaRig, which Southern Spars is directing toward the both the leisure and commercial shipping markets, it could be a defining few years ahead for the group, which the company says should suit Austin perfectly.

Exemplifying the group’s obsession with pushing the boundaries of performance and delivering absolute reliability with its products, Austina is also renowned for a leadership style which places the utmost importance on service and customer care.

“Needless to say, I am excited by my new role and the challenges that will come with it. The intention is to continue to build on the solid foundations that we have established within our group over the past few years, pouring every ounce of our experience, passion and energy into exceeding our customers’ expectations with our mast, rigging and service businesses,” says Austin. “Our goal is to continue to innovate, manage costs and consistently deliver dependable premium products that our customers love and value — enhancing every moment they spend onboard their yachts and helping them pursue their goals — whether that means winning a Rolex Fastnet Race or cruising around the Caribbean in comfort and style.”

Mighty Buildings announces three senior leadership appointments

Mighty Buildings (Oakland, Calif., U.S.) announces three senior leadership appointments, as the company builds the foundation for its next phase of growth.

Russ Atassi joins Mighty Buildings as COO, bringing more than 20 years of experience in supply chain, R&D and manufacturing operations through his previous roles at Airbnb, Facebook Oculus, Apple, Google, General Motors and Ford. Throughout his professional career, Atassi has developed and scaled global supply chain and hardware manufacturing operations for some of the leading tech companies in Silicon Valley. He holds a BSE (industrial and systems engineering) from the University of Michigan Dearborn, an MSE (industrial and operations engineering) from University of Michigan Ann Arbor, and an MS (system design and management) from Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT, Cambridge).

Rene Griemens has been appointed as chief financial officer (CFO), and joins the company from Volocopter (Bruchsal, Germany) where, as CFO, he led fundraising efforts totalling more than $340 million in equity and $1 billion in debt. His 30 years of global experience in high-growth technology, investment banking and strategy consulting include his CFO role at German fintech Kreditech Group, as well as other executive roles at IEG, dooyoo.com and McKinsey. Rene holds an MA in economics from the University of Cologne and an MBA from INSEAD.

Mark Aldrich has been appointed as general counsel, bringing decades of legal expertise in regulatory compliance, product development and go-to-market strategies. Prior to joining Mighty Buildings, Aldrich led the legal team supporting new product research and development at Airbnb. Before that, he served in long-term secondment roles as senior product and privacy counsel for Google, VMWare, Autodesk, NVIDIA and Intel. Prior to moving in-house, Mark was in private practice, working as outside general counsel to start up and emerging growth technology companies around the world. Mark earned a JD from the University of San Diego School of Law and a BS in finance, real estate and law from California State Polytechnic University-Pomona.

“I’m thrilled to have Russ, Rene and Mark join Mighty Buildings at this inflection point in our development as we expand our strategy to support our next stage of growth,” Mighty Buildings CEO Slava Solonytsin says. “The experience and expertise that they bring will accelerate the roll-out of our platform to enable developers to rapidly scale housing deployments and make sustainable living a reality for more customers. The opportunity and demand are massive, and today we have the team in place to not only tap into that demand, but to do so with minimal carbon footprint and enviable speed of execution.”

The company now employs more than 170 team members across the globe in its mission to pioneer new sustainable methods to build better quality and more resilient homes.

Berndorf Band Group announces new management duo

Alexander Leutner, Berndorf Band Group management team.

The Berndorf Band Group (Berndorf, Austria), a full-range supplier of steel belts and steel belt systems, has started the new year with a new management team. A new management duo consisting of Alexander Leutner and Gernot Binder follows the long-standing managing director Herbert Schweiger.

Alexander Leutner joined the company based in Lower Austria in 2014, where he worked as executive vice president of the International Commercial Division until the end of 2021 when he stepped up to be one part of the management duo.

With a Master’s degree in law, he brings a wealth of international experience to the table, having previously worked for global companies for many years. In 2008, he took on a new challenge by moving to Hungary with his wife and two children to run a business as general manager. Five years later, he returned to Austria with his family and found a position with the Berndorf Band Group.

Gernot Binder, Berndorf Band Group management team and CEO.

Gernot Binder, also CEO of the Berndorf Band Group, can also look back on a successful international past. The graduate engineer for mechanical engineering gained his first professional experience in a technical company in the Triesting valley. This was followed by a career within the Berndorf Band Group, where he started in 1996 as service and training manager. After two multi-year terms in the management of Berndorf’s overseas companies in the U.S., the father of three returned to Austria in 2014. He headed Berndorf Band Engineering GmbH as president until the end of 2021. Both CEOs of the Berndorf Band Group agree when it comes to the future of the international company:

“Technology is evolving rapidly. That’s why we need to make innovation scalable and apply agile business practices to ensure our company remains ahead of the game,” boths managers note. They also agree on the ultimate destination. “We have set ourselves ambitious goals this year that we will achieve together with our employees and customers.”

In addition to the new management team, Berndorf Band Group is restructuring to be able to better react to future challenges. For example, the Berndorf Band Group has implemented its own product management team at the headquarters in Lower Austria. In doing this, it wants to offer its customers even more customized products, guarantee an optimum production process and be a competent contact partner. Furthermore, the company has decided to introduce a new business development department to further develop the steel belt systems. It will focus on recognizing trends to always be up to date and to continuously develop its belt systems.

CoreTech System appoints new chairman and CEO

CoreTech System’s Dr. David Hsu, chairman, and Dr. Venny Yang, CEO.

CoreTech System Co., Ltd. (Moldex3D, Taiyuan, China) has announced the appointments of Dr. David Hsu as its new chairman, and Dr. Venny Yang as the new CEO effective as of April 19, 2022. Dr. Rong-Yeu Chang, founder of CoreTech System, announced his resignation as chairman and CEO, and assumed new roles as honorary chairman and chief R&D consultant.

Under Dr. Rong-Yeu Chang’s leadership, Moldex3D has reportedly established a rock-solid foundation and realized great success in product quality, brand awareness and business expansion. His contribution is well acknowledged. Dr. David Hsu and Dr. Venny Yang, former deputy CEOs and students of Dr. Chang, have now become the new chairman and CEO who will carry on the abundant experiences of their predecessor and teacher.

“Moldex3D has been committed to providing the most advanced molding simulation technology, investing in research and development, and helping enterprises to pursue digital transformation,” Dr. Chang says. With confidence, he entrusts the new chairman and CEO to build upon these objectives and their respective prowess to take Moldex3D to the next level. As the honorary chairman and chief R&D consultant, Dr. Chang will continue to assist Moldex3D in strengthening its capabilities and talents in R&D with his three-decade-long ample experiences.

Dr. David Hsu and Dr. Venny Yang express their gratitude towards Dr. Chang’s mentorship and guidance over the past years. Holding the corporate culture of integrity and reliability, they look forward to building a better working environment and visions. With the core values of molding simulation and the incorporation of the concept of “Digital Twin” and material big data, Dr. David Hsu and Dr. Venny Yang aim at shaping Moldex3D into a world-class professional enterprise with state-of-the-art expertise.

STRUCTeam expands automotive capabilities with appointment of senior engineer and automotive sector technical lead

Tom Cowan, STRUCTeam senior engineer and automotive sector technical lead.

STRUCTeam Ltd. (Cowes, U.K.), an independent composite engineering consultancy, continues its expansion into the automotive sector with the appointment of Tom Cowan as senior engineer and automotive sector technical lead. Cowan joins from Williams Racing (Wantage, U.K.), the British Formula 1 motor racing team and constructor, where he held the position of head of structural engineering.

Cowan brings considerable experience in the design and analysis of high-performance composite and metallic structures. In his new role, he will reportedly build on STRUCTeam’s engineering competences across the transportation sector, with a strong emphasis on lightweighting in automotive structures to maximize vehicle efficiency and reduce emissions. Assisting customers in the acceleration of development cycles through the application of sustainable and effective multimaterial solutions will be central to his responsibilities.

“Securing talent from the top echelons of the motor racing industry strengthens our position within the automotive market,” Roman Hillermeier, transportation market sector leader, notes. “Tom will be a vital part of the work we undertake supporting OEMs and Tiers make the best technological decisions in vehicle design and manufacture.”

“I look forward to applying my experiences in Formula 1 to a range of commercial and automotive projects,” Cowan adds. “STRUCTeam offers an independent and agile approach to the application of multimaterials and this unique service offering enables our customers to meet the requirements of this demanding sector.”