People in composites: August 2024

Toray Advanced Composites appoints new global CCO

Steve Mead, Toray Advanced Composites (TAC) global chief commercial officer (CCO).

Toray Advanced Composites (TAC, Morgan Hill, Calif., U.S.) has formally announced a key leadership expansion with Steve Mead joining as the new global chief commercial officer (CCO), effective Aug. 15.

Mead will play a pivotal role in achieving Toray’s global commercial strategy and expanding the market penetration of Toray’s next-generation composite materials technology. Having held senior management positions at TAC for more than 10 years, this appointment follows Mead’s recent position as CCO at Re:Build Manufacturing in North America. He has a strong reputation for driving growth in the composites industry, spearheading the development of key business growth initiatives for all areas of the value chain from composite material development to industrializing high-rate composite part manufacture across major industry sectors.

"We are thrilled to welcome Steve Mead back to our team as the new global CCO,” says Scott Unger, Global CEO of TAC. “Steve is a driven, curious, market-savvy leader with proven expertise in our industry. He has a thorough operational understanding of Toray and the connected composites supply chain. With Steve back at the helm of our capable commercial teams, Toray is set to maximize our go-to-market strategy and optimize sustainable growth in our global commercial operations.”

“Toray has a technical depth and breadth like no other, and to work with the global team to bring the next generation of material technologies to our customers is exciting,” says Mead. “We have an amazing team, and we work for a company that truly cares about its employees. I look forward to helping Toray achieve its growth objectives and to building a thoughtful, collaborative culture.”

This announcement follows the recent appointment of David Bernard as European managing director and the spring announcement of new executive leadership with Steve Cease as Toray’s managing director USA and global CTO.

Steve Mead and key executive leaders will be at CAMX 2024 at the Toray Group booth.

Crisalion Mobility annonuces chief business development officer

Electric mobility solutions company Crisalion Mobility (Madrid, Spain) has appointed Laure Glatron as its new chief business development officer.

Laure Glatron, Crisalion Mobility chief business development officer.

Glatron was born in France and has lived in Spain for more than 10 years. She brings a wealth of experience, having held senior positions in the airline and tourism sector and in the field of business development. Her main challenge in this new role will be to drive Crisalion Mobility’s strategic growth and help position it as a key player in shaping the future of mobility.

Glatron holds a degree in business administration and management and a master’s degree in international trade from the Panthéon-Assas University in Paris. She also completed the Senior Management in Digital Business program at The Valley Digital Business School in Madrid.

Prior to joining Crisalion, Glatron held senior positions in the fields of business development, strategic alliances and marketing at prestigious companies such as Air France KLM, The Walt Disney Co. and Accor Group.

“Laure has extensive experience in business development and insightful strategic vision, and we are delighted to announce her appointment to the Crisalion team,” says Carlos Poveda, CEO of Crisalion Mobility. “We are committed to recruiting professionals from a wide range of backgrounds to support our goals and grow our business across multiple markets.”

Beyond Gravity appoints chief transformation and strategy officer

Beyond Gravity (Zurich, Switzerland) announces the appointment of Iván González Vallejo as chief transformation and strategy officer and member of the executive board, effective Sept. 1.

González Vallejo will lead the company’s transformation and strategy function, which includes IT, Portugal, Innovation, QMS and Processes, Change and Transformation as well as Indirect Procurement. In his role, he will also spearhead the implementation of Beyond Gravity’s EZYone transformation program, which aims to enhance the company’s operations and business efficiency.

“Iván’s career has been marked by achievements not only in strategic development but also in the successful implementation of complex transformation projects,” says CEO André Wall. “His expertise will be crucial as we prepare Beyond Gravity for the next steps post-privatization and position our company as a scalable platform that goes beyond current capabilities. Iván’s passion for the space industry began during his studies. With his background in aviation, which has many parallels with space, he brings valuable insights on how to tackle profitable growth opportunities in a more and more commercialized environment.”

Iván González Vallejo, Beyond Gravity chief transformation and strategy officer.

Most recently, González Vallejo was director of strategy and supply chain at Iberia Maintenance, where he led the development of a 10-year strategic plan for an organization of 3,000 technicians and engineers. The organization provides maintenance services to more than 100 airlines globally, generating revenues of €1.2 billion annually. He also managed Iberia Maintenance’s supply chain function, focusing on achieving a benchmark cost base and preserving cash through strategic material planning, vendor control and logistics services.

Before his tenure at Iberia, González Vallejo led business transformation projects across various industries at McKinsey & Company. His experience also includes managing the merger and redesign of sales functions for Iberia and British Airways at International Airlines Group (AIG). He holds an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona and completed an MBA exchange program at Wharton Business School. He has a background in aerospace engineering and a master’s degree in spacecraft and missile design from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

“I am thrilled to join Beyond Gravity and take on this new role in the space industry,” González Vallejo adds. “I look forward to working with the team to drive our transformation initiatives and achieve new heights of operational excellence.”

Heike Buskies heads BYK's global plastics additives business

Heike Buskies, manager of BYK’s global business line plastics additives.

BYK’s (Wesel, Germany) Heike Buskies has taken over the management of the global business line plastics additives at BYK. She joined the additives experts BYK in October 2012 when she left Evonik and started as sales manager of plastics additives for greater Europe. In July 2021, she took over responsibility for the regional business line plastics additives for greater Europe.

“With her strong technical expertise and background in sales, with customers and within the end-use activities at BYK, she is the ideal person to strategically develop the global business of our plastics additives segments,” says Dr. Stefan Mößmer, BYK managing director of marketing and commercial, to whom Buskies reports directly.

Buskies’ predecessor, Ted Williams, has asked for a regional adjustment of his responsibilities in order to concentrate on the gas and oil business, which is largely focused on NAFTA. He will also head the NAFTA region as regional business line manager plastics additives and will continue to further expand the business in the NAFTA region. In the plastics additives segment, he reports to Buskies. BYK is a global supplier of specialty chemicals.

NTPT welcomes business development director

North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT, Renens, Switzerland) has announced that Anatole Gilliot has joined the company as business development director.

Gilliot brings more than 20 years of experience in the composites industry, with a track record that includes roles such as development engineer at the German Aerospace Center in collaboration with Airbus, technical sales manager at Teijin Carbon and most recently, CEO as well as marketing and sales manager at Suprem. The company says that his expertise and leadership will be invaluable as NTPT continues to drive innovation and expand its market presence.

Anatole Gilliot, North Thin Ply Technology’s (NTPT) business development director.

In his new position, Gilliot will oversee the development of material sales and identify new business opportunities where NTPT can offer significant added value, especially in areas that support the ecological transition.

“I am honored to be part of NTPT’s team,” says Gilliot. “NTPT’s products
have been used in remarkable applications such as Solar Impulse’s solar-powered aircraft and Alinghi America’s cup boat. Thanks to highly skilled engineers, technicians and manufacturing crew, we can offer tailored composite solutions for high-end applications.”

Skydweller Aero maintains competitiveness with CTO appointment

Skydweller Aero Inc. (Oklahoma City, Okla., U.S.) announces that Travis Vetter, its chief engineer, has been appointed CTO. In his new position, Vetter will spearhead Skydweller’s strategic utilization of innovative technologies to maintain competitiveness and achieve the company’s objectives.

Travis Vetter, appointed Skydweller Aero CTO.

“Travis brings a wealth of experience and a forward-thinking approach to technology that aligns with our mission to innovate and lead the autonomous solar aircraft industry. His leadership will play a pivotal role in advancing our technological roadmap, improving our product offerings and ensuring our position as a frontrunner in industry advancements,” says Dr. Robert Miller, CEO and co-founder of Skydweller Aero. “I am confident that under his guidance, our technology team will continue to push boundaries, deliver exceptional value to our customers and partners.”

Vetter, a longstanding member of Skydweller’s leadership team, previously served as a chief engineer for special programs at Northrop Grumman. In this role, he provided technical guidance to hundreds of engineers and oversaw millions of dollars in annual revenue. Before that, he held key technical positions at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he led various programs including the Tern program as the air vehicle, VMS and flight controls lead, as well as serving as the guidance navigation and control IPT special projects lead and aeroelastic controls lead for undisclosed projects.

He also brings extensive expertise in aircraft design, UAV flight control, aeroelastic systems control, vehicle management systems and mission systems integration. He holds two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree in mechanical and aeronautical engineering from the University of California.

CTO appointment brings significant eVTOL experience to Horizon Aircraft

New Horizon Aircraft (Toronto, Canada), doing business as Horizon Aircraft, announces that Tom Brassington has been appointed as CTO. Brassington is the latest in a series of new hires as Horizon Aircraft continues to bolster its engineering team with people who have proven track records in the aerospace sector. He joins from Lilium, an eVTOL developer, where he held the position of head of system design engineering. He takes up his new role at Horizon Aircraft at the end of October 2024.

Brassington has 17 years’ experience working in aerospace systems engineering and his visionary leadership and technical expertise, alongside his extensive experience working in the eVTOL space, will greatly enhance Horizon Aircraft’s engineering team’s capabilities, streamline development processes and drive innovation.

Other skills include additional eVTOL certification expertise ahead of Horizon’s production of the Cavorite X7, a piloted seven-seat hybrid electric eVTOL. The aircraft has been developed in response to demand from potential customers in the medevac, business aviation and commercial cargo sectors.

“Tom’s experience is rare — he has seen firsthand the challenges associated with eVTOL aircraft development and certification — and we feel fortunate that he has placed his confidence in Horizon Aircraft,” Brandon Robinson, CEO of Horizon Aircraft, says. “His experience will be invaluable as we continue the design, production and testing of our Cavorite X7 aircraft.

“The eVTOL sector is a crowded marketplace,” Brassington notes. “As it develops it is becoming clearer which companies are likely to succeed, and Horizon Aircraft is one of those few companies that maintains a strict operational focus, has a realistic concept that will work with current technology and has built a highly experienced team that can deliver. This is an exciting period in the company’s growth, and I am looking forward to being part of this.”

EVTOL company Electra names CEO

Electra's John Langford and Marc Allen.

Electra.aero Inc. (Electra, Manassas, Va., U.S.) announces the appointment of B. Marc Allen as its new CEO.

Allen joins Electra after a distinguished career at The Boeing Company, where he most recently served as chief strategy officer and senior VP for strategy and corporate development. He led the $5 billion customer finance business before spending nearly a decade on Boeing’s Executive Council, where he served as president of Boeing International and oversaw critical enterprise-wide functions. As head of all venture businesses, he led Wisk Aero’s restructuring and full acquisition, focusing on the future of autonomous flight and serving as chairman. Other roles at Boeing included president of the Embraer Partnership, president of Boeing China and general counsel of Boeing International. Allen is a graduate of Princeton University and holds a JD from Yale Law School. His early career includes clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, co-founding a sports medicine startup and serving as a business consultant with The Parthenon Group.

“Marc’s background in global business and strategic leadership makes him the ideal choice to guide Electra into its next phase of growth,” says John S. Langford, Electra’s founder and chairman. “With over 2,000 orders for our nine-seat hybrid electric aircraft from customers worldwide, we are poised to become a global industrial champion. Electra already has the strongest technical team in the business — and now we have the finance, legal and operations experience to match.”

Langford, who has served as both chairman and CEO since founding Electra, will continue to serve as its chairman focusing on long-term strategy and innovation.

“I am excited to join Electra’s first-rate team and help define the next level of air travel connectivity,” adds Allen. “My passion has always been about building, coaching, and inspiring high-performing teams. Electra is at the forefront of revolutionizing air travel with its direct aviation model, bringing air travel closer to where we live, work and play — without airports, emissions, or noise. Leading Electra at this pivotal moment is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”