People in Composites – March 2019

Gabriel Chemical

Gabriel Chemical (Akron, Ohio, U.S.), provider to the coatings, adhesives and composites markets, announced that it has appointed new sales personnel to its global sales team. The company says the new staffing will support growth the company is experiencing through introduction of its portfolio of products, manufacturing expansions, and the recent acquisitions of Ranbar and Royce businesses. 

In North America, joining Gabriel is Katie Pangersis, sales account manager for the Midwest Region (U.S). Pangersis has more than 10 years of distribution sales experience coupled with a degree in biology and chemistry.

Gabriel’s North American Inside sales team has added Kristina Estright, a chemical industry veteran with more than 15 years of sales and customer service experience. Estright is responsible for numerous core accounts, lead development, and ensuring smooth customer transitions following acquisitions.

In Asia, Benny Ouyang joined Gabriel as the new business development manager for the  China Region. Benny has over 10 years of experience and is responsible for sales growth in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. He will be the lead commercial interface with Gabriel’s Zhuhai manufacturing facility that produces Versamid polyamide products for sale in the APAC region.

 

Norco

Norco (Dorset, U.K.) has appointed James Luby as the new production manager at their dedicated composites manufacturing center. Luby joined Norco in October 2018 as a project engineer and has worked as a production engineer for United Aerospace Ltd. (Pembrokeshire, U.K.) and aircraft interior provider AIM Altitude (Dorset, U.K.).

 

Norplex-Mircata

Norplex-Micarta (Postville, Iowa, U.S.) announced Rob Lyons as its new director of Technology. In this newly created role, Lyons brings years of composite material experience and will lead the company’s material and process development work. Lyons’ team will include industry veterans Rick Lowery and Dan Krammen, as well as the resources of Norplex-Micarta’s internal analytical and material characterization laboratories. 
 
With an initial focus to round out the development of prepreg materials in the Company’s EnableX product line, Lyons and his team are also actively pursuing process developments to expand the use case for composite materials in compression molding, out-of-autoclave, tape placement and other fabrication techniques. Furthermore, development work is supported through project-specific test protocols on articles and structures in support of OEM design work.

Lyons aims to coordinate strategic supply and other technical relationships on a global basis in order to support OEM design and adoption of composite materials.

 

SGL Carbon SE

SGL Carbon SE (Wiesbaden, Germany) announced that CEO Dr. Jürgen Köhler has been renewed by the Supervisory Board for another three-year term, effective until December 31, 2022. 

Köhler has been a member of the Board of Management of SGL Carbon SE since June 1, 2013 and has been CEO since January 1, 2014.