People in Composites: September 2019

Gougeon Brothers Inc.

Gougeon Brothers Inc. (Bay City, Mich., U.S.) has announced the hire of Danielle Munsch as its new marketing director. To the position, Munsch brings 17 years of sales and marketing experience and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a dual major in marketing and management. She began work with the company on Aug. 19, 2019.

Previously, Munsch served as marketing director for International Engineering & Manufacturing in Hope, Michigan, and was sales and marketing director at Forward Corporation in Standish, Michigan. She will lead Gougeon Brothers’ marketing team in support of WEST SYSTEM epoxies, PRO-SET epoxies, Entropy resins, and PRO-VAC vacuum consumables.

“I’m thrilled to join Gougeon Brothers Inc. at an exciting time of milestone achievement and growth. I look forward to leveraging my experience in multiple marketing mediums and sales channels to support the company’s goals and continued progression,” Munsch says.

She is taking over the position from Grace Ombry, who joined the company in 1987 and has served as marketing director since 2009. Ombry will be staying on as senior marketing specialist.

“After an exhaustive search, we are thrilled to have Dani to join our team,” says company president Alan Gurski. “She has excellent marketing skills and is a great fit with our business culture.”

 

KraussMaffei Corp.

On Sept. 3, 2019, Charlie Rogers assumed the position of president of KraussMaffei Corp. (Munich, Germany) in Florence, Kentucky, U.S. He succeeds Paul Caprio, who left the company at the beginning of June. Rogers reports to Michael Ruf, chief operating officer of the KraussMaffei Group.

After studying mechanical engineering at Georgia University of Technology and earning an MBA from Chicago University, Rogers first worked for various industrial companies. Most recently, he was general manager at John Bean Technologies Corp., an American food machinery and airport equipment company. Rogers has around 20 years of industry experience and also brings expertise in European business.

"We are pleased to have found an experienced manager in Charlie Rogers who use his expertise to expand our U.S. business," explains Ruf.

 

NASA Langley Research Center

This month, Clayton Turner was announced as the next director of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., U.S. Turner assumes the director’s position Monday, Sept. 30, when current center director David Bowles retires after 39 years with the agency.

Since 2015, Turner has served as Langley’s deputy center director. As center director, he will lead a diverse group of about 3,400 civil servant and contractor scientists, researchers, engineers and support staff.

“Clayton’s wide range of engineering and leadership experience will serve Langley and the agency well as our Artemis program works to send astronauts to the Moon by 2024 to prepare to go to Mars,” says Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator.

Prior to his appointment as deputy center director, Turner served as the associate director responsible for managing daily operations with a focus on center commitments. In this capacity, he was responsible for aligning Langley’s institutional resources and infrastructure to meet current and future NASA mission needs. Turner also served as director of the Engineering Directorate at Langley. In this capacity, he was responsible for the conceptualization, design, development and delivery of ground and flight systems and for designing, enabling and implementing engineering capabilities to meet NASA missions.

Turner began his career with NASA in 1990 by serving as a design engineer with the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment project, where he spearheaded development of the laser aligning, bore-sight limit system. Over the next 29 years, Turner served in various roles with progressively increasing responsibility, leading the agency’s engineering contributions to many successful flight projects.

 

Scott Bader

Scott Bader (Northamptonshire, U.K.), a world-wide adhesives, resins and gelcoats manufacturer, has appointed Dr. Kevin Matthews as executive chairman.  He succeeds Dr.Jean-Claude Pierre, who has served as CEO for the last four years.

Previously, Matthews was executive chairman at Itaconix plc, an AIM-listed polymers business, for four years. He has a strong technical background in addition to almost 20 years’ experience as CEO of organizations in the chemical, technology and pharmaceutical sectors.  His expertise in business management and strategy has been instrumental in securing the growth and success of a number of private and public organizations.

Matthews will use his experience to implement Scott Bader’s “2036 Vision,” aligning the company’s sustainability ambitions with its business goals.  

“I am delighted to join Scott Bader to continue the work to enable our customers to supply more effective and more sustainable products using innovative polymer solutions and to accelerate the implementation of the building blocks required to support Scott Bader’s ‘2036 Vision,’” says Matthews.

 

Shape Machining Ltd.

Ryan Muller has been promoted to managing director of Shape Machining Ltd. (Whitney, U.K.). Ryan joined the company more than two years ago and has quickly risen through the ranks from commercial manager to commercial director.

Current managing director and founder of the business, Peter McCool, is moving over to a purely engineering role, as chief technical officer, to focus on large engineering & R&D projects.

“I’m really proud that Ryan has accepted this new position. He is extremely capable and knows exactly what our customers want. He will help power the business to new levels,” says McCool. “This restructure allows me to concentrate on design, engineering and R&D projects that will bring additional value to us and our customers.”

Shape provides engineering, design, tooling and manufacturing services in a range of industries sectors that use carbon fiber, with extensive in-house manufacturing & R&D facilities.

“Focus will be placed on ensuring we continue to provide our customers with round-the-clock support and fast reaction times,” says Ryan Muller, managing director. “Our internal re-structure including the addition of a dedicated planning team will ensure that our customers are given the best possible service with high quality engineering support.”

 

Teijin

Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) announced on Sept. 5 that Jane Thomas, Teijin Group’s chief representative in the Americas and president of Teijin Holdings USA Inc., was named as a new member of the U.S. Investment Advisory Council (IAC) and will serve a two-year term.

Thomas will complement the 24 other business professionals on the Council, bringing her many years of private sector experience and perspective to the organization. Her experience overseeing the Teijin Group’s operations as well as supporting the Group’s new foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the United States will enable her to give valuable advice to Secretary Wilbur Ross, Teijin says. Through her participation to the Council, Teijin looks forward to further contributing to the U.S. economy, helping to grow the manufacturing base, creating new jobs, and strengthening the U.S.-Japan trade relationship.

The IAC is composed of business and economic development leaders representing various industries, companies and associations, as well as regional, state and local economic development organizations. Members are responsible for advising the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on the development and implementation of strategies and programs to attract and retain foreign direct investment in the United States.