Movers & Shakers: New CEO at Siemens Oil & Gas 

April 23, 2019

New hires and appointments from around the process industries

New CEO at Siemens Oil & Gas

Arja Talakar has been appointed CEO of Siemens Oil & Gas. He is  based in Houston, Texas, the global headquarters for Oil & Gas and its parent operating company, Siemens Gas and Power.

Talakar was previously responsible for Siemens Saudi Arabia, a market and area of the world important to the oil and gas and power businesses. Talakar began his career with Siemens in 1996 as a rotating equipment and automation systems engineer.

New CEO appointed at Schenck Process

Schenck Process, a provider of process, weighing and applied measuring technologies, appointed Keith Cochrane as CEO.

Cochrane, who previously served as chairman of the company’s advisory board, will take over from Andreas Evertz, who informed the company that he wishes to pursue new career opportunities.

Cochrane was the CEO of The Weir Group between 2009 and 2016.

Chevron Phillips Chemical names new senior VP, corporate planning & technology

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company appointed Mitch Eichelberger as senior vice president, corporate planning and technology, effective June 1. Eichelberger replaces Dave Smith, who will retire after 39 years of service with Chevron.

Eichelberger, who currently serves as vice president, Qatar and chief operations officer of QChem, will have responsibility for the company’s research and technology, corporate planning and development, and information technology functions. He has 37 years of service with Chevron Phillips Chemical and Chevron Corporation.

 Gelest fills newly created chief operations officer position

Gelest Inc., a provider of materials science and technology and a New Mountain Capital portfolio company, appointed Jim Whitlock to the newly created position of chief operations officer.

Whitlock joins Gelest from Honeywell, where he served as vice president of integrated supply chain for its performance materials and technology business group.

Whitlock graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Ohio State University.

ARLANXEO appoints new CEO

Rubber producer ARLANXEO named Donald Chen as new chief executive officer, effective May 1. Chen succeeds Jorge Nogueira, who is retiring after nearly 40 years in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.

Chen comes from Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), where he was responsible for operations in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand and was also a member of the executive council of ADM. He previously worked as vice president at Sadara Chemical Company, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical. He has a master’s degree in engineering and a doctorate from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Flexible Pack names new VP of operations

Flexible Pack, a provider flexible packaging, named Mike Seidman as vice president of operations.

Siedman will be responsible for all manufacturing, purchasing and supply chain efforts for all of Flexible Pack’s products, including labels, shrink sleeves and pouches.

Seidman brings 35 years in label, packaging and digital printing to his post with Flexible Pack. He studied at Long Island University and the Rochester Institute of Technology and earned a Bachelor of Sciencein mechanical engineering.

SONGWON announces new appointments in key leadership positions

SONGWON Industrial Co. moved Elena Scaltritti to the position of division leader of industrial chemicals. She has also been appointed a member of the company’s executive committee. Gerard Mulqueen will take on the role of leader fuel and lubes BU.

With the organization since 2011, Scaltritti has played a major role in advancing SONGWON’s position as a polymer stabilizers industry leader worldwide.

Mulqueen joined SONGWON in 2016 as global business manager for fuel and lubes. 

Gasbarre announces new  engineering manager

Gasbarre promoted Mike Harrison to engineering manager for Gasbarre Industrial Furnace Systems (formerly J.L. Becker), in Plymouth, Michigan.

Harrison started with Gasbarre in 2017 as a sales and metallurgical engineer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration from Walsh College.

Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems provides industrial heat-treating equipment, engineering and service. Gasbarre’s products include batch, continuous, atmosphere, and vacuum furnace systems as well as a wide range of auxiliary equipment. 

New managing director of sales at Uhlmann Pac-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG

Michael Mrachacz was named managing director of sales for Uhlmann Pac-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG.

Mrachacz, formerly responsible for Uhlmann customer support and services, succeeds Siegfried Drost.

Mrachacz has been responsible for the Uhlmann division customer support and services since 2014 and has been a member of the group executive committee in this capacity for five years. He previously served as technical manager at Bütfering Schleiftechnik and was director of services and after-sales for the Homag Group.

Uhlmann Pac-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG is a supplier for the packaging of pharmaceutical products in blisters, bottles and cartons.

Atkore International announces new VP of sales

Atkore International promoted Melissa Kidd to senior vice president of electrical raceway sales. Kidd will report directly to Bill Waltz, president and chief executive officer of Atkore.

Kidd joined Atkore International in 2017 as vice president and general manager with responsibility for leading the company’s metal fittings business, including market opportunities, product development and business innovation. Before that, she served as vice president at AMETEK. She also spent six years as president of Faradyne Motors.

Kidd earned a Master of Business Administration from Virginia Polytechnic University and a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering from Marquette University. 

AJG Packaging names new QA director

AJG Packaging, a provider of packaging delivery solutions, appointed Gurprit Kaur as quality assurance (QA) director.

As part of quality oversight, Kaur will support internal and external audits, as well as filings with the Food and Drug Administration for cosmetic over-the-counter products and food products packaged at the company’s Flemington, New Jersey-based facility.

Before joining AJG Packaging, Kaur was QA supervisor at U.S. Pharma Lab.

Harpak-ULMA Packaging names new business development manager

Harpak-ULMA, which provides packaging for food, medical, bakery and industrial products, appointed John Merritt as business development manager dedicated to medical packaging.

Association Leadership

Process Equipment Manufacturers’ Association elects new president

Rob Ward, president of U.S. Operations, Russell Finex Inc., was elected 2019 president of the Process Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (PEMA). Also elected to office were PEMA vice president Rod Henricks, director of sales, Bunting Magnetics Company, and treasurer Birte Mathis, CEO, Jacob Tubing, L.P.

Also elected at the meeting were four new board members. The three new directors in the class of 2022 are: Jason McDaniel, president and COO, French Oil Machinery Company; Julie Whitten, manager, Vacuum Conveying Division, Piab USA Inc.; and John Winski, director of sales – Americas, Coperion K-Tron Pitman Inc. In addition, Andy Forrester, director of sales, Kice Industries Inc., was elected to the class of 2021 to complete Birte Mathis’ term.

Hydraulic Institute announces Board of Directors for 20192020

The Hydraulic Institute (HI) installed a new leadership team during the 2019 annual conference.

DeLancy Davis, Franklin Electric vice president and CEO Headwater Companies, was elected to serve as the new HI president for a two-year term. John Kahren, president, SPP Pumps Inc. and owner, SyncroFlo Inc., was appointed as chairman of the board, replacing John P. White, chairman of Taco Comfort Solutions, who had served as HI chairman since February 2017.

Three new board members joined the HI Board of Directors for three-year terms. Karl Buscherpresident, PSG Dover and David J. Wilson president, Pumps Division, Flowserve, both joined as member representatives and Howard (H.J.) Dewesdirector, Marketing and Digital, ABB Drives, U.S., joined the board as an associate member representative.

Other changes include Jonathan Wiechers, VP and general manager, Fluid Management, ARO Ingersoll Rand, who was appointed to fill an open one-year term and Jeff Bredeson, president of Hydroflo who was selected as the new Vice President of Knowledge & Education for a two-year term.

PMMI welcomes Jorge Martinez Garibay as EXPO PACK General Director

Jorge Martinez Garibay has been named EXPO PACK general director at PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies’ Mexico office. Garibay will direct sales, marketing, operations and public relations efforts of EXPO PACK México and EXPO PACK Guadalajara.

Garibay comes to PMMI after holding a director title at IM Intermoda, a biannual international fashion trade show in Mexico, where he managed all aspects of operations of their 43,000-square-meter exhibits.

PMMI announces VP of trade shows

Laura Thompson has been promoted to Vice President for Trade Shows at PMMI.

Thompson previously served as senior director for Expositions. She began as the PMMI receptionist 20 years ago, fresh out of Baylor University. She was quickly promoted to the show department managing the PMMI Pavilion and all show operations for the largest packaging and processing event in Latin America. Upon her promotion to Director of Trade Show Operations, all operations in the PACK EXPO portfolio of trade shows became her responsibility.
Thompson will lead the trade show team based in PMMI’s Reston, Virginia office.

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