Movers & Shakers: Fluid Handling Appointments, Awards & Business Deals for July 2014

July 30, 2014

A digest of July 2014 business news & notes from around the fluid handling industry.

Appointments

Yokogawa Corporation of America Appoints Daniel L. Duncan as COO
Daniel L. Duncan is the new chief operating officer of Yokogawa Corporation of America. In this position, Duncan will be responsible for assessing the current sales channel partners for North America and implement best practices of a global company with a product, systems, software and services portfolio. Duncan’s most recent responsibilities were as VP and general manager of the Oil & Gas Division of Siemens Energy Inc., based in Houston, Texas.

Singer Valve Inc. Appoints Ryan Spooner as Head of Instrumentation & Automation
Singer Valve has appointed Ryan Spooner as Manger of Instrumentation & Automation. Spooner has expertise in mechatronics coupled with a proven record at Singer Valve to solve and create complex automation solutions for our customers. In his new position, he will focus on increasing his team’s capabilities so that more customers have access to all the electronic automation solutions that Singer has to offer and is responsible for ensuring that Singer electronic panels meet the highest quality and safety standards with UL certification.

Calpipe Industries Inc. Appoints Mike Lang as Product Manager
Calpipe Industries Inc. has appointed Mike Lang to the position of product manager for the Calbond and Calconduit brands as part of a drive to further raise Calpipe’s profile as the market leader in these product categories. Lang has served as the inside sales manager for these brands for the past three years. As product manager, he will be responsible for collaborating and driving solutions across development teams in Engineering, Manufacturing and Sales and specifying market requirements for current and future products by conducting market research supported by ongoing visits to customers.

Nathan Meehan, Baker Hughes Executive, Named 2016 President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has named D. Nathan Meehan, senior executive adviser at Baker Hughes, as 2016 president of the international professional society. Meehan, who is based in Houston, Texas, will take office as president-elect on  Oct. 29, 2014 at the close of SPE’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Prior to Baker Hughes, Meehan was president of CMG Petroleum Consulting, vice president of engineering for Occidental Oil & Gas; and general manager exploration and production at Union Pacific Resources. He previously served as chairman of the CMG Reservoir Simulation Foundation and as director of the Computer Modelling Group, Vanyoganeft Oil Company, Pinnacle Technologies, and JOA Oil & Gas BV. Previously, he served as an at-large director on SPE’s Board of Directors.

FSA Appoints Phil Mahoney & Robert Rutherford to Board of Directors
The Fluid Sealing Association (FSA) has appointed Phil Mahoney and Robert Rutherford to its Board of Directors. Mahoney is currently the design engineering manager for Compression Packing and Mechanical Seals for the A.W. Chesterton Company in Groveland, Mass. With more than 24 years of experience in the sealing industry, Mahoney has held various engineering positions including Applications Engineering, Product Management and New Product Development. Mahoney currently also serves the FSA as chair of the Compression Packing Division and vice chair of the Membership Committee, as well as a member of the Government Affairs Working Group, the Marketing Committee, and the Technical Coordinating Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering and a Master of Science  in Engineering Management.

Rutherford is the Chief Executive Officer of EGC Enterprises Inc. in Chardon, Ohio. A California native, he began EGC with his friend and partner Bernie Casamento, and developed a brand new material, flexible graphite, which can be used for fluid sealing. Rutherford is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University with a Bachelor of Science in Manufacturing Engineering. He holds seven U.S. patents.

Coastal Flow Names Elizabeth Wojtowicz as HR Director
Elizabeth Wojtowicz has joined Coastal Flow Measurement in the position of human resources director. With more than 15 years of professional human resources experience Wojtowicz will be integrally involved in the continued development of the firm’s corporate vision and strategic planning, including policies and procedures. Wojtowicz joins Coastal Flow following recent positions as HR Director of an electrical engineering firm with approximately 200 employees and manager of a payroll and administrative services organization with over 12,000 employees. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources Management from Central Michigan University and is pursuing a Master of Science in Strategic Leadership from Walsh College in Troy, Michigan. She will work from Coastal Flow’s corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas.

Scott Saunders Named CEO of Moore Industries-International Inc.
Scott Saunders has been named chief executive officer of Moore Industries-International Inc., a leading manufacturer of instrumentation for the process control industry. He reports to Leonard W. Moore, who remains the chairman of the Board of Directors of the company he founded in 1968. In his previous role as COO of Moore Industries, Saunders was instrumental in the daily operational planning and management responsibilities of the company, ensuring that its strategic direction and goals were met. He also continued in his role as Vice President, Sales and Marketing, where he managed the company’s overseas operations along with directing marketing efforts and overseeing the sales force.Saunders joined Moore Industries in 1999 as a Regional Sales Manager before taking on roles as National Sales Manager and Director of Strategic Marketing. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Winthrop University in South Carolina.

Precision Polymer Engineering Appoints Mike Petzolt as Regional Sales Manager
Precision Polymer Engineering (PPE), a leading manufacturer of high-performance molded elastomer seals, has appointed Mike Petzolt as regional sales manager for pump and valve applications in the oil &  gas industry. Petzolt is based at PPE’s Houston office and will be responsible for developing new business opportunities for advanced sealing solutions within PPE’s existing oil & gas market with specific focus on pump and valve applications. He  joins PPE having gained 15 years’ experience in the elastomer sealing industry with extensive knowledge gained in the MRO business for pumps and mechanical seals.

Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition Appoints Jim Wetzel as New Chair
The Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) has elected Jim Wetzel to succeed Dean Bartles as chair. Wetzel is currently the technical director of the Platform Center of Excellence at General Mills Inc. He has 35 years of industry experience, starting with six years in the plastics industry and 29 years in the food industry with GMI. While at General Mills, Wetzel has had roles in proprietary machine design, Manufacturing System Improvement and Optimization, Product Improvement, Project Management, System Engineering, Control and Information Systems, MES Application Development and Platform Reliability.

Awards

Dow Water Filtration Technology Wins 2014 R&D 100 Award
R&D Magazine has recognized the TEQUATIC™ PLUS Fine Particle Filter as a groundbreaking solution for treating difficult, high-solids water.The filtration device from Dow Water & Process Solutions (DW&PS) helps process a wide range of difficult high-solids water, offering a cost-effective solution for wastewater treatment in multiple industry segments. These range from industrial wastewater treatment and reuse applications in the food and beverage; pulp and paper; and textiles and laundry markets to oil and gas applications and mobile water treatment systems. With its patented design, the TEQUATIC PLUS Fine Particle Filter combines the power of continuous cleaning, cross-flow filtration with centrifugal separation and solids collection into one device. It is designed to consistently treat water containing total suspended solids (TSS) up to 10,000 mg/L—even in the presence of fats, oils, greases and fibers, and in variable conditions without constant plugging–all while delivering a water recovery that is typically 99 percent or more. The TEQUATIC PLUS Filter is produced by Clean Filtration Technologies LLC ("CFT"), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, and marketed by DW&PS.

Viega Wins Plastic Pipe Institute’s2013 Project of the Year Award
Viega was awarded Plastic Pipe Institute’s (PPI) 2013 "Project of the Year" award in the building and construction division for its Sun Valley Ski Resort snow melting system project. Each year, PPI, a manufacturing-based trade association representing all segments of the plastic pipe industry, recognizes member-company projects for significant achievements involving the use of polyethylene pipe.Sun Valley Ski Resort, located near Ketchum, Idaho, renovated its snow-melting systems using Viega ProRadiant systems, including ¾-inch ViegaPEX Barrier tubing, Viega PEX Press fittings in 3/4-inch and 2-inch, and 12-port copper manifolds. Insulated Viega panels were also installed. For the project, approximately 30 miles of tubing was installed by the resort’s maintenance staff.

Business Deals

Fieldbus & HART Communication Foundations Set to Merge as New Organization
The Fieldbus Foundation and the HART Communication Foundation announced they are merging into a new industry organization dedicated to the development, management and promotion of global standards for integrating devices within the process automation industry.

“The combined power of both organizations will serve to protect the investments that end-users in process automation have made in HART and FOUNDATION fieldbus communication technologies,” according to a joint announcement released by the entites’ Boards of Directors July 24. “The mission of the combined organization will be to develop, manage, and promote global standards for integrating devices into automation-system architectures, providing functional solutions for process automation suppliers and end-users. Suppliers will also profit from the increased efficiencies in resource utilization, procedure consistency, and member service and support improvements.” Read more here.

Cooper Standard to Sell Thermal and Emissions Product Line to Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp.
Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc., the parent company of Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc., announced that Cooper Standard has entered into an agreement with Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp. (HVCC) to sell HVCC its thermal and emissions product line. The company said the sale allows Cooper Standard to focus on the product lines where it holds a leading market position and can gain the greatest competitive advantage.The company will now focus resources on its four core product groups: sealing and trim, fuel and brake delivery, fluid transfer and anti-vibration systems.

Cooper Standard products, including exhaust gas recirculation modules, electronic coolant pumps and valves, electronic wastegate actuators and electronic throttle bodies, as well as related assets from operations in North America, Germany, France and the Czech Republic along with certain engineering and other resources in North America and Germany are intended to transfer to existing HVCC locations over the next several months as a part of the transaction.The sale is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2014.

FCX Performance Acquires Pump Energy Inc.
FCX Performance Inc.
(FCX), a distributor of process flow control products and value-added services based in Columbus, Ohio, has completed the purchase of Pump Energy, Inc. PEI is a leading distributor of pumps, seals and related aftermarket services. Founded in 1978, PEI operates from two Texas locations in Stafford and Odessa and is recognized as one of the Gulf Coast’s leading rotating equipment distributor and service provider.

"We are very excited to announce this transaction with Pump Energy," said Charley Hale, President of FCX, in a company announcement. "Under the continued leadership of Ed Scala, Brad Dean and Gary Mason, PEI’s people and products will further our goal of being a one-stop provider of critical flow control and fluid processing equipment and services to our Gulf Coast customers."

Formed in 1999 and with predecessor company histories dating back to the early 1900s, FCX has 25 locations serving 35 states and over 400 employees. FCX has completed 16 strategic acquisitions since inception.

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