EuroWire March 2023

People

Kurt F Breischaft to lead WAI in 2023 The Wire Association International (WAI) has announced the appointment of Kurt F Breischaft as the 70 th president of the association, for a one-year term that commenced on 1 January 2023. the board of directors; participation on the executive and oversight committees; chair of the member relations committee; and executive committee liaisonship to the finance, memorial awards and education committees.

Mr Breischaft will chair the board of directors of the 93-year-old association, which is headquartered in Madison, Connecticut, USA. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the copper industry, and is president of SDI LaFarga Copperworks, a copper rod and wire mill in New Haven, Indiana, USA – a post he has held since November 2013. His previous roles include vice president and general manager of Cerro Plumbing; plant manager for Belden Americas – Nogales, Mexico and Belden/Thermax; and positions as process engineer, engineering manager, plant manager and manufacturing manager at the Essex Group, Inc/Superior Essex. Mr Breischaft has been an active WAI member since 2000, and in 2006 received its Wire Link Scholarship. His contributions through volunteer leadership within the association include serving two terms on Web Industries Inc has chosen industry veteran John S Madej to serve as its next chief executive officer. He succeeds retiring CEO Mark Pihl, who will now assume the role of chairman of the board at the employee-owned company. Mr Madej joined Web Industries as president in March 2022, after 13 years with Hollingsworth & Vose (H&V), where he held the COO and CFO positions. “The focus on building and maintaining trusted relationships has a strong history and emphasis at Web Industries,” said Mr Madej. “I’m looking forward to using this strength to establish and nurture close collaborative relationships with customers.” Recent years have seen the company involved in high-profile projects such as scaling up global production capabilities for a prominent diagnostics brand during

In addition to his role as 2023 WAI president, Mr Breischaft will serve as co chair of the conference programming committee, chair of the oversight committee, and executive committee liaison to the education committee. Commenting on the appointment, Mr Breischaft said, “I look forward to advancing the latest WAI education initiative, developing multimedia training modules, and building on WAI’s legacy products such as handbooks. “This will be a crucial step for the next generation of industry engineers and operators.” Mr Breischaft holds a BS degree in electrical engineering from the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA, and an MBA degree from Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana, USA.

Kurt F Breischaft

The Wire Association International, Inc www.wirenet.org

Web Industries appoints John Madej chief executive officer

the pandemic, and developing highly engineered thermal insulating materials for aerospace agencies and extruded products used in 5G broadband cables.

Newly appointed chairman of the board Mark Pihl said, “I’m very much looking forward to my new role and helping John execute on our vision for the company. “His successful track record across multiple industries will be invaluable in moving Web Industries toward our growth goals. “As an employee-owned company, John’s inspirational leadership and proven strategic skills were very attractive to us. “We’re all very impressed with the progress our business teams are already making under his direction.” Before working at H&V, Mr Madej spent 24 years at General Electric in the USA and Japan. He also served as president and CEO for Exatec LLC, a GE-Bayer joint venture. Web Industries, Inc www.webindustries.com

John S Madej

46

www.read-eurowire.com

March 2023