Dr Olaf Schmidt-Park Born in 1961, German citizen, CEO of the Swissmetal Group since May 2009.
Olaf Schmidt-Park studied machine building at the Technical University Hanover (Germany) and subsequently earned a doctorate in the area of process engineering at the Technical University Berlin (Germany). His professional career began at Bayer AG in Krefeld-Uerdingen (Germany) as a project manager in product and process development. In 1998, he assumed the general management of Bayer Shanghai Pigments Ltd (China) in 1998 and developed it into a profitable production site. In 2002, he switched to Bayer Business Services Ltd. as a Key Account Manager in Leverkusen (Germany). As of 2004, he was the president and CEO of H.C.Starck, Inc, Newton, USA.
Udo Nöbel Born in 1963, German citizen, member of both the Executive Management and Group Management since May 2010 in his capacity as Chief Operations Officer for Industry and Head of Quality, Safety and Environment.
Udo Nöbel studied industrial engineering at the University Iserlohn and gained experiences in automotive suppliers and metal processing companies like Pilkington, the mg Chemical Group and Alcan, afterwards. His career started at the glassmaker Pilkington, first as a production manager and later on as a factory manager with the responsibility for various plants. At last he was managing different subsidiaries of the aluminum specialist Alcan in Germany as well as Eastern Europe as a general manager.
Joachim Blatter Born in 1959, German citizen, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of both Group Management and Executive Management since October 1 2008.
Joachim Blatter studied Economics at the University of Freiburg (Breisgau) and the University of Collogne. In 1997 he graduated as a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and in 2006 as a Certified Financial Manager (CFM) at the Institute of Management Accountants in the USA. During the course of his career Joachim Blatter had various functions in the financial sector at corporate as well as operational levels in international groups working in the metal industry. He worked last at Alcan as CFO for the Alcan Singen GmbH and as CFO and Managing Director for the Alcan Holding Germany.
Dr Volker Helling, German citizen, Chief Sales Officer (CSO) and member of both Group Management and Executive Management since March 1 2010.
Dr Volker Helling studied metallurgy and material engineering, with an emphasis on casting, at the Technical University of Aachen (RWTH) in Germany and received his doctorate in 1995 at the Foundry Institute of the same university. Following his studies he began his career at Georg Fischer Automotive in Singen where he managed various projects in the areas of production and administration. In 1997 he moved up to management as Head of Quality Management. In the fall of 1999 he took over management of the company’s Garching site, an aluminum foundry located north of Munich. In mid-2003 he went on to become Sales Manager in the Iron Technology Unit at Georg Fischer Automotive which comprised a total of four sites. Following this, in 2006 he took over the lead position in Key Account Management where he was responsible for approximately half of sales at Georg Fischer Automotive. Since April 2009 Volker Helling has been active in purchasing, including provider assessment and support.
Martin Heuschkel Born in 1962, French citizen, Mem-ber of Group Management as Chief Information Officer (CIO) since December 2003 and Managing Director Swissmetal Design Solutions AG since July 2007; Member of Executive Management since July 2007.
Martin Heuschkel holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Basel Technical University, an MBA from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester in New York and an Executive MBA from the University of Berne. Before joining the Swissmetal Group, he worked for five years for a Swiss management consultancy on international projects, seven years as the CTO of an international logistics group and four years in the IT and security systems department of a major Swiss bank. From 2005 to June 2007 he was also responsible for quality, safety and environmental protection at Swissmetal. He is also Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss Data Safe AG in Amsteg.
Sam V. Furrer Born in 1966, Swiss citizen, Chief Development Officer (CDO) and Member of Group Management since July 2004, Member of Executive Management since July 2007.
Sam V. Furrer holds a degree in management from the University of St. Gallen. He has worked for Arthur D. Little and other consulting firms in strategy development and implementation, change management and enterprise development. During his consulting career he acquired extensive expertise in various industries including petroleum, cement, postal services, electronics and telecommunications. In addition to his work as CDO, Sam V. Furrer was Head of Human Resources from July 2004 to January 2006.
Laura Rossini Born in 1970, Swiss and Italian citizen, Director Human Resources and Member of Group Management since January 2006, Member of Executive Management since July 2007.
Laura Rossini studied foreign languages with a focus on law and business at the Free University of Cologne. She then completed a number of advanced training programs in human resources, which she has worked within for 10 years. She has solid human resources experience both in strategic matters (assessment, recruitment, management development) at international industrial groups such as Hilti and Holcim and in operational matters as the Head of human resources at a small manufacturer. She joined the Swissmetal Group in March 2005 in a staff position as HR Manager of Development and Projects, before becoming Head of Human Resources.
Jean-Pierre Tardent Born in 1954, Swiss citizen, SVP R&D, Technical Marketing and Quality Management and Member of Group Management since July 2004, Member of the Executive Management since January 2009.
Jean-Pierre Tardent holds a degree in materials science from EPFL Lausanne and began his career with the Swissmetal Group in 1982. He first managed research projects, prior to moving on to become an operating metallurgist, Head of Research and Development at the Reconvilier plant and Head of Technical Marketing. He possesses substantial experience in copper alloys and their applications as well as manufacturing processes.
During the last three years, he was responsible for the market qualification of the most recent product innovations highly demanding industries as aircraft manufacturer, oil drilling and connector industry. In addition, he manages the product manager team since 2008, and he has also developed a completely new pricing system for the entire company and ensured the management of key accounts.
Born in 1954, Swiss citizen, SVP R&D, Technical Marketing and Quality Management and Member of Group Management since July 2004, Member of the Executive Management since January 2009.