Joseph E. Fritz Kovatch Castings, Inc. Frank Lysiak is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Kovatch Castings, Inc. Frank has been in the Investment Casting Industry for over 20 years. After graduating from John Carroll University, Frank earned his CPA certificate and worked in public accounting for Coopers & Lybrand. After joining Kovatch Castings, Frank applied his expertise in the accounting field to assist Kovatch Castings in growing from 40 employees to over 180 employees. Frank has increased his knowledge of the Investment Casting Industry by attending the ICI’s Industry Certification Course and has expanded that knowledge through his involvement in the day to day operations at Kovatch Castings. Frank’s attendance at various ICI spring and fall meetings have added to his knowledge of the industry and his involvement with the ICI. Frank is currently a committee chair on the ICI Five Year Strategy Initiative. [email protected]
Investment Casting Institute - Staff
Grayce Albanese Business Administrator Graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in biology and earned a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School and a certificate in strategic human resource management from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. Employed by United Parcel Service 1986 to 1995 as corporate legal council (Atlanta, GA) and in various human resource functions at the district level (Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts). Appointed to the State of New Hampshire Compensation Appeals Board by Governor Stephen Merrill in 1996. Joined Hitchiner as corporate manager of administration in 1995 with responsibilities ranging from managing in-house legal and administrative affairs to specific responsibilities in human resources including ethics compliance and training, corporate safety, and environmental affairs. Promoted to director of administration and corporate council for legal and administrative affairs. Appointed vice president, Administration in August 2005. [email protected]
Nora D'Ambra Marketing and Member Services Coordinator Brad has been in the investment casting industry since 1991. He is currently Vice President of Texas Precision Metalcraft, Inc. (TPM) in Sugar Land, TX. Brad has had the opportunity to work for large and small commercial IC foundries, giving him a unique perspective on our industry and how the ICI can best serve member foundries. He is involved in all aspects of the foundry, including engineering, sales, purchasing, and operations. Brad is serving his second term on the ICI Board of Directors where he has been active on the Membership committee. Brad is a graduate of Bradley University with a BS in Manufacturing Engineering. [email protected]
Barbara Wisconsin Precision Casting Corporation Cliff graduated from Marquette University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He has worked in the manufacturing arena for 25 years and 19 of those years in Investment Casting Industry. He currently is the Vice President and co-owner of Wisconsin Precision Casting Corp. Prior to Wisconsin Precision Casting, he worked at Signicast Corporation as a project engineer, plant manager and vice president of manufacturing. Cliff also has been a board member, Vice President and President of the Investment Casting Institute's board of directors and has served on many of the Institute's committees. [email protected]
Margureta Bescast, Inc. Russ is currently the Vice President at Bescast, Inc., a privately held investment casting supplier to aerospace celebrating 70 years in business. Russ began his career in 1978 in the shelling and casting departments while earning his degree in Metallurgical Engineering at the Ohio State University. He officially joined Bescast in 1985 and held positions as the NDT Level 3, Process and Product Engineering, and became the Engineering Manager in 1996 after receiving his Masters in Industrial Engineering. Russ was appointed VP of Engineering in 2002 and has a very hands-on approach to development and problem solving the hundreds of new castings that have been produced over the years and received a patent in 1996. Russ has served on the Board of Directors for Bescast since 2002 and has presented technical papers at the 2012 ICI Technical Conference and the 2014 ASM Metalcasting Congress. [email protected]
INCAST Magazine
Erin Almaleh Ransom & Randolph Michael J. Hendricks (Mike) is the Business Unit Director – Ceramic Shell for Ransom & Randolph (R&R) in Maumee, Ohio. Mike has been with R&R for over 20 years and has held various Quality Assurance and Technical roles. As Business Unit Director he is responsible for all Sales, Technical Support and Research & Development for R&R ceramic shell products worldwide. Mike and his team have developed a number of technologically advanced products and applications for the Precision Investment Casting Industry. He has authored and presented numerous technical papers and seminars worldwide. Mike received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. His current involvement with the Board includes being a member of the Zircon Alternative Project Steering Committee, the Audit Committee and the Program Committee. He is also the Affiliate Representative to the ICI Board Executive Committee. [email protected]
John J. Marcin Pratt & Whitney John is currently Manager of the Casting Laboratory and Discipline Chief for Casting Technology at United Technologies Pratt & Whitney. During his 28 years at Pratt & Whitney he has been involved in advanced alloy development, advanced component manufacture, casting technology development, and investment casting supply chain management & creation. John also manages activities for United Technologies divisions involved with sand and die casting. He is the recipient of UTC George Mead Medal for Engineering Excellence (highest corporate award) and 15 Patents. John received a MS in Materials Engineering, a MBA from Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, and BS in Materials Engineering from Lehigh University. His additional activities are Adjunct Professor of Engineering Sciences at RPI, Professional Engineer for the State of Connecticut, and a member of ASM, TMS and ICI. [email protected]
Julie Markee Key Process Innovations Julie Markee’s passion for the investment casting industry inspired her to start Key Process Innovations, a company focused on improving process efficiency through technical expertise, products and equipment. Throughout her 13 years in the industry, she has worked to reduce process variability across a wide range of foundries including commercial, aerospace and titanium. She has presented numerous technical papers focused on helping PIC foundries remove variability from their process, in addition to being an instructor at the ICI’s Process Control Class. She has bachelor of science in chemical engineering from the University of Washington. [email protected]
Douglas (Doug) Neece Cleveland Tool & Machine, Inc. Doug has over 35 years of service to the investment casting industry. He is the Vice President and Co-owner of Cleveland Tool & Machine, Inc. Cleveland Tool is a supplier of injection machinery for wax patterns and ceramic cores to investment casters in 16 countries. He spent 29 years in various positions at Tempcraft Tool & Mold which was later purchased by Howmet and Alcoa. During his career he was involved in many of the injection control enhancements for wax injection processes that led to U.S. and worldwide patents in which he is co-inventor. These are being used by many of the leading investment casters. In addition to the above, Doug has been involved in writing and presenting technical papers regarding wax injection process for organizations such as The Investment Casting Institute, British Investment Casting Trade Association, American Foundry Society, Japanese Association of Casting Technology and presentations regarding processes for various corporations throughout the world. Doug has been involved as an Affiliate Member of the ICI for many years and was honored to be part of the team that produced the ICI publication “Atlas of Wax Pattern Defects” which is being used by many foundries worldwide. [email protected]
Nipendra P. Singh S&A Consulting Group, LLP Nipendra (Nip) Singh has almost 40 years of experience in the high technology aircraft engine components manufacturing business including nearly 17 years with TRW Corporation. Early in his career Mr. Singh managed the design and startup of a new investment casting plant for General Electric Company. Since 1991 Nip is Consulting Partner and CEO of S&A Consulting Group LLP, Cleveland, Ohio. He was educated in India having received a degree in Metallurgy and did post graduate work in business at Case Western Reserve University. His background includes marketing strategies, product engineering, strategic management and new plant construction in aerospace and commercial ventures. He has consulted for over 18 years for multi-national and American companies in the US, Japan, Europe and Asia. [email protected]
Albert E. Torok, Jr. Precision Propeller Industries, Inc. Al is currently the Investment Casting Technical Manager at Precision Propeller Industries, Inc. located in Indianapolis, IN. After receiving his BS in Physics at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselear, IN. Al has spent the last 38 years in the foundry Industry. Al started his investment career at Arwood, in New Hampshire in 1986. He has held various positions within the technical side of the foundry business, from starting out as a Lab Tech, to Director of Engineering at an aerospace foundry in Southern CA, to the present, as the Investment Casting Technical Manager at PPI. Al has technical engineering experience with casting large Aluminum, mid-size and small Low Carbon Steel, Alloy Steel and Stainless Steels, Copper base alloys, Magnesium alloys, Gray and Ductile Iron in both Shell and Solid Mold, for the aerospace industry. However, he further has engineering experience in Green Sand, Dry Sand, High Pressure Die Casting, Permanent Mold, Tilt Mold, Low Pressure. Al has co-authored five technical papers and has served on various technical committees for Gray Iron, Ductile Iron and AFS research projects. [email protected]
Ty Ueland SeaCast, Inc. Ty Ueland is the Director of Business Development at SeaCast Inc. and sits on the Board of Directors at Montana Precision Products, a SeaCast – GE Aviation Joint Venture. He also currently leads the ICI’s Strategy Team focusing on customer education. His investment casting experience began in 1990 working a summer air melt job with SeaCast, where he later progressed through roles in quality, marketing and sales. He has been active in his current tenure since 2007 overseeing sales, marketing, strategy and government relations. Prior to his return, Ty worked in Smith Barney’s Investment Banking Division as a Financial Analyst and held various roles in Microsoft Corporation’s Corporate Strategy and Corporate Marketing groups. Ty holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Washington. [email protected]
