Nanophase Technologies,
a leader in nanomaterials and advanced nanoengineered products, today announced
several internal promotions and a realignment of management responsibilities
to more effectively identify and capitalize on market opportunities.
"Our organizational changes will allow us to more fully utilize the talents
of our most experienced managers," explained Jess Jankowski, acting CEO,
VP and CFO. "Our most exciting change is that we have established an internal
Technology Forum, headed by Richard Brotzman Ph.D., our Chief Technology Officer.
This team, comprised of several of the company's key executives in operations,
sales, finance and engineering, will work collaboratively to seek and evaluate
additional technologies and refine our ongoing intellectual property strategy
by evaluating our current intellectual property, identifying and monitoring
competitive threats and opportunities and ensure that our licensing agreements
are being utilized most effectively."
"Developing effective proprietary technology solutions for specific customer
applications has always been the company's hallmark. However, this Technology
Forum gives Nanophase a more structured team approach to managing our competitive
position and developing tomorrow's nanotechnology solutions. Our expectation
is that the Forum will have an impact on revenues and new business in 2010 and
beyond."
Brotzman, who joined the company in 1994, has invented much of the company's
coating technology. His 15 years experience in research and development of advanced
materials has led to many new products. Dr. Brotzman holds a B.S. degree in
chemical engineering from Lafayette College, an M.S. degree in engineering and
applied science from the University of California, Davis and a Ph.D. in chemistry
from the University of Washington.
To support the company's revitalized structure, Jankowski announced the following
management promotions:
Patrick Murray Ph.D. has been named vice president of research and development.
He will lead Nanophase's research & development efforts, focusing on new
products and applications to support sales and marketing initiatives. He will
report directly to Jankowski. Murray received his Ph.D. from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined Nanophase in 2001.
David Nelson has been named vice president of sales and marketing. This new
position brings together sales, marketing and customer service under one senior
executive, streamlining the reporting structure. Nelson joined the company in
2007. He has more than 15 years of sales, marketing and business development
experience. Before Nanophase, Nelson started and managed the LCD business for
Eastman Chemical Company, served with Mercer Management Consulting working on
corporate strategy development and implementation and has started two consumer
goods manufacturing companies. He holds a B.S. in Marketing from Miami University
and a M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern
University.
Nancy Baldwin was named vice president of human resources and information technology,
elevating both human resources and IT to senior management-level functions.
She will continue to manage the company's investor relations. Susan Barrett
has been promoted to manager of administration and information technology, reporting
to Baldwin. Baldwin joined Nanophase in 2000 and Barrett joined shortly thereafter
in early 2001.
Glenn Judd has been promoted to assistant vice president of operations, a newly
created title. This new management position broadens the emphasis on operations
at the senior management level while continuing in his role as director of engineering.
Judd has been with the company since early 2000. He reports to Robert Haines,
vice president of operations.
Sherman Jung was named controller, with additional responsibilities including
oversight of costing/financial analysis, operational accounting and financial
reporting. He is a CPA and has been with the company since 1999. Jung will be
a member of the Technology Forum, joining Jankowski, Haines, Nelson, Murray,
principal scientist Harry Sarkas, Ph.D. and Brotzman.
Jankowski concluded: "There's great enthusiasm among our executives for
this more structured team approach to our business. Nanophase employs some of
the leading experts in the nanotechnology field. We saw an opportunity to facilitate
more discussion and interplay throughout our management team. We believe this
will have very positive long-term results for the company, generating more new
customer solutions and an expanded range of revenue opportunities."