Richard Pfingstler, CEO, Atlas Pressed Metals, DuBois, Pennsylvania, was elected president of the Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF), succeeding Matthew Bulger, NetShape Technologies—MIM, Solon, Ohio. His two-year term took effect at the conclusion of the federation’s annual meeting recently held in Key West, Florida.
Three of the federation’s six associations also installed new presidents during the annual meeting. John F. Sweet, PMT, president, Powder Metal Division, FMS Corporation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, was elected president of the Powder Metallurgy Parts Association (PMPA); Patrick J. McGeehan, vice president & general manager, Specialty Metal Products, Ametek, Inc., Robesonia, Pennsylvania, was elected president of the Metal Powder Producers Association (MPPA); and David V. Bowles, general manager and president, Pressure Technology, Inc., Warminster, Pennsylvania, was elected president of the Isostatic Pressing Association (IPA).
Pfingstler’s PM career spans 33 years with Atlas Pressed Metals. He earned a BS in accounting from Gannon University and became a CPA in 1975. He had previously worked for two accounting/CPA firms, including KPMG’s Cleveland office where he was a supervisor. He most recently served as president of PMPA and is a long-time member of MPIF’s Finance and Audit Committee, which he now chairs. Involved in local community affairs, he is President of the Board of Directors for the DuBois Area Schools Educational Foundation and is an active Board member of the Penn Highlands Health Care System and the DuBois Regional Medical Center. He and his wife, Christine, reside in DuBois.
Sweet received a BS in materials engineering from Drexel University in 1990, after which time he joined FMS Corporation, holding various positions within the organization before being promoted to his current role as president of the Powder Metal Division in 1999. In addition to being an ASM member, he has served on the MPIF Standards Committee, the Board of Directors of the Center for Powder Metallurgy Technology, and the Board of Directors of APMI International. He and his wife Paula live in Edina, Minnesota, with their three children.
McGeehan has held his position as vice president & general manager of Ametek Specialty Metal Products since 2008. Previously, he had spent 25 years at Hoeganaes Corporation, where he rose to the position of senior vice president of Operations & Technology. He received both a BS and an MS in metallurgical engineering from Drexel University and has been a member of ASM for 40 years. He has been very active in industry affairs, serving as a co-chair of MPIF’s annual technical conference twice (1990 and 2008), on the MPIF Technical Board and on the Awards Committee, as co-chair of the PM Industry Roadmap, and as a member of the board of MPPA. He and his wife have four children and reside in Moorestown, New Jersey.
Currently serving as general manager and president, Bowles has been at Pressure Technology since 1986, joining the company following a stint at General Electric. He received a BS in industrial engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Villanova University. In addition to being a member of ASM, he has served on the MPIF Industry Development Board and as a director on the board of IPA. He and his wife have two children and reside in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
MPIF is the umbrella trade federation representing the international metal powder producing and consuming industries. In addition to PMPA, MPPA, and IPA, the federation also comprises the Powder Metallurgy Equipment Association, the Metal Injection Molding Association, and the Refractory Metals Association.