THERMBOND: Experience The Best.

Mr. O’Connell began his career in the refractories industry in 1980 working For Canadian Refractories. In 1985 he joined AP Green Industries, located out of the Dominican Republic and serviced the Latin American and Caribbean industrial market. Mr. O’Connell joined Stellar Materials in November of 2003. He is now responsible for the sales team in Latin America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Mr. Gallagher previously worked as a Sales Manager for Foseco Inc. in refractory repair for the US, Central, and South American markets.
In 1998 he joined the John Zink Company’s Thermbond Refractory Group to promote Thermbond into the Refining, Hot Metal and Power industries and transitioned to Stellar Materials in 2004. He is responsible for all sales in the Southwestern U.S. and helps coordinate with the Stellar sales team on power plant projects for the power industry.

Mr. Pchola has a Bachelor of Science degree with 20 years of prior professional experience in the chemical and molten metal industries. Jeff joined Stellar Materials in 2007   as a Sales Manager and was recently promoted to Director of Technical Services. He relocated to our Manufacturing Plant and now works directly with Vice President of Engineering, Jens Decker. He is currently responsible for Technical Services and serves as our Aluminum Industry Specialist.

Mr. Decker earned his degree in Ceramic Engineering.  He worked as Project Manager and in R&D for RHI, DIFK, the German Institute for Refractories and Ceramics, and Gouda Refractories.  In 2001 he joined the Thermbond Refractory Group and in 2007 he relocated from Germany to Stellar Materials’ manufacturing facility in Michigan. He is responsible for new product development, technical services, and quality control.

Mr. Grootveld began his career in the refractories industry with Gouda Refractories in the Netherlands. He was responsible for material sales and installations in Germany where he focused on the aluminum and waste incineration industries. Mr. Grootveld went to work for the John Zink Company in 1999 selling Thermbond in all countries in the EU. In 2004 Mr. Grootveld joined Stellar Materials and now oversees an entire Stellar team servicing Europe and the Middle East.

Mr. Hagberg began his career in the refractories industry in 1979, working for M. H. Detrick and then A. P. Green Refractories. In 1997 he began distributing Thermbond for the John Zink Company. In 2004 he came to work for Stellar Materials. For the past 14 years Ted has been instrumental in establishing worldwide acceptance of Thermbond in the petrochemical industry. Ted is the Director of Business Development and is also an active member on the American Petroleum Institute-Vessel Refractory Task Group.