NWI Offers Appreciation to Outgoing IAB Executive Committee Members

The Nonwovens Institute wishes to thank the three members of its Industrial Advisory Board Executive Committee who will be ending their terms this autumn for their service over the past years. Thomas Broch, Detlef Frey and Andreas Scope are stepping down after concluding their term of service to NWI, its members, faculty, staff and students.

Thomas Broch has served in technical leadership roles at the Fibertex Personal Care Group in Ålborg, Denmark for more than 20 years and assumed a new role as Sustainability & Regulatory Affairs Director as of October 1, 2023. He is a graduate of Aarhus University with degrees in chemistry and history. Thomas has served NWI as an Executive Committee member since 2018 and as Vice Chairperson for the Executive Committee during the past year.

Detlef Frey is the Head of R&D for Reifenhäuser REICOFIL GmbH & Co KG in Troisdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He received his degree in mechanical engineering with focus on Aerospace at the German University RWTH-Aachen. For over 30 years he has worked to develop and improve the nonwoven machinery of Reifenhäuser Reicofil, starting as an R&D and field engineer and being in his current position since 2006. Beside serving the NWI as an Executive Committee member since 2017, he is also in the technical leadership of the ITA, Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH-Aachen University.

Andreas Scope is the Innovation Owner for Air Filtration and Sustainability at MANN+HUMMEL GmbH in Ludwigsburg, Germany. He has more than 20 years of experience in filtration and separation and has served in technical leadership roles in MANN+HUMMEL for over 10 years. Andreas received his degree and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany.

The strong tie between Industry and Academia is a hallmark of The Nonwovens Institute (NWI).  Each of our over 50 Member organizations have representation on the Industrial Advisory Board, which reviews proposed and existing programs and recommends alternatives or additions and provides review over Institute budgets and policies.  The IAB also elects the nine-member Executive Committee, which provides higher level member oversight and policy guidance.  In addition, the Executive Committee makes recommendations to Institute Leadership with regard to the composition of the Strategic Scientific Advisory Board (SSAB) and collaborates with Leadership to select SSAB members.  Many of the IAB and SSAB members actively mentor NC State graduate students in NWI’s nonwovens program and act as ambassadors for the Institute across the industry.

At its recent Fall 2023 meeting in Raleigh, the IAB elected three new members of the Executive Committee.  These elections will be communicated separately.

The time and effort contributed by all of the IAB representatives and especially the Executive Committee members is symbolic of the value that their member companies place upon the relationship with NWI.  Each individual is a respected leader not only in their own organization but across the broader industry.  We celebrate the “Sweat Equity” that our member companies and IAB representatives, especially the members of the Executive Committee, contribute to ensure the continued success of NWI.

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