Suominen Corporation continues to strengthen its product development function by appointing four new people, three of which have earned Ph.D. degrees, to Suominen’s global research & development team. The appointments are key actions in executing Suominen’s strategy, since adding capabilities to build a strong product company is one of the strategic focus areas.

“Strengthening our R&D is the key to Suominen’s vision to become a market driven product leader,” says Margareta Huldén, vice president, R&D, Suominen Corporation. “Our R&D spending is estimated to increase above 1% of our net sales and we have built a new product development process called Suominen Innovation Machine but there is no innovation without competent people. That’s why we are always looking for the best talent in the industry – something that these recent appointments represent.”

Kyra Dorsey, Ph.D., will join the R&D team as product development manager, starting April 1, 2016. For the last five years, Dorsey has worked as product manager at Suominen and Ahlstrom Corporation. She joined Ahlstrom R&D in 2006, after seven years in product development at Precision Fabrics Group and Polymer Group, Inc.

Vismadeb (Vish) Mazumder, Ph.D., has been appointed product development manager effective February 24, 2016. Mazumder has worked at the Clorox Company since earning his Ph.D. in Chemistry (Nanoscience), in 2011 from the Brown University. He has held various product development positions, first on the odor control platform and the past two years as technical project manager on the health care solutions development, to formulate and scale-up disinfection products. He got his BS degree in Chemistry from St. Stephen’s College, India in 2007.

Muralidhar (Murali) Lalagiri, Ph.D., has been appointed product development manager effective February 1, 2016. Lalagiri has worked close to eight years on nonwovens and advanced materials. He has been working as a filtration product development engineer at Walker Engineering Enterprises since April 2014, after earning a Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology, with specialization in nonwovens and advanced materials (Texas Tech University, TX, 2013). Lalagiri got his BS degree in Biotechnology from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India in 2007.

Pramod Shanbhag has been appointed project portfolio manager, Convenience, effective of December 1, 2015. Most recently, Shanbhag worked in the Suominen R&D department as a product development manager.  Prior to that, he worked for Ahlstrom in various R&D functions since 2007. He has a Master’s Degree in Textiles, Fiber & Polymer Science from Clemson University and a Bachelor of Science, Textile Chemistry from DKTE Institute in India.