People

US: Vecoplan, a provider of processing technologies and comprehensive systems for the production of alternative fuel from waste and biomass and fuels feeding systems, has appointed Uwe Eschenhorst as vice president of its cement business. Eschenhorst joined Vecoplan in 2012 as vice president of its alternative fuels and energy competency centre. Prior to that he was the environmental services manager at Polysius Corp USA, working with the cement and minerals industries. Eschenhorst brings more than 14 years of practical experience to his new position at Vecoplan.

"Uwe's impressive credentials and vast experience in this sector make him the perfect choice to head-up our Cement Business Unit here at Vecoplan," said Len Beusse, COO of Vecoplan. In his new position, Eschenhorst will be responsible for sales in the North American cement industry. He will also supervise all strategic aspects of large projects in this sector.

US: Vulcan Materials has announced that its board has named J Thomas Hill as the company's new CEO, succeeding Donald James in the role. James, who is 65 years old, will become the company's executive chairman. He has served as Vulcan's CEO since 1996 and as its chairman since 1997. Hill, who is 55, previously had acted as Vulcan's chief operating officer. Before that, he held several management positions in sales and operations since joining the company in 1979.

Vulcan also promoted its financial chief John McPherson to the position of chief financial and strategy officer, a role in which he will oversee strategy and human resources functions in addition to his existing duties.

Russia: Andrey Nesen has been appointed as the new director of Voskresenskcement plant, a Lafarge subsidiary. Nesen will oversee production and personnel development, the upkeep of corporate safety standards and will control implementation of the plant's social projects. Andrey Nesen previously occupied the position of Voskresenskcement's operations director, production manager and director of the production analysis department.

India: Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (R-Infra), part of Reliance Group, has named M S Mehta as chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from 7 July 2014. He will take over as CEO from Lalit Jalan, who held the portfolio for more than seven years.

Mehta was the Group CEO of Vedanta Resources Plc until recently, having held the position for five years. Prior to that, Mehta was the CEO of Hindustan Zinc Ltd. Mehta is a mechanical engineer and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

R-Infra is an infrastructure company developing projects, through various special purpose vehicles, in sectors such as roads, metro rail and cement. R-Infra also promoted Jalan as director (corporate strategy and affairs), saying that Jalan will steer future growth initiatives.

Germany: Dirk Hoke took over as CEO of the Large Drives Business Unit of the Siemens Drive Technologies Division on 1 July 2014. Large Drives develops, manufactures and markets products, systems, solutions and services for drive engineering in industrial and infrastructure applications as well as sectors such as marine engineering, mining, cement, pulp and paper.

Hoke, a 45 year-old graduate engineer, joined Siemens in 1996 and started his career at the Transportation Systems Division. Subsequently Hoke held management posts in rail electrification, traction technology, and power supplies at Siemens locations in Germany and other countries. After serving for several years as CEO of Siemens' Cluster Africa and Siemens Morocco, in 2011 he took over leadership of the Industry Solutions Division before being appointed to head the Siemens Division Customer Services in October 2011.