People

Pakistan: Faisal Imran Hussain Malik has been appointed as a director on the board of Pioneer Cement in place of Asif Hussain Bukhari. In addition Shafiuddin Ghani Khan has been elected as chairman of the board with effect from 29 September 2012. The Lahore-based cement producer made the announcement in a letter to the Karachi Stock Exchange on 4 October 2012.

Germany: Loesche has announced that Andreas Huster has joined Loesche Automatisierungstechnik GmbH (LAG) in Luenen as its sales director. He joined Loesche in July 2012.

Huster is 37 years old, married and was formerly responsible for distribution, sales and marketing of automation technology at Miebach group in Dortmund. At Loesche Huster will take over the responsibility for all clients and develop new market potential for LAG. Huster will also support projects for Loesche GmbH in Duesseldorf and their subsidiaries worldwide.

France: Carlos Espina has been appointed as director of research and development for the Lafarge Group, with effect from 1 October 2012. Espina was previously the chief executive officer at ArcelorMittal Méditerranée, a position he had held since July 2009.

He began his career in the UK as a researcher at AEA Technology. In 1995 he joined the research and development (R&D) Centre of Aceralia Corporación Siderúrgica as manager of the product applications engineering department, before becoming vice president of intellectual property, knowledge management and artificial intelligence upon the merger with Arcelor in 2002. Within the Arcelor Mittal Group, he successively held the positions of vice-president in charge of R&D, Europe, and vice-president in charge of R&D, automotive.

Carlos Espina will be based at Lafarge's Research Centre near Lyons, with more than 250 researchers of 12 different nationalities. He holds a degree from Oviedo College of Mines in Spain.

Kenya: The East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has appointed two managers to head up its production and human resources departments. Charles Charo has will become the new head of production operations and John Ole Kimanjoi will become the head of human resources and administration.

Charo holds 25 years of experience in cement manufacturing and has previously worked for Bamburi Cement and Athi River Mining. Kimanjoi holds 25 years experience in human resources, specialising in labour relations. He has worked for KPTC, Telkom Kenya, Mumias Sugar and NSSF. Other appointments include a new Production Manager Joseph Kombo, who was promoted from process manager and James Mutisya, who becomes the new Maintenance and Projects Manager.

EAPCC managing director Kephar Tande said that the changes have been made to enable the company to execute a new strategy and align functions to grow the business.

US/Switzerland: Holcim US has announced that its president and CEO, Bernard Terver, will join the executive committee of the company's parent Holcim Ltd.

As part of the 'Holcim Leadership Journey,' an initiative which streamlines and strengthens operations, Terver will also assume responsibility for the new group region of North America, comprising Holcim US, Holcim Canada, Aggregate Industries (US) and Aggregate Industries UK. Filiberto Ruiz will serve as deputy chief executive officer of Holcim (US) and Aggregate Industries US. Prior to his promotion, Ruiz was senior vice president of sales and marketing for Holcim US.

"I'm confident that these management changes will reinforce our commitment to customer excellence and to the development of our employees as they become the next generation of leaders," said Bernard Terver, president and CEO of Holcim US. "Filiberto's experience makes him an excellent choice for this new role and I am looking forward to collaborating as the company advances."

"I am honoured to have been appointed to lead US operations," said Filiberto Ruiz, deputy chief executive officer of Holcim (US) and Aggregate Industries US. "Holcim US and Aggregate Industries US are solid organisations and I look forward to continuing to build on the work that has taken place under Bernard's leadership."

Terver has been president and CEO of Holcim US since October 2008 and Aggregate Industries US since 2010. In the same year he also became area manager. He joined Holcim in 1994 when his employer CEDEST was acquired by Holcim France. In 1999, he became chief executive officer of Holcim Colombia and in 2003 was appointed area manager for the Andes nations, Central America and the Caribbean.

Ruiz began his career with the Holcim Group in 1986 as electrical supervisor with Holcim Apasco in Mexico, later becoming plant manager. In 1999 he became regional vice president for manufacturing at Holcim US. He returned to Holcim Apasco as cement operations, vice president and moved back to Holcim US in 2006 as senior vice president for manufacturing. He has been in his current role, senior vice president for sales and marketing, since 2010.