Our Team

2023 40 Under 40 Class Includes Three from Aalberts surface technologies

September 21, 2023 by

LIVONIA, MI September 11, 2023 – Heat Treat Today magazine announced today that Angella Sell, Connor Montgomery, and Chris Pietszak of Aalberts surface technologies are members of their 40 Under 40 Class of 2023.

The Heat Treat Today 40 Under 40 award recognizes rising leaders in the heat treat community who are giving their time, talent, and education to make the industry a great place to work.

Angella Sell, Research & Development Engineer, is a proven leader, having chaired the ASM Detroit Chapter from June 2020 to June 2021. In 2022 Angella received the ASM Detroit Chapter President’s Award for her leadership role during the challenging pandemic years. Angella is the vice-chair of the AFS Cast Iron Research Committee and will assume the role of chair in May 2024. Within this group, she serves as a subject matter expert for heat treatment research. Angella specializes in programs related to austempered ductile iron. Part of our team since 2015, she manages the R&D laboratory in Livonia with a focus on working with clients on heat treatment research and development programs, many of which are materials conversion related.

Connor Montgomery, Oshkosh Plant Manager, understands the importance of building strong teams and supporting them for success. His focus on hiring and retention practices as well as his emphasis on effective communications has positively transformed the culture in his plant. Connor is leading major efforts to improve flow, efficiency, and throughput in the Oshkosh plant. He has introduced the use of modern lean tools such as 5S, FIFO, and Supermarkets to reduce unproductive manhours. He is actively involved in the reduction of additional waste within plant processing. Connor is a graduate from MTI’s YES Program and is currently working to earn his MBA. Under his leadership the Oshkosh plant realized dramatic increases in throughput, sales and customer satisfaction. Connor has been part of our team since 2015.

Chris Pietszak, Quality Manager, focuses on the implementation of and support of ISO, IATF, and Nadcap as well as CQI-9 compliance. He is a trained ISO and IATF auditor and an MTI YES Program graduate. Chris played an important role implementing the quality systems during the start-up of the Fort Smith facility. He leads major quality initiatives on the corporate level for Aalberts surface technologies and is currently working to align the quality system process for all HIP | braze | heat treatment plants in the US. Part of our team since 2016, Chris is making a significant contribution to the implementation and continuous improvement of quality systems in the commercial heat treatment industry.

“At Aalberts surface technologies our strength is in our people. Congratulations to our own mission-critical leaders: Angella, Connor, and Chris, for this very well-deserved industry recognition,” says Alisa Patel, VP of Human Resources at Aalberts surface technologies HIP | braze | heat treatment.

Meet Stephen Garapic

July 31, 2023 by

Stephen Garapic is Aalberts surface technologies’ Regional Sales Manager for the Central Midwest Region. He is based in Cleveland, OH.

Stephen has been with Aalberts surface technologies for almost one year. He says the best part of his job is the people he works with daily. He also appreciates the positivity of the Aalberts team.

He grew up in Cleveland, where he delivered newspapers as a youth. After college his first job was in sales – selling fasteners to industrial companies.

Two pieces of advice that have stuck with him are: “Set goals and work hard to achieve them” and “Along the way always be respectful to everyone you meet.” If you have ever met Stephen, you know both of these to be true to who he is.

Outside of work, you will find him spending time with his family, working on developing his Spanish and Italian skills, or running. Stephen is an avid runner and as of the end of July 2023 will hit 15 years in a row without missing a day. Go, Stephen, go!

Meet Mark Bergel

June 29, 2023 by

Meet Mark Bergel, Regional Sales Manager – Great Lakes Region, for Aalberts surface technologies HIP | braze | heat treatment. His territory covers Michigan, Illinois, and Ontario.

He has been part of the sales team for almost four years. The biggest challenge Mark navigated over the last few years is the effect of COVID on customer relationships. “The number of people that work remotely has increased making face-to-face meetings and relationship building even more difficult,” he says. Mark adds that he is proud of “providing customer solutions, whether with current customers or new customers, especially at trade shows.”

And he states that one of the best pieces of advice he has received is that “Bad news is nothing more than an opportunity awaiting a solution.”

Originally from Metro Detroit, Mark currently lives in Gaylord, Michigan which is in the northern part of the lower peninsula. Growing up, his first job was working on a private farm and orchard – quite a difference from the world of heat treatment.

On the weekends you might find him involved in a variety of activities. He loves fishing and deer hunting, attending car shows, and spending time with his granddaughters. He says he is a “long suffering” Detroit Lions fan but follows all Detroit sports along with Michigan State.

Meet Tony Geyman

May 25, 2023 by

Meet Tony Geyman, Regional Sales Manager – North & West, at Aalberts surface technologies HIP | braze | heat treatment. His territory covers states in the Northwest US from Wisconsin south to Iowa and west to Oregon, as well as the western Canadian Provinces west of Ontario.

He started working with the company seven years ago. Over his tenure, he says he is proud of the strong customer partnerships that are “built on trust, world class service, quality, and technical support.” He adds that a factor contributing to his success is based on some of the best advice he ever got which is “to be optimistic versus pessimistic and work the issues to find a solution.”

He is originally from Rochester, NY and literally grew up in a foundry. His first job was Coremaker at the family steel foundry.

These days he resides in Southeast Wisconsin. On the weekends you will find him doing his favorite things – hunting and fishing. He loves to bow hunt whitetail deer and fish for Musky/Walleye. And if it’s football season he will be rooting for his favorite team, the Green Bay Packers.

Meet JP Square

April 20, 2023 by

Meet JP Square, Aalberts surface technologies’ Regional Sales Manager for the South and West. He is based in Tulsa, OK.

JP has been part of the Aalberts team for 4 ½ years. He started with Applied Process which is now part of Aalberts surface technologies. JP worked closely with the facility in Fort Smith, Arkansas. That facility was just starting up when he joined the company. He is very proud of how he helped to build steady work flowing into Fort Smith, which continues to have record sales months. And, he is excited about the future as Aalberts surface technologies continues to grow and add processes to its portfolio of services.

JP grew up just outside of Tulsa, in Broken Arrow, OK. JP attended the University of Arkansas where he fulfilled his dream of playing D1 football. He says the best advice he ever received is “Never give up.”

His first job after college was a buyer for Gulfstream G650 wings. And in his current role with Aalberts he sells HIP’ing, brazing, and heat treatment to a variety of industries. Although JP says with a bit of a laugh, “the biggest misconception is for people who don’t know, think we sell Heat Exchangers.” And, after the furnaces were installed in Fort Smith, JP says he had to field questions from people wondering if we were frying chicken in the plant since there was a chicken processing plant down the road.

On the weekends you will most likely find JP doing…sports. He stays on the go, whether it is watching or coaching one of his sons’ teams or biking with his daughter. If he can find the time, he might hit the links or catch Tiger when he is playing. During football season, he loves to watch college football and follows the Razorbacks, of course!

Superstar among us!

September 19, 2022 by

Our Product Development Engineer, Jeremy Lipshaw, was chosen as one of the Heat Treat Today 40 Under 40! What an accomplishment when you think that he hasn’t even hit 30 yet!! We are so proud of you Jeremy—keep up the hard work!!

Read the entire article here

Happy Work Anniversary to Gregg Hall!

August 13, 2021 by

Happy work anniversary to Gregg Hall!

Gregg has been with Aalberts surface technologies for 40 years! Starting as an Operator at the Bassett Street plant, he was quickly promoted to Assistant Supervisor after a few months. Gregg also worked in the lab for a while before the next opportunity presented itself. Aalberts surface technologies purchased the Mount Hope Avenue facility and Gregg took on the position of Shift Supervisor at the new plant.

Over the years, Gregg has been a tremendous asset that has helped our company be successful. Gregg’s contribution to Aalberts surface technologies has been invaluable.

Thank you, Gregg, for your dedication to the company! Happy 40-year anniversary!

Have a heat treating need? Contact us today! sales@aalberts-st.us

We are excited to announce recent personnel changes at Aalberts surface technologies

June 24, 2021 by

We are excited to announce recent personnel changes at Aalberts surface technologies. Today, we congratulate Tim Daiss, HR Director, on his retirement. Tim has spent the past 33 years in HR. He started with us in July 2017. We wish Tim all the best in his retirement endeavors!

We welcome Rachel Lunce to our team as Tim’s replacement in the HR Director role. Rachel started with us on June 7th and prior to joining our team she spent 12 years in HR.

Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Michigan State University and a Master of Business Administration in Human Resource Management from Baker College. She is a member of the Greater Lansing SHRM chapter.

Have a heat treating need? Contact us today! sales@aalberts-st.us

To see our current job opportunities, visit: https://lnkd.in/gC69q4H

Happy Work Anniversary to Glenn Whitaker, our steel Cost Estimator!

June 7, 2021 by

Glenn is celebrating 35 years with Aalberts surface technologies on May 27th. Glenn joined the company as a production employee at our Lansing, MI – Bassett St. plant in 1986. He quickly moved into an Assistant Shift Supervisor role, and in 1990, Glenn was promoted to Production Manager. Finally, Glenn joined the sales team as Cost Estimator in 2000.

To read a brief interview with Glenn, please follow the link here: https://lnkd.in/ghWQYBv

Congratulations, Glenn, and thank you for all the years of hard work and dedication to the company!

Have a heat treating need? Contact us today! sales@aalberts-st.us