Inductoheat Announces New President

Inductoheat Inc. has named a new president and chief operating officer, Doug Brown, its former president for forging. He assumed the new role on January 1. Brown joined the Inductotherm Group in 2001 as the international sales manager for its Mass Heating division. In 2002 he was named president of its Alpha 1 Induction Service Center subsidiary, and from there was named president for forging for the Inductotherm Group in 2004. He managed the sales and technology for the group’s 15 companies worldwide that manufacture induction-heating systems for forging. According to Inductotherm, Brown will be responsible for growth of Inductoheat, which supplies induction-heating technology to a range of industries. Among its products are systems for heat-treating, annealing, shrink fitting, and bar and billet heating. At the same time, Inductoheat announced that its senior vice president and general manager John H. Hooper has retired. Hooper had been affiliated with the Inductotherm Group of companies for 35 years, including the past five years as Inductoheat's vice president. Hooper joined the group, then known as Cheston, as an equipment sales manager in 1973. In 1978, Cheston merged with IPE in Madison Heights, MI, and Hooper lead the international sales efforts in India and South America. In 1988, Hooper established Inductoheat Korea and beginning in 1991 served as president of Radyne Corp. for nine years. In 2000, Hooper became the managing director of Radyne Ltd. in England, and then managing director for Inductoheat Europe. He returned to Michigan in 2003 as senior vice president of Inductoheat. “I want to thank John for his terrific contribution over the past 35 years and his participation in building a thriving set of businesses,” stated Gary Doyon, CEO and group vice president. "John has helped build a world-leading induction-heating organization and leaves behind him a very capable team."