Edward Engelhard recently joined Solar Atmospheres as corporate quality director. He was formerly president of Owego Heat Treat. The company was started by his grandfather in 1952 and is where Engelhard honed his knowledge for over 40 years in metallurgy, heat treating, and its related quality systems. In 2006 he directed disaster recovery from record flooding of the Susquehanna river (10 feet of water in plant). Due to a repeat of devastating damage from flooding in September 2011, Owego recently closed its doors. During his tenure there he also served as quality management director, vice president and general manager, and plant metallurgist. As quality management director he launched and maintained a formal quality system. He also established, directed, and supported accredited and registered quality control, quality assurance, and management systems, and obtained prime and subprime contractor approvals from customers in the aerospace and power generation industries.
In his new role at Solar Atmospheres Engelhard will host and register the company’s quality audits, train managers to learn quality requirements, and ensure that the all three plant quality systems are functioning in accordance with the plan. Roger Jones, corporate president, says “I have known Ed for over 20 years through our involvement in The Metal Treating Institute (MTI). We have also had the pleasure of working together on several heat treating projects along the way. Ed’s intimate knowledge of our industry and quality requirements will certainly be a tremendous asset to Solar.”
Engelhard holds a bachelor’s degree in metallurgy and material science from Leigh University and is a member of the ASM International and SAE International. His awards include: Nadcap Leadership Awards (July 2002) and Nadcap Mayben Platonoff Award (October 2005). He has served as a supplier voting member on the Nadcap Management Council and Heat Treat Task Group and as a member, vice chair, and chairman on the Nadcap Supplier Support Committee.
Solar Atmospheres is one of the world’s largest providers of commercial vacuum heat treating services. Through unmatched technical expertise, equipment, and quality assurance, Solar’s thermal processing produces bright, scale-free parts with minimal distortion. More information is available at www.solaratm.com.
