Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing Announces New President & Executive Director

The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) today announced Dr. Michael Beffel as its new interim President and Executive Director.
Dr. Beffel, Vice President of Casting Operations for Chromalloy in Tampa, Florida, replaces outgoing CCAM President and Executive Director David Lohr, who led the organization from its inception in 2011.
“CCAM, a public / private collaborative research center, continues to initiate new research critical to the surface technology and manufacturing industries,” said Armand F. Lauzon, Jr. Chairman of the CCAM Board of Directors.  “CCAM also is adding to the growing list of member companies.  We are grateful for David Lohr’s previous leadership and vision, and we welcome the expertise Dr. Mike Beffel now brings to CCAM to continue the mission.”
During this interim period, Dr. Beffel will focus on maintaining CCAM’s momentum while identifying a full time successor to David Lohr. Supporting Dr. Beffel by providing day to day management of the CCAM facility will be Tom Loehr, Executive Vice President, Crosspointe Operations, and Jim Whitton, Director of Operations for CCAM.
In a career spanning nearly three decades Dr. Beffel has held technical roles and senior-level management positions where his responsibility included the implementation of technologies and development of new technologies for industrial casting.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan, a Master of Science in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, with an emphasis on the thermodynamic behavior of casting solidification.
CCAM recently completed construction of its new, state-of-the-art, 60,000 square-foot facility in Prince George County, Va., just south of Richmond.  The building features computational and engineering research labs in addition to high bay production space for commercial scale equipment and other tools required to explore CCAM’s research focus areas, surface engineering and manufacturing systems.

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About the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing
CCAM is a research-based collaboration between the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia State University and manufacturing companies worldwide. Manufacturers join CCAM as members and guide research leveraging both university faculty and CCAM scientists in two focus areas: surface engineering and manufacturing systems. CCAM has built a 60,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art research facility in Prince George County, Va., adjacent to Rolls-Royce’s jet engine components plant. CCAM took occupancy of the research center on September 11, 2012.For more information, visit www.ccam-va.com.