IULTCS announces the appointment of four new Commission Chairs
Each Chairperson was selected due to their dedication, leadership, and vision for the IULTCS organization, these attributes stood out during the election process, and the officers are confident that each one will excel in their new role.
As Commission Chairs, they will play a crucial part in shaping the future initiatives, fostering collaborations, and driving positive change for IULTCS. The executive Committee and other Commission Chairs within the organisation, on behalf of all IULTCS members would like to offer a warm welcome to the new Commission Chairs and we look forward to working closely together to help achieve our shared goals.

The new IUC (Chemicals) Commission Chair is Tiziana Gambicorti. Tiziana works as the Standardisation and Sustainability Manager at Biokimica SpA – Italy. In the roles she is responsible for the chemical analysis laboratory and project leader for “Measuring sustainability” of the company’s products, to improve environmental performance.

The new IUE (Environmental) Commission Chair is Daniele Bacchi. Daniele is the Environmental Division Manager at ITALPROGETTI. He is responsible for the company’s general plant design, supervision of equipment construction, installation and startup projects, coordination of commercial activities and research and development.

The new IUS (Sustainability) Commission Chair is Kim A. de Sena. Kim is the Sustainability Director for JBS SA. He is responsible for the sustainability department of the company\'s Leather Business Division. Among the main activities are the strategic planning, management of Life Cycle Assessments of materials, traceability and chain transparency projects.

The new IUR (Research) Commission Chair is Dr. Volker Rabe. Dr. Volker is the head of wet end research and development for TFL Deutschland GmbH, in Leverkusen, Germany.
Footwear Industry Articles
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Leather Industry Articles
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PPE Industry Articles
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