Press Release: IRI NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR NEW BOARD MEMBERS

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IRI NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR NEW BOARD MEMBERS

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 24, 2025  CONTACT: NAM Media Relations
 Five Experienced Innovation Executives Join the IRI Board of Advisors 

Washington, D.C. – The National Association of Manufacturers’ Innovation Research Interchange welcomes five seasoned innovation professionals as new members of the IRI Board of Advisors. The accomplished executives represent decades of combined experience leading global innovation teams, and they are poised to provide strategic guidance and expertise to IRI and its community of members during their three-year terms. 
 
The newly confirmed members of the IRI Board of Advisors:  
 
Nici Bush, Chief Innovation, Science and Technology Officer, Mars, McLean, Va. Bush’s career at Mars spans nearly three decades, multiple business areas and numerous countries, including time as Global Head of Supply and Global Head of R&D. She has a master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge.   
 
Julie Edgar, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, The Lubrizol Corp., Wickliffe, Ohio. Edgar joined Lubrizol, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, in 1995 as a research chemist in the U.K. and has held several technology leadership positions with the company across multiple businesses. She has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Surrey.   
 
Arthur Martin, Vice President, Research and Development in North America, Arkema, King of Prussia, Pa. Martin, who has a Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, has over 25 years of experience heading R&D teams for regional and global companies.  
 
Manuel Natal, Discovery & Innovation Director, Trystar, Faribault, Minn. Natal’s robust expertise in chemical engineering is backed by a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where his research focused on the selective reduction of esters and carboxylic acids over heterogeneous copper-based catalysts.  
 
Mike Wahl, Vice President, Innovation & Insights, Wahl Clipper Corp., Sterling, Ill. Wahl’s extensive career at Wahl spans over a decade, including significant positions such as Vice President of Global Market Strategy and Market Research. His deep understanding of market dynamics and consumer insights has been pivotal in steering Wahl’s product innovations and competitive strategies.  
  
“All of the incoming members of the IRI Board of Advisors possess tremendous business acumen, particularly as it pertains to innovation,” said Laura Buen Abad, Vice President of Technology and Marketing, Thermoformed and Flexible Packaging, at Sonoco, who started her one-year term as Chair of the IRI Board of Advisors on Jan. 1. “Vice Chair Florian Schattenmann and I are eager to work with each of them to continue to steer IRI into the future.” 
 
Joining Buen Abad and Schattenmann, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Innovation and R&D at Cargill, on the IRI Executive Committee for 2025 is Immediate Past Chair Craig Slavtcheff, Chief R&D Officer at Kimberly-Clark.   
 
For more information on the full IRI Board of Advisors, visit https://iriweb.org/about/board-of-directors/  

-National Association for Manufacturer-
The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs 13 million men and women, contributes $2.75 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 53% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit nam.org. 

-Innovation Research Interchange-
Innovation Research Interchange (formerly the Industrial Research Institute) is an inclusive membership organization with hundreds of global members in private-sector companies, federally funded laboratories, universities and others. Founded in 1938, we lead and advance the field of innovation management by creating contemporary practices. Some of the world’s most widely adopted models—such as “open innovation,” “front end of innovation” and “stage-gate”—were born from the work of our members.  We value strength in cooperation and partner with other organizations at the forefront of developments in innovation management, creating a hub for all to convene and contribute in an experimental, noncompetitive and noncommercial environment. For more information, visit iriweb.org.