Senior Management
Senior Management
Mark A. Smith, P.E.
CEO and Chairman of the Board
Mr. Smith has 40+ years of experience in operating, developing, and financing mining and strategic materials projects in the Americas and abroad. Mr. Smith is well recognized in the mining and advanced materials manufacturing community, having served as President, CEO, and Director of Molycorp, Inc., where he was instrumentally involved in taking the company public. Prior to that, Mr. Smith was the President and CEO of Chevron Mining Inc. from 2005 through 2008. He was also Vice President for Unocal Corporation where he managed the real estate, remediation, mining and carbon divisions for over 22 years. From 2000 to 2007, Mr. Smith also served as a Director and Shareholder Representative of Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), a private company that currently produces approximately 85% of the world supply of Niobium. Mr. Smith is currently the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of NioCorp Developments Ltd., (“NioCorp”) (NASDAQ: NB; TSX: NB) which plans to produce niobium, scandium, and titanium, strategic metals used in advanced alloys and superalloys.
Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Colorado State University and a Juris Doctor cum laude from Western State University, College of Law.
Toni Wendel
Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Secretary
Prior to her appointment as CFO and Corporate Secretary, Ms. Wendel served as IBC’s Corporate Controller. Previously, she was Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Treasurer for North American operations for PMG Corp., a joint venture of the powder metal divisions of Plansee and Mitsubishi Materials Global. Prior to that, she spent 15 years in various positions overseeing the finance activities of Diamet Corporation, a privately held, wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Materials. Ms. Wendel received her B.A. and M.B.A. from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Ben Rampulla
President, Chief Technology Officer
Mr. Rampulla is a 40-year veteran of the investment casting and high-performance alloy manufacturing industry. Prior to joining IBC, Mr. Rampulla was Director of Engineering at Nu-Cast, Inc., which produced investment castings of beryllium-aluminum and other alloys for aerospace and other industries. Previously, he worked for 29 years at Precision Castparts Corporation, including serving as Chief Engineer at that Company’s aerospace materials foundry, a $40 million-a-year revenue generating facility, and General Manager of Wyman-Gordon Titanium Casting Corp. Earlier in his career, he held positions at Ingersoll-Rand and Hitchiner Manufacturing. A Six Sigma Blackbelt and Kaizan trainer, Mr. Rampulla received his B.S. in Ceramic Engineering from Rutgers University, and is a graduate of the Whittemore School of Business’ Executive Development Program.
Mark Wolma
President, IBC Copper Alloys
Mr. Wolma has led IBC’s Copper Alloys Division for more than 16 years, including the division’s recent multi-facility consolidation and the construction and operation of its new vertically integrated copper foundry in Franklin, Indiana. He has more than 34 years of experience in manufacturing, sales and service of electrical, mechanical and hydraulic apparatus. Before IBC, he served as Vice President of Operations for Scherer Industrial Group, Inc. He also was a director for the Copper and Brass Service Center Association. He attended Indiana University-Purdue University.
Rajeev Jain
Vice President of Sales and Engineering
Mr. Jain formerly worked at Hussey Copper in various senior engineering positions for 10 years before joining Nonferrous Products, which IBC acquired in October 2008. He has been with IBC for 20 years. He received a Bachelor of Engineering in Metallurgy in 1991 from Rourkela, India and received his MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in 2008.
Ken Shasteen
V.P. Foundry Operations and Senior Metallurgist
Mr. Shasteen oversees operations at IBC’s foundry in Franklin, Indiana. He was with NGK Metals in Sweetwater, TN and Manufacturing Sciences Corporation in Oak Ridge, TN prior to joining Freedom Alloys in 2000, which was acquired by IBC in 2008. He has his Bachelor of Science in Material Science Engineering from the University of Tennessee.
Jim Sims
Director of Investor and Public Relations
Mr. Sims has 30+ years of experience in marketing, media relations, public affairs, and investor relations operations for companies in the mining, chemical, manufacturing, utility, and renewable energy sector. A former White House staffer, he served for 11 years in the U.S. Senate, including as a Chief of Staff, and held a top-secret security clearance. B.A., Georgetown University.M
