Smithers Names New VP, COO

Jay H Lutz has been named vice president and chief operating officer of Smithers Scientific Services Inc., responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company’s independent testing, research and consulting activities. He replaces Raymond B Farmer, who has left the company.

Mr Lutz brings to Smithers 30 years of experience in operations management, R&D and engineering. He has held management positions with Kelsey Hayes and Allied Signal and most recently was director of research and development at Raybestos Products Co. in Crawfordsville, Ind. Prior to that, he served as vice president of operations and general manager within a unit of Kett Engineering in Brighton, Michigan.

“Jay is charged with managing and expanding our presence in the markets we presently serve, as well as leading us into additional niches that are compatible with our technical strengths,” said Smithers Group President and CEO J. Michael Hochschwender.

A native of St. Louis, Mr Lutz holds a MBA degree from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri. He and his wife, Jan, will soon relocate to the Akron area.

Smithers Scientific Services is a Smithers Group company, with administrative offices and materials testing laboratories in Akron, Ohio; a tyre and wheel testing facility in Ravenna, Ohio; Smithers Winter Test Center in Raco, Michigan.; and the DRIVEtest powertrain durability testing unit in Laredo, Tex., a joint venture with Auto Testing Company, Inc.