PEOPLE WATCH
UCIMU elects 2026 / 7 Board and President
The General Members Meeting of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE( held on 7 July 2027) re-appointed Riccardo Rosa as President of the Italian machine tools, robots and automation systems manufacturers’ association for the two-year period 2026-2027. Riccardo Rosa automatically also takes on the role of President of the UCIMU Foundation.
During his time as head of UCIMU, Riccardo Rosa will be assisted by three VPs: Filippo Gasparini( GASPARINI), Giulio Maria Giana( Giuseppe Giana) and Luigi Maniglio( FIDIA). They are members of the Executive Committee, which also includes the immediate Past President, Barbara Colombo( FICEP), who was re-elected as Treasurer of the Association.
The Board directors of the association are: Mauro Biglia( OFFICINE E. BIGLIA); Francesco Buffoli( BUFFOLI TRANSFER); Giovanni Camozzi( INNSE BERARDI); Antonio Cibotti
Stephan Egerland( Fronius) will take over as President of the International Institute of Welding( IIW) for the forthcoming three-year term. The election took place during the IIW’ s annual assembly, which was held in Salzburg( Austria). The IIW is an association of experts, researchers, scientists and Stephan Egerland. specialists who have been working together for over 75 years as part of a global network to advance welding and joining technology.
About 20 years ago, Egerland joined the Commission XII( Arc Welding Processes and Production Systems), later holding positions
( BUCCI AUTOMATIONS); Riccardo D’ Ambrosio( REGG INSPECTION); Fabio Faggioli( MARPOSS ITALIA); Enrico Garino( PRIMA INDUSTRIE – PRIMA POWER); Patrizia Ghiringhelli( RETTIFICATRICI GHIRINGHELLI); Filippo Giannini( SIEMENS); Emanuele Magistri( BLM GROUP) and Marianna Rovai( LAZZATI). The Executive Board also includes Past Presidents: Massimo Carboniero( OMERA);
New President of IIW takes up role
The CLOOS Group has appointed Roberto Nicoli as President of CLOOS Americas. He will lead the company’ s operations and drive strategic growth across North and South America. Founded in Germany, CLOOS is a global specialist in welding technology and robotic welding automation.
This leadership structure brings CLOOS’ North and South American operations under a unified regional organisation. This aims to strengthen collaboration, enhance its customer support and position the company for“ continued longterm growth across the Americas.” such as Sub-Chairman, Chairman of the Technical Management Board( TMB), member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer, until he was elected President Elect. At this year’ s Annual Assembly, he was officially appointed President of the global umbrella organisation for all national welding member organisations.
During the IIW conference in
Salzburg, Harald Langeder( CTO of Fronius International) presented the origins, evolution and potential future of Fronius’ Cold Metal Transfer( CMT) technology. n
Nicoli now at helm of CLOOS Americas
Roberto Nicoli.
www. fronius. com
Most recently, Nicoli served as Managing Director, Americas and CEO of Fedegari Technologies Inc., where he was responsible for the company’ s North and South American operations. Prior to Fedegari, he held several executive leadership positions with Bystronic including President of Bystronic Canada, President of the Board of Directors of Bystronic Italy and Director of Global Key
Account Management. n
www. cloosna. com
Ezio Colombo( FICEP); Luigi Galdabini( CESARE GALDABINI); Cesare Manfredi; Bruno Rambaudi; Pier Luigi Streparava( STREPARAVA) and Alberto Tacchella. The association’ s director-general is Davide Della Bella. n
Paul Williamson.
www. ucimu. it
UCIMU’ s new Board.
Group Rhodes boosts engineering team
Group Rhodes, one of Europe’ s largest original equipment manufacturers, has further strengthened its hydraulic design engineering capabilities by appointing lead hydraulic engineer, Paul Williamson. Group Rhodes, based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire( UK), has a 200-year-old metal forming specialist machinery history.
“ With over 24 years’ experience in hydraulic systems’ design and engineering leadership, Paul has built his career delivering highperformance, safety-focused solutions across a wide range of industries. This includes offshore, bridges, automotive, recycling and heavy industrial machinery,” said the Group.
Mark Ridgway, DL, CEO of Group Rhodes, added:“ We are delighted to welcome Paul Williamson to the business. His expertise in hydraulic design engineering will be invaluable, and he will play a key role in contributing to innovative projects and continuing to push the boundaries of what we can achieve with fluid power and smart engineering design.” n
www
. grouprhodes. co. uk
ISMR September 2026 | ismr. net | 11