Wauconda, IL -Three volunteers were acknowledged for their outstanding service to the Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) on March 28, 2009 during the AEC Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference held in Fort Myers, Florida. Two Volunteer of the Year awards and one Distinguished Service award were presented.

Greg Lea, former General Manager for MI Metals in Smyrna, Tennessee, was presented with the 2009 Volunteer of the Year award. Lea was unable to attend the Saturday evening ceremony and was presented with the award during committee meetings held earlier in the week. Lea, an active member of the Council, served on the AEC Technical Services Committee for eight years. He is a co-author of four International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar (ET Seminar) papers and recently was awarded the Best Paper Award at ET ’08 last May. He also served as the Extrusion/Die Practical Track Chair for ET ’08. Lea also is an active member of ASTM where he works alongside many other AEC members. He is a committee officer, serving as the Membership Secretary of the Committee B07 Light Metals & Alloys, as well as serving on the B07.09 Executive Subcommittee.

“I am honored to receive the Volunteer of the Year award,” Lea commented. “It was completely unexpected, and I was shocked to learn that I was selected. I enjoy working with the AEC and all the other volunteers, and I believe in the mission of the AEC and ET Foundation.”

The second 2009 Volunteer of the Year award was presented to Brian Bloedorn, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Alexandria Extrusion Company in Alexandria, Minnesota. He has been an active member of the Council, and has served on the AEC Marketing Committee for many years. He was a mainstay and Vice Chairman of the Engineered Products Marketing Subcommittee, a committee that is no longer active. “In that role, Brian was the driving force behind writing application stories to be published on AEC’s then-new website…he helped drive traffic to AEC.org back in the days when we first started to build our ‘cyber audience’” AEC Chairman Craig Werner said of Bloedorn during the Volunteer Recognition Ceremony. “Brian first identified the need for industry-specific marketing plans so AEC members could more effectively reach out to specific [aluminum extrusion] customers, such as furniture and appliance manufacturers.”

Bloedorn was a champion of AEC’s ongoing Shapemakers program and a key volunteer in developing AEC’s Sales and Marketing Conference. He also was a leading proponent of the Council taking over the Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition once the Aluminum Association stopped conducting it nine years ago. Additionally, he was a significant contributor to the AEC Aluminum Extrusion Manual, Third Edition, serving on the Task Force in 1998. He remains involved today by contributing to the updated Fourth Edition of the Aluminum Extrusion Manual, in development now.

“It was truly an honor to receive the Volunteer of the Year award, especially with all the dedicated and talented individuals that spend countless hours representing the AEC,” said Bloedorn. “I know we all are facing very difficult and challenging times within our industry, but to me there is absolutely no better time than now for all of us to spend the additional time volunteering to help promote our fantastic industry.”

Martin Bidwell Receives Council’s Highest Honor
The Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor bestowed by AEC, was presented to past chairman Martin Bidwell, President and COO of Magnode Corporation in Trenton, Ohio. Prior to chairing the Council, Bidwell served for a short time on the Program Advisory Committee. But one of his most significant accomplishments was serving as chairman of the Technical Services Committee for a number of years. He contributed energetic support to the Council’s efforts to defend Press Solution Heat Treatment in key industry standards. He also was involved in the Council’s efforts to work with U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) on regulations affecting aluminum remelt facilities, the so-called Secondary Aluminum NESHAP (National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants). “When Marty became Chairman of AEC in 2001,” said Werner, “he offered one of the most powerful speeches we’ve ever heard, explaining why this Council is so important. ‘We can rely on each other, he said. Together, we accomplish much more than any one of us can do separately’. Marty is an exemplary leader, an outstanding, dedicated, and committed volunteer … someone who defines the very word,” Werner said.

Bidwell comes from a family of AEC leaders; his father, Arthur W. Bidwell, served as Chairman of AEC from 1981 to 1982, and his brother, Joseph Bidwell, currently is chair of the Council’s Program Advisory Committee. "It is a great honor to receive this Distinguished Service award from the Aluminum Extruder's Council,” Bidwell commented. “As my father before me, it is my privilege and responsibility to serve the aluminum industry, which has been such an important part of my family's life. I truly believe that the most treasured award of all is one received from your peers that represents a body of work. I am touched by the thoughtfulness of the Council and look forward to many more years serving the aluminum industry."

The Aluminum Extruders Council acknowledges outstanding volunteers yearly during the Council’s Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference. The Council will be celebrating its 60th Anniversary during the 2010 Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference, scheduled for March 11 through 13 at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona.

The Aluminum Extruders Council, established in 1950, is an international association dedicated to helping manufacturers, engineers, architects, and others to discover why aluminum extrusion is the better material process for better products. Specialized conferences, seminars, workshops, and meetings throughout the year provide an outlet where AEC members can confront and solve today’s challenges. More than 150 member companies represent primary aluminum producers and other industry suppliers in addition to aluminum extruders operating hundreds of extrusion presses in hundreds of plants worldwide; these are the world’s leading manufacturers of extruded aluminum profiles—The Shapemakers.

 

For more information, contact AEC at 1000 N. Rand Road, Suite 214, Wauconda, IL 60084. Telephone: 847/526-2010; fax: 847/526-3993; e-mail: mail@aec.org. Visit the Council’s website at www.aec.org.

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