President and Principal
Ralph co-founded TMR in 1987. Prior to that he worked at the Climax Molybdenum Company, managing stainless steel market development, managing stainless steel, tool steel, and molybdenum metal research at the Climax Molybdenum Research Laboratory, and later becoming Vice President of Market Development and Technical Information.
He actively aids clients with creative and proactive solutions to market development, corrosion control, welding, machining, failure analysis, and expert witness services in the pulp and paper and chemical process industries. He created and successfully implemented the concept of 2205 Code Plus Two® duplex stainless steel.
He has been chairman of ASTM Subcommittee A 01.17 on Wrought Stainless Steel Products since 1995. In recognition of his many years of contributions to that organization, he received the ASTM Award of Merit and was named a Fellow of ASTM in 1998. Since 1999, he has chaired NACE Technical Exchange 116X
(formerly T-5A-28), Applications of Austenitic Stainless Steels.
He has authored or co-authored 49 technical publications and holds one patent. Ralph is the initial, primary author of ASTM specifications A 923, A 928, A 967,
A 999, and A 1016.
He is a member of NACE International, ASTM, Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, and ASME.
Education
Sc.D. Physical Metallurgy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
B.S. Chemical Metallurgy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.B.A., University of Michigan
Catherine Houska
Senior Market Development Manager
Catherine joined TMR in 1990. She combines metallurgical training and experience with strong international and domestic industrial marketing skills. She has performed market research, analysis, development and strategy work for a broad range of metal families and markets. This includes stainless, nickel-base alloys, aluminum, metal matrix composites, beryllium and its alloys, steel, powdered metals, and castings. Her market experience is diverse and includes architecture, plastic molds, electronics, and industrial equipment.
For more than ten years she has managed the market development program of the Nickel Institute to promote increased use of stainless steel in architecture in North America. During that time, the average annual growth rate for stainless steel architectural applications in North America has been 14%. She has participated in the training of thousands of architects through the Nickel Institute's architecture workshop program. Catherine is the author of the recent Nickel Development Institute Reference book, “Guidelines for Corrosion Prevention”.
She has authored or co-authored 43 technical publications.
She is a member of ASM International and Construction Specifications Institute.
Education
M.B.A., Industrial and International Marketing, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western University
B.S., Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Jim Fritz
Senior Market Development Manager
Jim joined TMR Stainless in 2001 and has more than 15 years of experience in the stainless steel, chemical process and foundry industries. He has extensive experience in corrosion, stainless steel metallurgy, and electrochemistry.
Jim provides technical support and market development support to our clients with a focus on the chemical process and power industries. His experience with materials selection, failure analysis, and fabrication will assist all of our clients in the applications of stainless steels and corrosion resistant alloys. Since 1999, he has been vice-chairman of the NACE Technical Exchange 116X (formerly T-5A-28), Applications of Austenitic Stainless Steels.
Before joining TMR Stainless, Jim managed a corrosion research group at Allegheny Ludlum. Previously he worked at the Experimental Station of DuPont where he was involved with a variety of materials and corrosion problems in the chemical process industry. At the Savannah River Laboratory, he was involved with solving corrosion problems associated with storage of nuclear waste.
He has authored or co-authored 19 technical papers and hold one patent. He is a member of NACE International, and ASM International.
Education
Ph.D. Metallurgical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
M.S. Metallurgical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
B.S. Geological Sciences, Pennsylvania State University
Gary Carinci
Senior Market Development Manager
Gary joined TMR in 2002 and has over fifteen year's experience in the stainless steel industry and provides technical support and market development support to all of our clients.
Gary has a strong background and extensive experience with cold rolled stainless steel fabrication and formability. His product experience includes stainless steels, nickel-base alloys and titanium. Gary combines strong technical expertise with significant management experience. He will extend TMR's knowledge of stainless steels and corrosion resistant alloys, and bring valuable insights through his experience with precision strip and cold rolled stainless in architecture, chemical processing and aerospace industries.
Before joining TMR Stainless, Gary was Director, Technical Services at Allegheny Rodney where he had management responsibility for product metallurgy, process metallurgy, laboratory production testing, and Quality Assurance related to stainless steel, nickel-base alloys and titanium strip products. Previously he held positions in stainless steel product research and development, product metallurgy, and production control/inside sales management at Allegheny Ludlum.
He has authored or co-authored 6 technical papers and holds one patent. He is a member of ASM International, NACE International and SAE.
Education
Ph.D. Metallurgy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
B.S. Metallurgy, Pennsylvania State University
Jim Redmond
Metallurgist and Principal (part-time)
Jim co-founded the company in 1987 following many years’ experience in stainless steel research and market development with Climax Molybdenum Co. He manages technical services for several clients and provides corrosion control solutions to clients in the chemical process industry, architecture, and fabrication. He was instrumental in the introduction and development of the second-generation duplex stainless steels in North America.
Jim organized and chaired technical symposia at NACE annual corrosion conferences in 1984 and 1994. He chaired the international duplex stainless steel conference, Duplex American 2000, in Houston, Texas. Since 1990 he has chaired the NACE Technical Exchange, 114X (formerly T-5A-17), Applications of Duplex and Ferritic Stainless Steels. Since 1994, he has been Chairman of the Unified Numbering System’s Advisory Board and has overseen the growth of the UNS System to become the dominate, international name designation system for metals and alloys.
He has authored or co-authored 49 technical publications and holds two patents. Jim is the initial, primary author of ASTM specification A 995 and co-author of A 890.
He is a member of NACE International, ASTM, ASME, and ASM International.
Education
Ph.D. Materials Science, Northwestern University
B.S. Metallurgical Engineering, University of Notre Dame
Graduate Business Training, University of MichiganCurt Kovach
Senior Market Development Manager (part-time)
Curt joined the company soon after it was formed in 1987. Prior to that he had been Manager of Stainless Steel Research at Crucible Research. He has a wealth of experience in production, fabrication and applications of stainless steels and nickel-base alloys.
Curt is active in the ASME Power Division – Heat Exchanger Committee and has organized and chaired numerous sessions at the ASME International Joint Power Generation Conference.
He provides services primarily to clients in the power, chemical process, and petrochemical industries. He has extensive experience in machining stainless steels and nickel-base alloys, and in the production of welded stainless steel tubular products. His wide-ranging experience brings strength in materials selection and failure analysis.
He was instrumental in the introduction and international marketing success of a high performance stainless steel that is used worldwide in seawater-cooled utility steam condensers. Curt is the author of the highly acclaimed Nickel Development Institute Reference Book, “High Performance Stainless Steels”.
He has authored or co-authored 35 technical publications and holds four patents.
Curt is a member of NACE International and ASME.
Education
M.S. Metallurgical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
B.S. Metallurgical Engineering, Wayne State University
Erin Mullen
Operations Manager
Erin joined TMR in 1997. She is responsible for the personnel management of the professional and support staff in the daily operations of TMR. She also provides the technical support for TMR's computer systems and support to its users.
Education
B.S. Information Systems Management, Carlow University
M.S. Human Resource Management, LaRoche CollegePat Rich
Administrative AssistantPat joined TMR in 1996 and she usually will be the first person you speak with when calling TMR. She manages the supply and distribution of several hundred items of technical literature that we provide on behalf of several of our clients. She handles purchasing of supplies and equipment, and Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable.
Education
A.S., Business Management, Community College of Allegheny County