PolyOne Corporation, a premier provider of specialised polymer materials, services and solutions, has announced the hiring of Christopher L Pederson as senior vice president, president of specialty engineered materials. Michael A Garratt had been serving in this role on an interim basis and will now resume his prior position responsibilities.

With more than 25 years of experience in engineered materials, Pederson has leveraged both his highly-technical expertise and P&L business leadership to great success. He began his career at Boeing where he served in various composite product development and engineering roles for high-profile military aircraft programs over a 10-year period. He later joined Cytec, where he led composite product development for the Americas and Asia Pacific regions, served as vice president of R&D, and ultimately was promoted to vice president of Cytec’s global aerospace engineered materials business, which included P&L responsibility. His most recent role was as vice president of strategy at Hexcel Corporation, where he was responsible for the company’s M&A strategy and execution.

“Pederson has distinguished himself through his proven leadership skills, deep technical expertise in composites, and forward-thinking approach to customer service and delivering growth,” said Robert M Patterson, chairman, president and CEO, PolyOne. “Engineered materials remain at the core of our specialty portfolio and key technology platforms for growth in the future. We’re thrilled he’s joined PolyOne to help serve our customers who utilise these crucial, high-performance technologies.”

Pederson holds a bachelor's of science in chemical engineering from University of Washington, a master’s of science in chemical engineering from University of Delaware, and an MBA from University of Southern California, according to a press release from Polyone. (PC)