ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE TEAM
Jay Huang and Rob Sterner have worked together for over 30 years on various projects in the ceramic industry ranging from facility upgrades, acquisitions, and technology integrations. Magneli Materials is the second LLC founded by the partnership and began when Jay and his team developed a new manufacturing process that could produce large volumes of Ti4O7 Magneli Phase of Titanium Oxide. This new process allowed for commercialization of the material in ways never before realized, simplifying the process to create large volumes and superior quality while at the same time no longer oxidizing.
Rob Sterner
President
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Rob has been a senior executive in the ceramics industry for over 35 years. Prior to partnering with Jay Huang on Magneli Materials in 2014, he was the CEO of Coopers Marketing Group, CEO at Tienshan International, SVP Sales at Victorinox, and VP US at Trudeau LTD, working on large scale ceramics importing for clients such as Walmart, Costco, and many other household names. He has gained expertise in navigating trade relations, importing details and global sales, trade deal negotiation, and marketing of the latest technologies in ceramic development, specifically importing new processes from China for mass production and sales in the US. Rob received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Illinois with majors in Finance and Political Science.
Yibing Huang (Jay Huang)
Chief Technology Officer
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Jay has been with Magneli for the last 5 years, and led the team that developed the process to mass produce Ti4O7. Jay’s has had 30+ years of experience in the ceramic industry. Prior to his role at Magneli, Jay has had a wide range of responsibilities throughout his career, from updating antiquated factories quality control, technical capability, and overall operational efficiencies to building new state of the art facilities to produce high-end ceramic products for worldwide distribution. Jay has always played a key role in the technical development of factories he has managed and been involved with, and has been integral in the development of key R & D facilities at many of the plants throughout China. Jay’s role prior to Magneli was the general manager at Huatai Ceramics, a factory with 1900 employees.
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Bachelor Degree, Material Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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Master’s Degree, Material Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Beijing China
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Advanced Certificate, MIT, Solid State Chemistry
Jason Li Yi
V.P. Production
Jason has been active in the ceramic industry for over 20 years. His primary responsibilities have been managing production for various types of ceramic factories throughout his career, focusing on efficient production models and updating antiquated processes. Prior to joining Magneli he was the production manager at Huatai Ceramics where his responsibility was to oversee manufacturing facilities, modernize processes, and develop advancements to the production process. Jason received his Engineering degree in Advanced Materials from Jiaotong University.
Xiangji Hu (Frank Hu)
V.P. Production Systems
Frank has been in the manufacturing sector for most of his career, initially managing a large electric motor facility, to overseeing the modernization and development of a number of new ceramic factories throughout China. Frank has developed a special niche in his career of developing new types of machines and processes for advanced manufacturing. At Magneli, Frank has been led the development of a number of new process’s and advances in the water treatment industry. Frank has a Mechanical and Electrical Engineering degree from Hunan University.