KC Woody

President and Chief Operating Officer
Headshot of white man

KC Woody is President and Chief Operating Officer of Midrex Technologies, Inc. He joined Midrex in 2010 as Plant Sales Manager responsible for commercial activities in Australia and Southeast Asia and has served in a variety of commercial roles including the first Managing Director of Midrex India Private Limited and Vice President-Commercial of Midrex Technologies, Inc. KC was named Director – Plant Sales in 2014, with responsibility for Midrex India and Midrex China (Shanghai). In 2016, he was promoted to Vice President – Sales & Marketing and was named Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2020, with primary focus on the integration of the Midrex Operations and Sales & Marketing teams and the activities of the Midrex offices in India, China, Russia, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. 

KC is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served on active duty as an officer in the US Army prior to Midrex.

Stephen Montague

Chief Executive Officer
Stephen Montague Headshot

Stephen Montague joined Midrex Technologies as a co-op student in 1987. He has served in numerous technical and commercial functions including engineering, operations, technology development, and sales. Prior to being appointed President and COO in 2016, he was Vice President – Sales & Marketing. He was appointed CEO in 2017. He participated in the design and start-ups of numerous MIDREX® Plants, helped develop many new technologies, and is co-inventor of several patents.

Stephen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Will Dempsey

Vice President - Commercial

Will Dempsey is the Vice President of Commercial at Midrex, where he oversees all commercial activities including plant sales, contracts and licensing, marketing, and the aftermarket group, Global Solutions. In his 10 years at Midrex, he has developed an extensive background in process engineering, including lead design and commissioning roles. Will believes the best engineering solutions are ethical, elegant, practical, and completely satisfy our clients’ needs.

Will holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Gerry Gill

Chief Financial Officer

Gerry joined Midrex Technologies in 2016 as the Chief Financial Officer. Gerry has more than 25 years of diversified experience leading accounting, finance, customer service and administrative units. He is responsible for all finance and accounting aspects of the company, including overseas offices located in UK, India, China, and UAE. Additionally, Gerry leads the MiTeam program at Midrex, which focuses on employee engagement, talent management, and corporate culture initiatives.

Gerry is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Florida State University.

Chris Hayes

Vice President – Operations
Chris Hayes Headshot

Chris Hayes is the Vice President – Operations at Midrex Technologies, Inc. Chris is currently responsible for leading Midrex Operations including Project Management and Controls, Engineering and Procurement. Since joining Midrex, he has held roles in Engineering, Project Management, and the Global Solutions department and has been actively involved in the design, start-up and upgrade of many of the Midrex plants around the world. Chris earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The State University of New York at Buffalo.

Kim Allison

Director - Global Legal Affairs

Kim joined Midrex in 2021 and serves as the Director of Global Legal Affairs, providing legal support for Midrex’s global and domestic operations and activities.

Kim’s legal career began as a construction lawyer at a large commercial law firm in Melbourne, Australia. In this role, she represented contractors involved in significant infrastructure projects during contract negotiations and litigation. Additionally, she has served as in-house counsel for international companies in both Australia and the United States within the construction industry. Furthermore, Kim has experience in contract management related to IT in both countries.

Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws and also a Master of Laws in American Law.

Todd Astoria

Director – Research and Technology Development

Todd Astoria is the Director – Research and Technology Development for Midrex Technologies, Inc. and has nearly 20 years of industrial experience. Todd has worked at Midrex since 2005 in many roles including: process engineer, proposals engineer, plant commissioning and start-up, as well as research and development. Todd is a licensed Professional Engineer in North Carolina and Louisiana, and holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Sean Boyle

Director - Plant Sales

As Director – Plant Sales at Midrex Technologies, Inc., Sean will lead the Sales Team as Midrex continues to grow in this transitional time for the international steel industry. Sean joined Midrex in 2013 and has served in various roles, most recently as Key Account Manager – North America and Europe. He was an integral part of the effort to secure the H2 Green Steel project.

His other Midrex assignments have included Global Solutions Mechanical Engineer, Project Engineer, and Lead Mechanical Engineer for the Cleveland-Cliffs Toledo HBI Plant.

Sean earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Chris Clancy

Director - Procurement
Chris Clancy

Chris has been a Midrex teammate for 15 years, during which he has held several positions including Key Account Manager – North America and General Manager, Global Solutions. In these roles, Chris has visited many MIDREX® Plants and helped them with aftermarket support and upgrades. Prior to his arrival at Midrex, he worked in the titanium industry for about 20 years, where he had roles in both sales and operations.

Chris has three children and enjoys golf, tinkering with cars, and craft beer. His proudest moment at Midrex was when he instituted a program to hire local special needs students to help them with their high school graduation requirements.

Chris has a Bachelor’s Degree from Wake Forest University and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

 

Dave Durnovich

Director – Global Solutions

David has worked in the iron and steel industry for more than 40 years and held senior management positions in direct reduction, steelmaking, and manufacturing. During his career, David has operated steel plants all over the world and prior to joining Midrex, he was the Vice President of Operations for the Lion Group – Banting.

In 2017, David joined Midrex as the General Manager – Global Solutions. Global Solutions is the Midrex aftermarket group, which focuses on offering valuable solutions to operating DR plants. Under his leadership, Midrex expanded it’s service offering to include plant services, spare parts, equipment supply, engineering solutions, water treatment, RPS and MidrexConnect.

Curtis Hughes

Chief Information Officer

As the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Midrex Technologies, Curtis is responsible for the development and execution of the company’s global digital strategy, providing innovative and transformational solutions to customers, partners, and employees in over 20 countries worldwide. Prior to joining Midrex, he spent nearly two decades as a trusted business advisor and technology strategist to organizations throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, founding three award-winning technology companies along the way.

Curtis holds a B.S. in Computer Science from UNC Charlotte, has been named as one of Charlotte’s “40 Under 40” and a CIO of the year finalist, and frequently shares his experience by writing on leadership and technology trends, and speaking at business and technology conferences around the world.

Nigel Phillips

Director - Operations | Global Project & ECA Finance, Risk Management

Nigel joined Midrex in the summer of 2019 to lead Midrex UK into its second decade of operations. Prior to this his 30 year career in the finance he embraced a variety of trade and insurance related roles with UK, Dutch, French and Spanish financial institutions. He has majored on project and export finance, financing the cross border sale of capital goods and services. He brings a wealth of knowledge of the finance market, structures as well as risk mitigation provided by the private insurance market. He has a BS in Economics. 

 Nigel is married with four children (two boys, two girls 14-21 years old) and enjoys most sports, hiking and family travel. 

Brandy Reese

Director - People and Culture

Brandy joined Midrex Technologies in 2019 as Director – Talent Development. Brandy has more than 20 years of global experience leading recruitment, learning and development, organizational design and performance management efforts. Brandy leads the MiTeam program at Midrex, which focuses on employee engagement, talent management and corporate culture initiatives. Brandy holds a Masters in Instructional Technology from Towson University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from Stevenson University.  She is a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional, SHRM-SCP.

John Teeters

Director - Engineering
John Teeters headshot

John Teeters is the Director of Engineering at Midrex where he oversees all engineering disciplines associated with the execution of major projects including new plants, plant upgrades, and technology development. He has more than 25 years of engineering and project management experience in ironmaking, liquified natural gas (LNG), chemical processes, fiber-optics, and pharmaceutical glass including more than 10 years with Midrex serving in lead engineering, commissioning, and training roles.

John holds both B.S. and M.S. Mechanical Engineering degrees from North Carolina State University.

Scott Updike

Director - Projects
Scott Updike headshot

Scott Updike is the Director of Projects at Midrex Technologies, Inc. where he oversees project management, construction oversight, project controls, cost estimation and quality assurance for all new plant projects.  Scott brings more than 20 years of experience leading complex industrial, energy and defense sector projects. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, a Master’s in Civil Engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology and a Bachelor’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering from West Virginia University.  Scott is also a licensed Professional Engineer and certified Project Management Professional.

Aashima Vadhera

Director - Finance (Asia, Middle East and North Africa)

Aashima joined the Midrex Group in 2012 at its India office and is responsible for all financial and administrative aspects of the India and Shanghai offices. She also sits on the board of Midrex Gulf Services and supports in its financial supervision. Aashima works closely with the Midrex Commercial Team on inter-alia tax and contractual advisory issues. Prior to joining Midrex, Aashima worked with E&Y and PwC and has extensive experience on international tax and regulatory issues and transactions. 

Aashima is a qualified Chartered Accountant and also holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in law and the other in commerce. She also graduated from Midrex Leadership Institute Cohort 2. 

Rogerio de Gaspari Valdejao

Director - Global Business Development

Rogerio serves as the Director of Global Business Development, bringing with him a wealth of experience accumulated over 30 years in international roles spanning sales, technical service, and product & market development. His expertise extends across various industries, and his multicultural background has been instrumental in successfully navigating business assignments in the US, LATAM, and APAC. In his current capacity, Valdejao is dedicated to building and enhancing teams, processes, and business models to ensure sustainable, long-term growth in the ever-evolving global business landscape. 

Rogerio is a graduate of State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Brazil, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. 

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