Dr. Mohammad A. Zaidi was appointed Executive Vice President - Market Strategy Technology and Quality in July 2006 having served as Chief Technical Officer and a vice president of the company since 2003. He is responsible for corporate technology programs and projects as well as strategic product and process developments. In January 2006 Dr. Zaidi added accountability for Alcoa's market sector teams to his portfolio. A key component of this role is to develop a strategic view of Alcoa's major markets by assessing long-term drivers and trends and identifying growth options and their business impact. Dr. Zaidi is also a member of the Alcoa Executive Council the senior leadership group that provides strategic direction for the company.
Dr. Zaidi joined Alcoa in 1985 at the Alcoa Technical Center near Pittsburgh as a senior engineer. Since then he has held assignments of increasing responsibility including in 1991 being named manager of technology development and transfer for the aluminum-intensive vehicle which included development of the aluminum spaceframe used on the Audi A8 and later the Ferrari Modena. Dr. Zaidi moved to Germany in 1992 for the startup of the Alcoa Automotive GmbH plant in Soest Germany. In 1995 he was named director of product strategy which involved new automotive product development and related technologies and in 1997 vice president of technology development for Alcoa's automotive business. He returned to ATC in 1998 as director of technology for worldwide automotive and extrusions with accountability for best practice transfer and technology management throughout Alcoa's extrusion and automotive businesses worldwide. In 2001 Dr. Zaidi became president of Alcoa Automotive's Fabrication and Assembly business and chief operating officer of Alcoa's Automotive Castings business.
Dr. Zaidi a native of India graduated in 1975 with a metallurgical engineering degree from IIT in Kanpur India. He obtained a master's degree in materials technology and a Ph.D. in mechanical metallurgy in 1977 and 1980 respectively from the Imperial College in London. He has authored numerous papers and articles in various scientific journals and books. |