Company - Management Team
Herbert A. Armstrong has over 20 years of domestic and international experience in various sales, marketing, and management positions in the industrial and specialty chemical markets. Mr. Armstrong advanced to the position of president of the North American division of Raschig Corporation (subsidiary of Raschig AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany) with responsibility for the $14 million business in fine and specialty chemicals. Earlier in his career he held a number of sales management positions at leading chemical companies such as Upjohn and Ashland Chemical.
Walter Sherwood earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science from RPI in 1986. He is the founder of Starfire® Systems and led the company since 1988 until recruiting Richard Saburro as President and CEO. Concurrent with his early years at Starfire, he directed the development of ceramic composites for high temperature gas reactors while at the GE operated Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. During his nine years at Knolls (1986-1994), Dr. Sherwood advanced from "individual contributor" to manage a team tasked to develop a viable fabrication process for ceramic components destined for testing in nuclear reactors. Dr. Sherwood worked with a team of six people in the critical path of a $10 million program, which was completed on time and within the allocated budget. Since 1995, he has directed the development of a number of new materials that have resulted in two patents and five patent applications relating to the products in the energy, electronics, and aerospace industries.
Andrew Skinner is a seasoned Sales and Marketing Manager with extensive experience in both mature and developing technologies and markets. Andrew received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was most recently Manager of New Products and Commercial Development for Schenectady International's Electronic Specialties Business. In this role, Andrew drove sales penetration into the Asian electronics industry with particular focus in China. Prior to Schenectady International, Andrew held a variety of positions in General Electric's Silicones Products Business in Waterford, NY. These positions included Global Business Leader - Fluids and Marketing Manager for Specialty Fluids. These roles in the silicones business focused on the Coatings, Textile and Personal Care Industries. Andrew also attended General Electric Company's Manager Development Course in Crotonville, NY.
Guillermo Borges has over 20 years of varied experience in science and technology laboratories that range from R&D to production to QC. Early in his career, he helped develop one the first robotic systems designed for chemistry laboratories at J&J - McNeil Pharmaceutical – improving assay efficiency by over 300%. He has held supervisory and project lead responsibilities that included successfully organizing and directing a team of engineers to manage a >$6 million technical program at Lockheed Martin. Since joining Starfire in Spring 2006, Mr. Borges immediately assumed the role of program manager and principal investigator for FIRST, a program that involves extensive technical coordination and administrative oversight of leading outside laboratories and universities. Funding for this program may eventually surpass $10 million, at the current rate of financial support. Mr. Borges was recently promoted to Director of the Advanced Materials Laboratory for his contributions and forward charging attitude.
Careers 
