Len Krietz
Vice President of Research & Development
Plibrico Company, LLC
Len joined the Plibrico Company in 1976 as a research engineer. Over the years, he has held various positions within the Plibrico R&D organization, and currently oversee the department as Vice President of Research & Development. During his career at Plibrico, Len has been involved in almost every area of alumino-silicate monolithic product development and application. Len has a special interest in the fracture and thermal shock behavior of monolithics, aluminum contact monolithics and post mortem analysis of refractories.
From 1987 to 1999, he was a lecturer for the Center for Professional Advancement, New Brunswick, New Jersey, in various professional level courses on refractories held in the United States and in the Netherlands. The primary focus of these courses was on monolithic products, their properties and applications.
Before joining Plibrico, Len was employed by Corhart Refractories in Louisville, Kentucky, as a research engineer in the Bonded Products Development Group. At Corhart, he worked on various projects with zirconia ceramics, basic brick, and zircon/AZS products.
Len graduated from Rutgers University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Ceramic Science.
Len has been an active member of ASTM Committee C08 on Refractories for the past 28 years. He was subcommittee chairman of C08:02 Thermal Stress Resistance from 1983 to 1998, and has been on the C08 Awards Committee since 1987. Len was awarded the prestigious ASTM Award of Merit and Society Fellowship in 1994.
Over the years, Len has authored or co-authored 22 papers/presentations on refractories and contributed chapters to four technical reference books. He is a member of the American Ceramic Society, becoming a Fellow of the Society in 1996, and was a member of the American Foundrymen's Society's committee 8H - Refractories. In 2007 Len received the St. Louis Section of the American Ceramic Society's "Theodore Planje Award" for distinguished contributions to the field of refractories.