Shuttleworth Names General Manager for Europe and Appoints Board Member

Bill Toth is off to Europe. The 23-year veteran of Shuttleworth Inc. is the new general manager of the company’s European division, located in Gent, Belgium.

Toth joined the firm in 1987. During his first few years with the Huntington, Ind.-based company, Toth worked as a fabrication and assembly technician. Upon gaining experience with the company, he worked his way through the customer service department, serving as customer service assistant manager and manager, field service manager, and most recently, as business development manager.

In addition to Toth’s appointment, Shuttleworth executives also named Breton C. Ranc to the 48-year-old firm’s board of directors. He is chief operating officer at Shuttleworth North America.

Since joining the company in 1994, Ranc has served as vice president of sales and marketing, vice president of technical operations, mechanical engineering manager and systems engineering manager.

“It has always been the policy at Shuttleworth to promote from within when possible. Therefore, I am pleased to make this announcement about the advancement of Bret Ranc,” said Carol L. Shuttleworth, company president and CEO.

Ranc holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University.

Shuttleworth describes itself as a global conveyor automation and material handling machinery manufacturer. It has operations in Belgium and offices in Malaysia. The ISO 9001:2008-certified firm provides conveyor systems to various markets, including pharmaceutica/medical, automotive, and health and beauty.

PearlDiver Hires Sam Figg to Lead its Team of Analysts

PearlDiver Technologies Inc. has a new research director. Samuel F. Figg, an executive with more than 20 years of experience in the medical device industry, began supervising the company’s team of in-house analysts on June 1.

Figg most recently worked at global medical device executive recruiting firm The Lake City Group in Warsaw, Ind. He has worked in product planning and management, business development, and marketing and research at Zimmer Holdings Inc. in Warsaw, and held executive positions at Abbott Laboratories (in Abbott Park, Ill.) and Life Instruments Corporation (in suburban Chicago, Ill.), according to PearlDiver executives.

Figg gained clinical experience as a cardiopulmonary technologist with an open heart surgery team at National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colo., and as a surgical technician at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Adding Sam to our organization makes PearlDiver an even greater asset for our customers,” said Robin R. Young, PearlDiver’s CEO. “PearlDiver is creating an electronic flow of information about charges, costs, medical products, adverse events, complications, comorbidities and the interaction of these factors on patient outcomes. We’re eager to assist medical device makers and others fulfill this country’s dream of quality patient care at a reasonable cost. Sam’s background fits nicely into our company and PearlDiver is fortunate to now have him on board at our Fort Wayne headquarters.”

Since operations began in January of 2007, PearlDiver has retained more than 60 companies as clients and established satellite offices in both Colorado Springs, Colo., and Philadelphia, Pa. It has built what company executives claim is the nation’s largest, fully HIPAA-compliant, publicly available and searchable database of patient records.

New VP on Board at Active Implants Corporation

Active Implants Corporation has added a new vice president to its executive management team. Thomas B. (Tiger) Buford has joined the privately held firm as vice president of global research and development.

In his new role, Buford will manage the research and development activities of all Active Implant products and systems worldwide. With his background in bringing more than 50 orthopedic devices to market, Buford was a natural fit for the position, executives said.

“Tiger is a proven leader with a 25-year record of successfully commercializing orthopedic technology and products,” said Michael R. Mainelli, Active Implants president and CEO. “We are excited about his exceptional background, drive and character, and we are delighted to have him on our team.”

Buford began his career in the orthopedic device sector as a product development engineer with Smith & Nephew plc and held a series of supervisory positions with Sulzer Orthopedics in Austin, Texas; Wright Medical Technology Inc. in Arlington, Tenn.; and most recently as vice president of research and development at NovaLign

Orthopaedics Inc., an early stage medical device firm based in Memphis, Tenn.
A patent holder for total joint devices, Buford earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Memphis.

Founded in 2004, Active Implants Corporation provides customers with pliable implant solutions, most notably the TRIBOFIT Hip System. The company is based in Memphis.