OrthoLite Makes Significant Additions to Global Foam Innovation Team

AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS (May 2, 2024) – OrthoLite expanded its crucial Global Form Innovation Team with two significant hires.

Shaw Kiat (SK) Phua will led the expansion of OrthoLite’s Global Foam Innovation team in the newly-created role of Global Operations Chemical Director. Ha Pham, a seasoned polyurethane (PU) specialist, also joins the Global Form Innovation Team. OrthoLite believes these hires will continue to raise the bar in the category that was founded 27 years ago by CEO Glenn Barrett, who is part of the Class of 2024 of the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame.

Hanson Zhang, OrthoLite’s Chief Chemist, founded and leads the Global Form Innovation Team with Wen Bin Hong, the company’s Chemical Director.

Phua joins OrthoLite from leadership roles at Huntsman, BASF and ECCO. He brings significant expertise in global foaming operations and innovation as well as excellence in manufacturing to the role. Phua will ensure chemical innovation, consistency and transparency globally and will also be involved in setting the strategic direction for OrthoLite PU material development with a focus on sustainable innovations in footwear. Phua is based in Singapore and will regularly travel to all of OrthoLite’s manufacturing facilities.

Pham joins OrthoLite from Brooks Running, where he served as Global Chemical Engineering Manager, and prior to that, ECCO, as global PU advisor. Additionally, Pham has held leadership roles at BASF Vietnam as Technical Development Manager for PU footwear systems.

“We’ve built our reputation on continuing to improve our exceptional foam materials and products since our founding,” said Barrett, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on May 21 at the NSGA 2024 Leadership Conference in Phoenix. “We push the envelope with our proprietary chemistry, our patented foaming processes, our six manufacturing locations and the incredible people who work at our facilities around the world.”

“We are proud to welcome SK and Ha to our world-class team to drive innovation in our global foaming operations,” said Richard Bevan, Vice President of Global Operations at OrthoLite. “SK and Ha bring to OrthoLite decades of experience in performance foam innovation as well as best-in-class manufacturing leadership.”

OrthoLite’s products can be found in more than 600 million pairs of footwear a year. OrthoLite is a U.S.-owned and operated company and has owned production facilities in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Spain, India and Brazil, ensuring its global team can work locally with its brand partners wherever they manufacture shoes. OrthoLite has a stalwart commitment to improvement on its ongoing journey toward producing excellence with less-impactful manufacturing practices. Learn more at ortholite.com.