Orion, a global specialty chemicals manufacturer, has announced that Natalia Scherbakoff has been appointed the company’s new chief technology officer. She will succeed David Deters, who for nearly a decade led a global innovation program that made Orion a leader in developing sustainable materials, battery additives and other technology in the carbon black industry.
Deters announced his retirement earlier this year and will remain with Orion through the end of 2024 to ensure a seamless transition. Scherbakoff joins Orion from Trinseo, a specialty materials company, where she served as the vice president of Technology & Innovation, overseeing global research, development and technology innovation with sustainability and circular solutions being a key underlying focus. She also supported key growth initiatives as well as mergers and acquisitions. Scherbakoff was a member of Trinseo’s Corporate Environmental, Social and Governance Council.
“Natalia has broad global experience, a track record of moving ideas through the development process to successful product launches and commercial savvy. She combines strong people skills with a passion for driving innovation and achieving tangible outcomes,” Orion CEO Corning Painter said. “She is arriving at an exciting time here at Orion, and I am looking forward to her building on the success we have had under David’s leadership in batteries, circular products, coatings and other customer applications.”
Before Trinseo, Scherbakoff was the vice president of Research Innovation & Product Lines at Plastic Omnium, a French automotive supplier now known as OPmobility. She also served as the general manager of Specialty Composites and the director of Global Innovation at Owens Corning, a building materials maker.
Scherbakoff is a non-executive board member at specialty materials producer Clayens NP and is also a member of the Forbes Technology Council. She holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Macromolecular Science from Case Western Reserve University (U.S.), a Chemical Engineering degree from Mauá Engineering University (Brazil) and an MBA from Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil). She is fluent in English, French, Portuguese, Italian and Russian.
Scherbakoff will be based at Orion’s main innovation hub in Cologne, Germany, and will also oversee the company’s technical centers in China, South Korea and the U.S. She will continue to build Orion’s innovation capabilities, including leveraging our new Battery Innovation Center in Cologne with a full array of production, testing and diagnostic equipment.
She will also oversee Orion’s €12.8 million investment – which includes €6.4 million in funding from the German government and European Union – to further develop and demonstrate a climate-neutral process for producing carbon black from alternative carbon sources. The technology is designed to improve Orion’s yield and throughput in the production of carbon black using circular feedstocks.
Orion is a leading global supplier of carbon black, a solid form of carbon produced as powder or pellets. The material is made to customers’ exacting specifications for tires, coatings, ink, batteries, plastics and numerous other specialty, high-performance applications. Carbon black is used to tint, colorize, provide reinforcement, conduct electricity, increase durability and add UV protection.
