John Vankirk Email and Phone Number

Mr. John S. VanKirk retired from Kennametal in May 2015 and has been enjoying his new responsibilities as grandparent, golfer, traveler, woodworker and more. While employed by Kennametal, he was appointed as the V.P. Technology Infrastructure on July 1, 2013. In that role John was responsible for establishing product and process development priorities in support of the Infrastructure Business Segment, serving earthworks and energy markets.Prior this this, John held the positing of V.P. Aerospace and Defense for Kennametal where he was responsible for establishing global strategic direction for the A&D business segment of Kennametal. Before that he held the position of President and Executive Director of the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), a not-for-profit 501(c)3 company whose mission is to proactively engage with all branches of the U.S. military and its supply base to control cost and improve productivity of manufactured parts and assemblies. Mr. VanKirk held numerous other positions over a 24-year career with within Kennametal Inc including; Director, New Business Development involving mergers and acquisitions and interim Chief Technology Officer. He received a BS degree in mechanical engineering and mathematics from Grove City College, and a MS degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.Mr. VanKirk holds numerous patents for various material compositions, as well as tool holder designs and is active in various national organizations, currently serving as Chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) Manufacturing Division. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Doyle Center in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, the Westmoreland-Fayette County Workforce Investment Board, the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland County, the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, the Manufacturing Engineering Advisory Board of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Board of the Refractory Metals Association, and the Technology Issues Committee of the Association for Manufacturing Technology.Specialties: Research & Development with respect to traditional and non-traditional manufacturing processes, cutting tool design, material science of hard materials such as tungsten carbide, ceramic and superhard cBN and diamond.