Kurt Strobele is chairman and chief executive officer of Hatch Ltd.  

He received his B.Sc. in engineering cum laude at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1968, and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton in 1973. In 1969 he completed graduate work at Munich University in operations research and production engineering. A year later at McMaster, he did graduate work in modeling and optimization of mixed variable systems before he joined Hatch on a full-time basis.  

By 1973, Dr. Strobele had been made an associate of Hatch, and held several leadership roles. He was vice president of computer systems (1987-1990); vice president, engineering (1990-1994); managing director, industrial minerals (1994-2000); and managing director, light metals (2000-2003). He was elected chairman and CEO in 2004.  

With more than 40 years’ experience in the design of metallurgical facilities, Dr. Strobele has been responsible for the development, design and construction of several major plants in North America, Australia, and South Africa. He has written and co-authored more than 20 technical papers, which have been published in several languages. He is a member of the Canadian Academy of Engineers, Professional Engineers of Ontario, Engineering Institute of Canada, Institute of Mechanical Engineers (UK), and AIME Iron & Steel Society.