Marlen has hired Marty Wimmer as thermal processing product manager. He has more than 15 years of experience in the thermal processing arena and has a proven track record of customer service. Wimmer received his undergraduate degree and a Master’s degree in Meat Science from Iowa State University.

PM Beef Holdings LLC has named Ram Prasai, Ph.D., as director of quality and food safety. He has 10 years of experience in the food industry, as well as many years of experience in teaching and research in academia, with an emphasis on the microbiological safety and shelf-life of food during production, processing, distribution and storage. He will be involved in all aspects of food safety in the PM Beef facility in Windom, Minn., and PM Specialty Foods in Richmond, Va.

FKI Logistex, a global leader in integrated material handling solutions, announces the appointment of Jerry Woodhouse as managing director, European operations . In this newly created role, Woodhouse will be responsible for increasing the focus on the organizational and operational development of the company’s rapidly growing European business activities.

Silliker Inc. has announced several new personnel updates. Cathy Davidson was named director of the Silliker Inc. Northeast Laboratory in Allentown, Penn. David Crownover was promoted to client service manager for the Silliker Food Science Center in South Holland, Ill. Silliker Group Corp. announced the hiring of Dr. Mathew Lau as general manager of Singapore and Southeast Asia operations. Finally, Dragoslav Pavlovic and Bill Lewis of Silliker Inc. were certified as foundation auditors by the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization Inc. PAACO, a collaboration of five professional organizations with extensive expertise on best management practices and current science in animal agriculture, promotes the humane treatment of animals through education and certification of animal auditors.

Kyle Lounsbury has been chosen for the 2006-2007 Computerway Food Systems internship. He is a senior at High Point University majoring in business, management of information systems, and internet security and privacy. As this year’s Computerway intern, Lounsbury also is recipient of the Computerway Food Systems annual scholarship awarded each year to a rising senior at High Point University.

Jim Peterson, of Alkar-RapidPak, was recently awarded the 2006 AAMP Annual Achievement Award from the American Association of Meat Processors at their annual meeting in San Diego. An excerpt from the introductory speech by Steve Krut, AAMP’s executive director, sums up Peterson’s contribution to the industry: “Jim may be the single most honored person in the history of AAMP. For his efforts in cured meat products excellence, both as a plant owner and a teacher, he was inducted into the Cured Meats Hall of Fame in 1992. … As a technical sales associate, Jim has probably been in most of the plants represented in this room. He has attended nearly every state association convention and has served for decades on the Board of his beloved Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors.”