Daniel Blais to lead WAI in 2024
The Wire Association International (WAI) has announced the appointment of Daniel Blais as the 71st president of the association for a one-year term that commenced on 1 January. Mr Blais will chair the board of directors of the 94-year-old association, which is headquartered in Madison, Connecticut, USA.
Mr Blais is North America engineering and Canada manufacturing utilities vice president for Prysmian Group, where he has worked since 1987. He is based at the company's headquarters in Highland Heights, Kentucky, USA, and is responsible for the engineering across the North America manufacturing sites as well as leading the activities of the four Canadian manufacturing facilities.
Having been a WAI member since 2011, Mr Blais joined the board of directors in 2018 and the executive committee in 2019. He was the co-chair of the 2022 conference programming committee, and was previously a member of the Interwire Industry 4.0 task force and the finance committee. He holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Sherbrooke University, Quebec, Canada.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr Blais said, The WAI continues to be the place where members and industry professionals come to find the latest information and educational material related to wire and cable. I look forward to leading the association on a journey to continuously improve its offerings to better support the needs of our members and industry professionals.
The Wire Association International is governed by a network of volunteers from around the world. Joining Mr Blais for the 2024 term are members of the association's 2024 executive committee: first vice president Eric Bieberich (Fort Wayne Wire Die); second vice president David Fisher (James Monroe Wire & Cable Corp); Rebecca Cranford (Southwire Co); and immediate past president Kurt F Breischaft (SDI La Farga Copperworks).