Woodside, New York-Axel Plastics Research Laboratories, which makes mould-release agents and processing additives, has appointed Thomas Preisel as its director of sales & marketing.Preisel has over 30 years of experience with suppliers to the composites and plastics industry from working at Ashland Chemical, Owens Corning, and most recently the Alcan Baltek Corp., where was responsible for global sales and marketing of foam and balsa structural core materials used in composites. Working with Axel, "enables me to use my broad based experience with advanced composites and structural core materials to help enhance Axel's further growth including development of new markets and opportunities in North America," said Preisel, in a company statement. ISO 9001-registered Axel markets its products under the names MoldWiz and XTEND, offering products for processors of polyurethane, rubber, thermoplastics, composites and decorative laminates. "