Carlo Fiorentini, president of the Cannon Group for several decades and an innovator in polyurethane technology, passed away on March 3. He was 91. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Born in Bologna, Italy, in 1930, Fiorentini attended the University of Bologna, where he earned a chemistry degree. Shortly after graduating, Fiorentini joined Leonardo Volpato, who founded Cannon, and started producing polyurethane processing equipment. The company has grown into a global conglomerate with an emphasis on polyurethane and urethane elastomer processing and molds for the plastics and composites industries.

Early in his career, Fiorentini channeled his knowledge of polymer chemistry into the burgeoning polyurethane industry. He identified new methods for mixing formulations that the chemical industry was developing for diverse industrial applications such as refrigerators.

In 1979, after patenting a mixing head for compact and glass-fiber-reinforced polyurethanes, Fiorentini designed the FPL, an innovative mixing head suitable for pouring in open mold with laminar flow, thus eliminating foam spraying and paving the way for process automation. This revolutionary device was followed by dozens of other patents, including CarDio technology for expanding continuously cast flexible foams using liquid carbon dioxide instead of environmentally harmful blowing agents.

In recognition of his many contributions to the global polyurethanes industry, Fiorentini was inducted into the Polyurethanes Hall of Fame by the American Alliance for Polyurethanes Industry in 2000. Previously, he received a gold medal from the German association of foam manufacturers.

Under Fiorentini’s leadership, the Cannon Group set up its first agency in Denmark in 1969, established its first US manufacturing site in 1977, and in 1982 became the first European company to have a footprint in Japan’s polyurethanes sector.