Ashland Inc. announced that Dr. Osama Musa, vice president, global research and development, has been promoted to the newly created position of chief technology officer. He also assumes leadership responsibility for Advanced Materials. Recently while leading R&D for Ashland Specialty Ingredients, Musa focused on ingredients and solutions for global consumer and industrial markets with responsibility for the company's global technology platforms including Molecular and Measurement Science, Process Research, Biofunctionals, Acrylates and Microencapsulation, Upstream Research, Preservatives and Microbial Technology. With his appointment to chief technology officer, Musa becomes responsible for the overall coordination of Ashland's technical resources and will lead the Ashland Technology Council, which will drive technical excellence across the company. He will also lead a Multifunctional Innovation Team, which will further enhance the innovation pipeline, metrics and processes for driving new products faster into the market. Previously he held technical and leadership positions at National Starch/ICI and Henkel.