Bob Simpson, a former executive at Milacron Inc. and Siegel-Robert Automotive Inc., is preparing for a new career as a trade association president.

Simpson will become president of the Association For Manufacturing Technology, on Oct. 7, according to a recent news release from the McLean, Va., group. He will join the association on June 2 and work during a transition period with current President John B. Byrd III, who will retire after five years at AMT.

AMT, formerly the National Machine Tool Builders' Association, owns and sponsors the big International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), touted as "one of the world's largest industrial expositions," and held every even-numbered year in Chicago's McCormick Place.