President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
Mr. Hamid Shokrgozar has over twenty years of both technical management and general management accomplishments in the technology sector. Mr. Shokrgozar is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of White Electronic Designs Corporation, a publicly traded Company on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange market (NASDAQ: WEDC). Prior to June 8, 2000, White Electronic Designs Corporation traded on the American Stock Exchange, (AMEX:WHT). Mr. Shokrgozar implemented the changeover to NASDAQ to benefit White Electronic Designs and allow the company to reach a wider range of investment and merchant banks in addition to money managers and individual investors. He also believes that the NASDAQ National Market System provides a broader platform for White Electronic Designs Corporation as the Company aligns itself with other high-technology companies, especially those in the Defense & Aerospace and data/ telecommunications markets. Mr. Shokrgozar also has served on the Board of Directors for the Corporation and, as of August 31, 2000, he was appointed Chairman of the Board. Prior to this, Mr. Shokrgozar was President and CEO of Bowmar Instrument Corporation, and served on the Board of Directors for Bowmar Instruments. Mr. Shokrgozar also served as President and CEO of White Microelectronics, a division of Bowmar Instrument Corporation from June 1993 until October 1998. From June 1989 to June 1993, Mr. Shokrgozar was Vice President of Engineering for the White Microelectronics division. He has a comprehensive background of increasing management responsibility, covering such diverse areas as engineering development, product application, and marketing and operations management. He holds a US patent for the invention of "Stacked Silicon Die Carrier Assembly". Mr. Shokrgozar also has a diverse background in Mergers and acquisitions and he has completed three acquisitions since he has joined the Company. In May 1998, Bowmar and one of its key competitors, Electronic Designs, Inc. in Westborough, Mass. entered into a definitive agreement to merge. The merger was finalized October 26, 1998. Mr. Shokrgozar was elected to serve as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the combined company. In January 2001 under Mr. Shokrgozar's leadership White Electronic Designs Corp. acquired Panelview, Inc. a supplier and manufacturer of enhanced AMLCD Display products and in January 2003 acquired Interface Data Systems (IDS) a Phoenix based leading supplier of electronic interface solutions.
In June 2003 Mr. Shokrgozar completed a successful $52M secondary offering for the Corporation. The offering was led by well known Wall Street investment banking firms including Needham & Co. as lead banker, and was co-managed by AG Edwards and Raymond James. The proceeds were used to buyback the Company shares held by New York Life investment group totaling $22M and to payoff $9M debt incurred as a result of the 2003 acquisition of IDS.
Mr. Shokrgozar has also served as Chairman of American Electronic Association (AEA), Arizona Council in fiscal 2000 and served on the AEA, Arizona council Board in 1998 and 1999.
Mr. Hamid Shokrgozar graduated from California State University Fullerton (CSUF) with a Bachelors of Science, BSEE Degree in Engineering. He has received advanced professional classes in Data Communications Systems and various management business educations through National Management Association (NMA).
Mr. Shokrgozar speaks and is fluent in both French and Farsi (Persian).
Roger A. Derse has been our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since March 2004. Mr. Derse has over 25 years of finance and accounting experience. He previously served as Consultant/ Acting CFO for Vitron Manufacturing from 2002 through February 2004 and was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating and Financial Officer for Nanonics Corporation from 1998 to 2001. He was Chief Financial Officer for the White Microelectronics Division of Bowmar Instrument Corporation from 1993 to 1997. Mr. Derse holds a Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan, a Masters in Accounting from the University of Arizona and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Dan V. Tarantine
Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategic Development
Dante V. Tarantine is responsible for the strategic development activities for the corporation. He most recently served as our Corporate Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Mr. Tarantine served as our Senior Vice President of Sales from August 1998 to January 2003. He previously served as our Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing from September 1991 to August 1998 and as Vice President of Marketing for White Microelectronics from February 1987 to September 1991. Mr. Tarantine holds a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from California State University, Northridge.
VP, Engineering and Business Development Microelectronics Division
BJ Heggli holds a Bachelor and Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Cal State Long Beach. He has over 29 years of experience in the electronics industry, with 22 years in the high reliability microelectronics market segment. His experience also involves LCD technology, keypads and high-end memory modules as well as complete system design and manufacturing. BJ holds three patents involving microelectronic technology. He has been with WEDC since 1994 and is currently Vice President of Engineering and Business Development for the Microelectronics Division.
Bev Cameron currently Vice President Plant Manager Microelectronic Segment at White Electronic Designs Corp. Ms. Cameron has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing & operations. She has been with White Electronic Designs Corp. for over 15 years in various management positions. Her education includes Materials Management Certification with University of Phoenix, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Grand Canyon University as well as CPIM from American Production & Inventory Control Society (APICS).
Karen Kock
Corporate Vice President, Human Resources
Karen has over 17 years of progressive Human Resource experience and is currently serving as Corporate Vice President, Human Resources. Her Human Resource experience in the manufacturing environment includes exposure to both union and non-union environments. Her background includes design, development and implementation of policies, programs and practices relating to recruitment, diversity, salary administration, organization development, training, employee benefits, safety, worker's compensation and employee relations. She has been a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for over ten years.
Dave Slobodin
VP and General Manager, Display Systems
David Slobodin is Vice President and General Manager of the Display Systems Division of White Electronic Designs. He has over 20 years of business experience in the display and electronic imaging industries. He previously served as Chief Technology Officer and Director of Advanced Development at InFocus Corporation between 1997 and 2006, and as Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) between 1993 and 1996 where he directed the U.S. government flat panel display research program. He also held management and engineering positions at Polaroid and Silicon Valley display firms Silicon Light Machines and Greyhawk Systems. He earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University and Bachelor of Science degree from MIT, both in electrical engineering.
Jim Kritcher
Director, Corporate, Information Technology
Jim Kritcher is Director of Corporate Information Technology and has led
company IT activities since November 1998. Prior to joining WEDC, Mr.
Kritcher served as Information Technology Manager for Triumph
Corporation. Mr. Kritcher attended Grand Valley State University and
holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration.
Eric Tzeng
Director, Asia Operations
Mr. Tzeng is currently the Director of Asia of Operations for White Electronic Designs Corp. Mr. Tzeng is a bilingual (English and Chinese) certified six sigma black belt/global supply chain/offshore operations professional with a background in electronics, semiconductor and consumer plastics companies in the $15MM-15B range. He has strong experience and qualifications in multi-plant and multicultural management, supply chain management, ISO9000 and Six Sigma. Mr. Tzeng has a demonstrated ability to build and lead multi-plant (U.S., China and Mexico) operations.
Mr. Wyss was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with BSEE degree in 1985 and was hired by Bowmar Technologies as a Production Engineer. From 1988 to 2002, Mr. Wyss was served as a Project Engineer, Design Manager, and an Engineering Manager. In 2002, he was promoted to his current position as the Plant Manager of our Electromechanical Products division.