McNaughton-McKay (Madison Heights, Mich.): Del Nickel, retired president of Pentair Technical Products (Hoffman Enclosures), has taken a seat on McNaughton-McKay’s board of directors. Nickel is a 41-year-veteran of the electrical industry. He spent 23+ years with Rockwell Automation (Allen-Bradley) and the next 17 years with Hoffman Enclosures.
Cree, Inc. (Durham, N.C.): Bruce Renouard will join the company as senior vice president – sales and business development, effective March 21. In this newly created position, Renouard will be responsible for sales of LED chips, LED components, materials and power and RF components for the company. Renouard comes to Cree after nine years at Power Integration Corporation where he served as vice president of worldwide sales.
Ideal Industries, Inc. (Sycamore, Ill.): Mike Weiby was named to the new position of product development manager. He will report to Jim Davidson, Ideal’s director of research and development. Weiby will work with a cross-functional team to implement a formalized new product development process for Ideal and its subsidiaries, including project management and tracking, developing new product ideas, intellectual property (IP) management, research into emerging technologies and product performance requirements.
He joins Ideal from Sears Brand Marketing Corp., where he was product development engineering manager for the DieHard battery brand and the Craftsman Tools Group, guiding innovation in hand tools, power tools, tool storage and test equipment. He has also worked at Bison Gear, Engineering Corp. and ECM Motor Co. Weiby holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Marquette University.
Luxim (Sunnyvale, Calif.): K.R. (Kaj) den Daas is now on the company’s board of directors. He most recently served as chairman of Philips Lighting of North America, as well as executive V.P. of Philips B.V. of the Netherlands. A native of the Netherlands, Den Daas brings more than three decades of international experience in the lighting industry to Luxim’s Board. A member of the Illuminating Engineering Society [IES] since 1987, Den Daas is also a director of Valmont Industries and NVC Lighting, and a NEMA governor. In February, he was also named independent non-executive chairman of the board of GLO AB.
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) (Rosslyn, Va.): NEMA’s board of governors named Christopher Curtis, president and CEO of Schneider Electric North America, as treasurer of the association. The board also appointed him to the executive committee’s board of governors. Zia Eftekhar, CEO, Philips Lighting, North America, and Michael Pessina, president, office of product development, Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., were also elected to NEMA’s board of governors.
Schréder Lighting US (Elk Grove Village, Ill.): Rod Stummer was appointed director of business development and will be responsible for developing Schréder’s Owlet system of intelligent street and area lighting wireless controls in the United States and Canada. Owlet was acquired by Schréder and is headed up by a team of engineers and designers from ABB, the Swiss building automation leaders, who were the original developers of the Owlet technology. In his new position, Stummer will work closely with Schréder sales reps, DOTs, lighting specifiers and other luminaire manufacturers (OEM market) to integrate the OWLET telemanagement system to wirelessly controlling street and area lighting in municipalities, college and corporate campuses, and other outdoor environments.
Prior to joining Schréder, Stummer was V.P. of commercial sales and V.P. of sales & marketing for Philips Lighting, Hadco Division. In addition, he held the positions of senior product manager for SELUX Lighting, senior V.P. of sales for Renaissance Lighting, and V.P. of sales and marketing for North Star/Thorn Lighting.
Meyda Lighting (Yorkville, N.Y.): Max Cohen was appointed upstate New York area sales manager for the company. He will continue to serve as manager of Meyda’s factory showroom in Yorkville, NY. With his additional responsibilities, Cohen (son of Meyda CEO Robert Cohen and grandson of co-founders Meyer and Ida Cohen) will work closely with lighting showrooms, electrical distributors and specifiers throughout upstate New York.
Staco Energy Products Co. (Dayton, Ohio): Michael Lewis has joined the company as Central regional manager. Based in the St. Louis area, Lewis brings more than 20 years of experience in the power quality industry. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois-Springfield with a B.A. in Accountancy. Prior to joining Staco, Lewis was as a regional sales manager for Electrical South and a strategic account manager for MGE UPS Systems.