Fairfield, NJ, USA, April 5, 2017 – Sofradir-EC, the US subsidiary of the Sofradir Group, the global leader in infrared (IR) detectors, today announces the appointment of Michel Zecri to the role of general manager. Mr. Zecri’s vast technical expertise in IR technologies, top-level operational management and leadership skills, and US market understanding led to his selection.
The US corners 50% of the $1.175 billion (€1.1bn) global cooled and uncooled infrared market. Mr. Zecri will be responsible for driving growth opportunities for the company; in particular providing local support to US customers seeking to expand equipment sales abroad.
“We are delighted to promote Michel to general manager of Sofradir-EC. He has all the qualities required to accelerate our US firm’s strategic development,” said Philippe Bensussan, chairman of the Sofradir Group. “Michel’s exceptional team leadership, core technical skills and business expertise are talents from which we have greatly benefitted since he joined us 10 years ago. We are keen to strengthen local collaborations with US customers on IR innovations that will lead to their increased competitiveness in global defense and security markets.”
Sofradir-EC specializes in commercializing cooled and uncooled thermal imaging products and night vision systems, such as Astroscope. These are at the center of multiple space, defense, security and surveillance and thermography equipment, as well as scientific applications. They include advanced night vision systems for air-to-air refueling, missile seekers, handheld goggles, perimeter surveillance, nature observation and space applications. They also cover next-generation thermal sensors to enable greater energy efficiency in smart buildings. In addition, Sofradir-EC develops electronic boards configured for IR detectors to offer add-on value core engine products.
“I am truly excited to join the US team at a time when the market perspectives in IR technologies for both commercial and non-commercial applications exhibit such strong growth,” said Michel Zecri, general manager at Sofradir-EC “We look forward to engaging with US customers in meeting their needs and requirements, as well as further raising awareness of the Sofradir brand.”
Michel Zecri began his career at Sofradir as a design manager in 2007. Three years later he became head of the design departments where he led teams in developing the industry’s first video format longwave IR detector (Scorpio LW). In this role, his strong technical and team leadership skills enabled the development of several world-class infrared detector innovations. He then received a promotion to VP Operations, Quality and Audits in 2014. In 2016, Michel was named VP of Industrial Operations at Sofradir’s Palaiseau site, near Paris, France, bringing to completion the building of a new ISO level-5 clean room. He also took charge of validating and qualifying its III-V IR technology production lines. Michel has been a member Sofradir’s top management committee since 2014.
Prior to Sofradir, Michel Zecri worked for Freescale Semiconductor as advanced design R&D manager from 2004 to 2007. Between 2000 and 2004, Michel served as research and development engineer for Motorola semiconductor. During his tenure there, he contributed to setting up a joint laboratory between Motorola and LAAS-CNRS (Laboratoire d’Architecture et d’Analyse des systems, Toulouse). Mr. Zecri holds an executive MBA degree from EMLYON (Lyon, France), a PhD degree from ENSEEIHT (Institut National Polythechnique de Toulouse, France) in electrical engineering and a degree in engineering from Aix-Marseille University (Marseille University, France). He has filed 16 patents and published more than 18 scientific papers.
To know more about Sofradir-EC visit: http://www.sofradir-ec.com/
