Organisational Changes

In September 2011, SonTek (USA) and YSI (USA) were acquired by Xylem (USA), a spinoff company from ITT Corporation. As part of this process, there have been some changes at SonTek which includes the introduction of new leadership opportunities and the promotion of several employees.

Chris Ward has taken on the new responsibility of General Manager for the SonTek and Aanderaa businesses. He has also been named Coastal/Ocean segment leader under YSI and will drive the synergistic relationship and sales within the application segment. Previous to this new role, Ward was SonTek’s Global Business Development Manager. He has a degree in Applied Physics and has over 20 years of experience working with environmental monitoring instrumentation, including seven years as a commissioned NOAA officer.

Hakan Erdem has been promoted to Managing Director of SonTek. In this new role, he will assume SonTek Site Leadership role overseeing Customer Service, Service Center, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, IT, HR, Facilities and ESH. Previous to this role Hakan was SonTek’s Director of Operations. Hakan has a degree in Chemical Engineering and has over 16 years of leadership experience with strong track record of driving change for operational excellence and continuous improvement in Operations, Quality, Service and Engineering.

David Velasco has been named Product Line Manager for all SonTek products. An Oceanographic Applications Engineer by education and experience, Velasco now oversees SonTek’s product group, technical support and marketing communication divisions. Velasco holds an MSc from Boston College on Geology and Geophysics and has extensive experience with instrumentation for measurement of currents, waves and tides and other nearshore processes. He is also the President for the San Diego Section of the Marine Technology Society.