Karlsruhe, Germany – 29 January 2013 – Altium Ltd <http://www.live.altium.com/> ., global leader in Smart System Design Automation and provider of solutions for 3D PCB design (Altium Designer <http://products.live.altium.com/> ) as well as embedded software development (TASKING <http://www.tasking.com/> ), announces a global strategic change in its management team. The expanded corporate management team includes long-term Altium veterans Kayvan Oboudiyat (CEO), Aram Mirkazemi (CTO) and Frank Hoschar (CMO).
Under this new leadership Altium is set to deliver more value and a richer design experience to Altium users by further opening Altium’s next generation DXP development platform to third-party EDA and Non-EDA tool providers. This includes allowing third-parties to write apps for delivery in the Altium ecosystem, or extending their own ecosystem using Altium’s technologies
In a move to strengthen customer relationships, the Altium team will also work closely with customers to co-create solutions and add value as part of an agile, customer centric strategy. Altium customers will be enabled to leverage the Embedded Internet by building and extending their web based ecosystems for their products and user communities.
The Altium DXP platform features the only consistent data model for smart System-on-Board design, a seamless flow for 3D PCB, FPGA and Embedded Software development. Worldwide, over 80,000 users have moved from tool chains to the Altium DXP platform.
“By opening our DXP platform and its wide user base to third-party developers, we aim to establish Altium as the emerging hub for the creation of lasting relationships in the Smart System Design Space,” comments Frank Hoschar, CMO Altium Ltd.
The calibre of the new leadership team in detail:
Kayvan Oboudiyat, CEO
Kayvan has been a Director of Altium since 1997. Originally Kayvan was appointed Managing Director, becoming Chief Executive Officer in 1999 and Joint Chief Executive Officer in 2001. Kayvan served as Executive Vice Chairman since 2005 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in late 2012.
Kayvan has played a key role in driving the development of new business opportunities. Prior to joining Altium, Kayvan spent eleven years with Telstra, including three years as a Senior Executive in the International Business Unit.
Aram Mirkazemi, CTO:
Aram was appointed Chief Technology Officer of Altium in October 2012. Aram returned to Altium in November 2010 as the Chief of Engineering following the acquisition of Morfik Technology which he founded in 2000.
Originally Aram joined Altium (then known as Protel) in 1991 serving as Director of Research and Development from 1992 until 1999 and as a member of Altium’s Board from 1992 to 2000. In 2000, Aram left Altium to explore his interest in web based technology and went on to found Morfik Technology.
Frank Hoschar, CMO:
Frank was appointed Chief Marketing Officer of Altium in January 2013. He has more than 25 years’ management experience in electronics, IT, and related marketing companies. Frank studied Electrical Engineering at university but left before graduating to follow the call of entrepreneurship.
Throughout his career he has founded a number of companies, one of which – Hoschar AG – became the leading distributor of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools in Germany. Frank originally joined Altium in 2002 when Altium acquired Hoschar AG’s EDA business. From 2002 to 2004 he served as Altium’s Director, Strategic Marketing. From 2005 to 2009 he led the European Sales & Support Team. From 2009 to 2010 he served as Director, Worldwide Marketing. In 2010, Frank left Altium to explore his interest in Corporate Finance.
