Actu
Thales announces two appointments to its Leadership Committee
November 2019 by Marc Jacob
Marko Erman, currently Chief Technical Officer for the Thales Group, is appointed Scientific Director. He will report directly to Patrice Caine, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer.
Bernhard Quendt joins Thales as Chief Technology Officer, reporting to Philippe Keryer, Executive Vice-President, Strategy, Research and Technology.
Marko Erman will support the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer on all strategic decisions related to the scientific development of Thales, and will represent the Group on institutional, academic and industry bodies.
Marko Erman graduated from the École Polytechnique in 1977 and obtained a second degree from the Télécom Paris in 1980. He completed a PhD at Université Paris-Saclay and has a State doctorate in science from Université Paris-Sorbonne.
After serving in a number of management and research roles at Philips for several years, Dr Erman joined Alcatel in 1991. In 1993, he was appointed Director of the Optoelectronic Components Division of Alcatel within the Corporate Research Centre, and in 1997 became Director of the Optical Systems Department. At the same time, he served as a director and chief executive of OPTO+, a joint research unit operated by Alcatel and France Télécom. In 2001, he was appointed Chief Technology Officer and Vice President Strategy of Alcatel Optronics. In May 2003, Marko Erman joined Thales as Vice President Research and Technology for the Land and Joint Systems Division. In April 2009, he was promoted to Chief Technical Officer of Thales.
Dr Erman holds the rights to 17 patents and has published more than 150 scientific and technical papers. He is a winner of the Blondel prize, a member of the Académie de Technologie and a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur.
Bernhard Quendt is joining Thales, effective 2 January 2020, as Chief Technical Officer. His role will be to develop the Thales Group’s technical strategy.
Bernhard Quendt holds engineering degrees from the University of Stuttgart and Télécom Paris, and completed a PhD at the Technical University of Munich, where he was awarded the Rohde & Schwarz Prize.
Formerly Chief Technology Officer for Siemens Digital Industries, Dr Quendt joined the Siemens Communications division in 1999 where he served as Technical Consultant, Project Director, then Vice President for Business Access Networks Solutions.
In 2005, he was appointed Vice President R&D for Siemens Mobility, Rail Automation, then in 2011 Vice President R&D for Siemens Industrial Automation Systems.
Since 2015, he held the position of the Chief Technology Officer at Siemens Digital Industries.
