Test and Measurement: Leadership shifts at Keysight; HQ briefly closed by wildfires

Keysight Technologies is making a number of leadership changes, from its CTO and COO to the heads of individual business units.

Keysight CTO Jay Alexander has announced plans to retire in late 2021, and the company has appointed a new chief operating officer, effective immediately: Satish Dhanasekaran, who has served as president of Keysight’s Communications Solutions Group, will immediately take on the COO role.

Alexander will be supporting Dhanasekaran in his new role and “help determine the go-forward leadership of the critical teams within the CTO organization” until his retirement. Alexander is a longtime fixture at Keysight, having worked at the company since 1986 and served as CTO since 2014. He has held roles in the company’s oscilloscope business ranging from research and development engineer to vice president and general manage, in roles ranging from R&D engineer to vice president and general manager. Keysight said that Alexander holds 24 U.S. patents, all of which come from his time with the company.

“Jay has given so much to the company over the last 34 years and made countless contributions to our technology leadership and the success of our customers,” said Chairman and CEO Ron Nersesian. “Personally, it’s been a joy and privilege to work with someone as talented, intelligent, and caring as Jay. I know he will be greatly missed across the company when he retires.”

Dhanasekaran has led the CSG, which is Keysight’s largest business segment, since 2017. He has been with Keysight since 2006 and previously managed the test company’s wireless business, including positioning it for leadership in 5G.

“Satish is a strategic and driven executive with a track record of enabling customer success and driving high performance,” said Nersesian. “His background makes him uniquely qualified to lead the critical functions that make up the Keysight COO organization and drive further value creation for all of our stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, Ee Huei Sin, the head of Keysight’s General Electronics Measurement business, has been promoted to immediately take over leadership of the company’s Electronic Industrial Solutions Group. Huei Sin takes over from Gooi Soon Chai, who has led that segment since 2015; Soon Chai will keep charge of Keysight’s order fulfillment and information technology groups, as well as the recently acquired test automation software company Eggplant.

In related company news, Keysight’s headquarters in Santa Rosa, California has been impacted by nearby wildfires for the second time in three years. Its facilities in Santa Rosa re-opened today after a brief shutdown because of the Glass fire burning in Sonoma and Napa counties, which has impacted Santa Rosa as well and is only about 6% contained. However, Keysight said that its Santa Rosa facilities has not been damaged.

Keysight’s facilities in Santa Rosa suffered smoke and heat damage and a couple of small outbuildings burned during the Tubb fire in 2017, which burned extensively within the city of Santa Rosa. Keysight put forward a massive response in support of its affected employees, as well as repairing its buildings.

Hamish Gray, senior vice president, Keysight Technologies said in a statement that Keysight is “monitoring the status of multiple fires in the region.

“The health and safety of Keysight employees and their families remains the company’s top priority,” Gray said. “A number of Keysight employees have been evacuated from their homes and unfortunately a few have lost their homes. Keysight is providing financial assistance for impacted employees and has established a resource center to support those employees.”

He went on to add that Keysight’s crisis management team for its Santa Rosa facilities team is meeting daily to assess the situation.

“At this time, the Keysight Santa Rosa site has not sustained any damage. In an abundance of caution, Keysight closed its Santa Rosa facility through Wednesday September 30^th, but will reopen October 1^st. In the meantime, business continues at all other Keysight worldwide locations. We expect no major impact to orders, shipments or other customer-facing business operations at this time,” Gray said.

In other test news this week:

–Spirent Communications‘ TestCenter Virtual is now available in the AWS Marketplace for assisting in verification of network services that run on AWS and private hybrid clouds.

–Viavi Solutions has integrated automated test capabilities for Tait radios (the TP9500 DMR and TP9600 P25 series) on Viavi’s 3920B Radio Test Platform and the 8800SX Digital Radio Test Set.

–Dekra now has OSHA certification as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) for its labs in Sterling, Virginia and Arnhem, the Netherlands. Dekra can now test and certify specific product categories that include information technology equipment, lab and measurement equipment, audio and video equipment and power supplies, among other categories.