Executive Committee
The Executive Committee – the Group’s most senior management below the Board level – is responsible for the operational management of the Group within the powers delegated to it.
As of March 1, Joeri Durinckx joined as President of PCT, on August 1, 2023, Robert Leindl joined Comet as Chief Information Officer, and on October 17, 2023, Meike Boekelmann joined Comet as Chief Human Resources Officer. Further, Nicola Rotondo was appointed interim CFO effective September 1, 2023. André Grede, who is Chief Technology Officer and has been working at the Comet Group since 2015, joined the Executive Committee in 2023. Outgoing executives were Chief Information Officer Keighley Peters, who left the Comet Group on May 31, 2023, and CFO Elisabeth Pataki, who left the Comet Group on August 31, 2023. In the prior year, there were two departures of executive officers from the Comet Group: that of President of PCT Michael Kammerer on December 31, 2022 and that of CEO Kevin Crofton on August 31, 2022.
No member of the Executive Committee performed any consulting or third-party services for Comet Holding AG or any of its subsidiaries before their appointment to the Executive Committee.
As of December 31, 2023, the Group’s Executive Committee had the following eight members. The information below outlines the education, significant professional experience and current position of each Executive Committee member. Where a place name is not followed by a country or state, the country is Switzerland.
Stephan Haferl
(b. 1972, Swiss and Norwegian citizen)
Chief Executive Officer since Sep. 1, 2022
Education
Dr. sc. tech. doctorate in mechanical and process engineering from ETH Zurich; Advanced Management Program, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA
Professional experience
2002 to 2007: various management positions at the Bartec Group, Sainte-Croix; from 2007: various management positions in Comet’s X-Ray Technology business (VP of Supply Chain, VP of R&D, General Manager of Industrial X-Ray Technologies (IXT), President of X-Ray Modules division, Flamatt
Nicola Rotondo
(b. 1970, Swiss and Italian citizen)
Interim Chief Financial Officer since Sep. 1, 2023
Education
Executive Master of Controlling and Consulting, University of Applied Sciences in Bern (BFH); Executive Master of Marketing Management, University of Bern; Swiss Certified Expert for Accounting and Controlling
Professional experience
2001 to 2004: Specialist in Group Reporting at Ascom, Bern; 2004 to 2009: various senior Group controlling and accounting positions at Berna Biotech, Bern; 2010 to 2021: VP Group Controlling at Comet; from 2022: VP of Group Controlling and Accounting at Comet, Flamatt
André Grede
(b. 1979, German citizen) Chief Technology Officer since Mar. 1, 2023
Education
Dipl. Ing. degree in electrical engineering with a specialization in radio frequency technology, from Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), Germany
Professional experience
2006 to 2011: Research Associate at the Chair of Electrodynamics at the Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), Germany; 2011 to 2015: Head of RF new development at Trumpf Hüttinger; 2015 to 2023: VP of Global R&D at Comet Plasma Control Technologies, Flamatt
Robert Leindl
(b. 1966, German citizen) Chief Information Officer since Aug. 1, 2023
Education
Degree in electrical engineering and information technology from Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany
Professional experience
2001 to 2023: various top management positions at Infineon Technologies, Munich, Germany, including, for the last 11 years, the position of Executive VP & CIO
Meike Boekelmann
(b. 1976, German citizen) Chief Human Resources Officer since Oct. 17, 2023
Education
Master’s degree in economics and social science, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
Professional experience
2003 to 2015: various local, regional and global HR leadership positions (HR Manager; HR Manager, Geomarket Continental Europe; HR Director, Integrated Operations) at Baker Hughes based in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and U.A.E.; 2015 to 2023: variety of global and regional HR leadership positions at Sulzer, including Global HR leader, Chemtech division based in Winterthur
Michael Berger
(b. 1973, Swiss citizen) President of X-Ray Modules division since Sep. 1, 2022
Education
Executive Master of Marketing Management, Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH)
Professional experience
2003 to 2005: manager of the production department at Band Cooperative, Bern; 2005 to 2013: various executive management positions at Teltronic, Biberist; 2013 to 2018: Production Manager, X-Ray Technology, Comet; 2018 to 2022: VP of Operations of Industrial X-Ray Modules, Engineering and Supply Chain, Comet, Flamatt
Dionys van de Ven
(b. 1968, Dutch citizen) President of X-Ray Systems division since Jul. 1, 2022
Education
Master’s degree in mechanical engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Professional experience
2007 to 2017: Senior Director of Customer Programs, Service and R&D at Philips Healthcare, Hamburg, Germany; 2017 to 2021: Managing Director of Baker Hughes Digital Solutions GmbH, Cologne area, Germany; 2017 to 2020: Chief Technology Officer of Waygate Technologies, Cologne area, Germany; 2018 to 2020 member of the Board of Directors of GE Inspection Robotics, Zurich, Switzerland; 2020 to 2022: Executive Business Leader of x-ray business unit at Waygate Technologies, Germany
Joeri Durinckx
(b. 1979, Belgian citizen) President of Plasma Control Technologies division since Mar. 1, 2023
Education
Master’s degree in Mechatronics from Group T International School, Leuven, Belgium
Professional experience
2001 to 2019: various positions including Director of Business Development, Semiconductor Services, North America & Europe at Applied Materials, Belgium; 2019 to 2023: at Kulicke & Soffa as VP of the EA/APMR and Lithography business units, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Activities and interests outside the Group
Article 23 of the Articles of Association, which is compliant with article 734e of the Swiss Code of Obligations, specifies the allowable number of other external positions that members of the Executive Committee may hold on top management or supervisory bodies, as follows:
- Members of the Executive Committee may each not hold more than one external position on the top management or supervisory body of an exchange-traded (i.e., listed) company and not more than four such external positions in non-listed companies.
- Not more than ten such positions may be held in associations, non-profit foundations, family foundations and employee pension funds.
- Positions in companies controlled by Comet Holding AG, or positions controlled by it, are not subject to restriction.
Some members of the Executive Committee hold board positions at subsidiaries of the Group. In addition, Stephan Haferl was a board member of Belimed AG, Zug, Michael Berger was a board member of Band Cooperative, Bern, and Meike Boekelmann was a board member of the Pact for Skills. The other members of the Executive Committee did not hold positions outside Comet on management or supervisory bodies of significant Swiss or foreign private sector or public sector companies, institutions or foundations at the balance sheet date. Therefore, no member of the Executive Committee of Comet Holding AG exceeded any limits for additional positions.
Management contracts
As of December 31, 2023, Comet had not entered into any management contracts with companies or natural persons not belonging to the Group (prior year: nil).
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
No member of the Executive Committee had any material business relationships with Comet Holding AG or any of its subsidiaries in fiscal year 2022 or 2023. In the event of a potential or impending conflict of interest, the Executive Committee member concerned is required to inform the Chair of the Board of Directors immediately.