Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Former Cognex exec Hoffmaster heads to AEB

By Mass High Tech Staff

Just weeks after adding a $4 million strategic investment from GE Energy Financial Services, Wilmington-based electron emitter technology developer Advanced Electron Beams Inc. has added former Cognex Corp. COO Jim Hoffmaster as senior vice president of engineering and operations.

Mitch Tyson, Advanced Electron Beams (AEB) CEO, said the appointment comes at a pivotal time for the company, and Hoffmaster’s experience in quickly growing markets will help the company scale quickly.

As the senior vice president of engineering and operations, Hoffmaster will oversee engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and field support for AEB’s operations.

Prior to his six years at inspection technology maker Cognex, which employs more than 840 people and is based in Natick, Hoffmaster served as senior vice president, then president, of Emerson Electric Co.’s Systems Division; president of Canton-based Fibersense Technology Corp.; vice president of research and development for Otis Elevator and vice president of engineering for Bailey Controls.

AEB makes technology based on electron beams, or e-beams. The emitter uses a stream of negatively charged particles, projected at high speeds, to initiate chemical reactions or break chemical bonds. Executives at AEB hope the system can make an impact in the “greening” of industrial processes that traditionally use large amounts of heat, power, water or potentially harmful chemicals.

Originally founded in 2005, AEB has raised $34 million in private funding. Aside from GE Energy Financial Services, other investors include Boston-based RockPort Capital Partners, Waltham-based Atlas Venture and Cambridge-based General Catalyst Partners.