NGenTec has announced the completion of its blue-chip management team as it continues to make progress towards its goal of becoming a major player in the fast-developing offshore wind sector.
The latest key appointment at the Edinburgh-based company – which designs and supplies low, medium speed and direct drive permanent magnet generators – is that of Dr Charles R Gamble, who has extensive experience in the wind turbine sector.
Dr Gamble, who joins as chief marketing officer, held director and senior management positions within engineering, marketing and business development with turbine manufacturers, and with global wind consultants Garrad Hassan. He has joined NGenTec from Nordic Windpower, where he was chief technical officer, designing and building 1MW onshore wind turbines. A chartered engineer, Dr Gamble has a background in power and electrical machines.
Dr Makhlouf Benatmane, who joined NGenTec earlier this year as chief executive officer and director, said:
“Charles is a highly-respected figure in the wind energy industry and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our team. I am delighted to have someone of his stature aboard.
“These are exciting times for the wind energy sector, which is at the cusp of enormous growth. There is tremendous potential in the UK and European offshore wind sector, and we see Scotland as the ideal hub to service the market.
“Charles will play a key part in helping us achieve our goals of being a significant player in helping to make Scotland a global leader in wind energy production.”
Dr Gamble will now help to take NGenTec’s generator technology into commercial production, as prospective customers show increasing interest.
Other key appointments made by NGenTec include those of chief technical officer and chief finance officer.
The CTO is Dr Nazar Al-Khayat, an accomplished engineering manager with more than 20 years of product development experience in the industrial, power generation and high-performance automotive sectors. He previously worked as Director of Advanced Powertrain at Cummins Inc. USA and more recently as chief engineer for Williams Grand Prix Engineering.
The CFO is Jim Boyd, a chartered accountant with significant financial and general management experience, including over six years within the renewables industry in Scotland, and involvement in major fund-raising projects.
The company, which has 15 members of staff and is continuing to recruit, was formed in 2009 and has already become the first indigenous Scottish generator supplier for MW-scale wind energy production.
Dr Benatmane said:
“As we prepare to go into production we are building up a strong and dynamic team of experienced and highly-skilled experts dedicated to helping us to achieve our goal of becoming a significant player in the industry.”
Executive team
Dr Makhlouf Benatmane – CEO and director
Makhlouf (Ben) has 20 years’ experience of management and electrical engineering. He joined the company in early 2011 from Converteam, where he led their worldwide wind and renewables operation and was responsible for strategic business planning and product definition and delivering the significant positive financial performance of the renewables sector of Converteam’s business.
Dr Nazar Al-Khayat – chief technical officer
Nazar is an accomplished engineering manager with more than 20 years of product development experience in the automative, industrial and power generation sectors. He has over 40 scientific publications and 10 patents covering powertrain architectures and controls, novel electrical machines’ topologies, power electronics and renewable applications.
Dr Charles R Gamble – chief marketing officer
Charles has 20 years’ experience in the wind turbine sector, held director and senior management positions within engineering, marketing and business development with turbine manufacturers, and global wind consultants Garrad Hassan and Partners. He joined the company from Nordic Windpower, where he was CTO, designing and building 1MW onshore wind turbines. He is a chartered engineer with a background in power and electrical machines.
Jim Boyd – chief financial officer
Jim, a qualified chartered accountant, is an experienced commercial finance manager with considerable finance, corporate finance and general management experience in a number of sectors. He has worked with venture capital organisation 3i, managed a market-leading offshore oil and gas logistics business and been closely involved in managing a leading-edge technology oil and gas engineering design business.
James Murray – business development manager
James has a MEng degree in Product Design Engineering from the University of Strathclyde. He has nine years’ experience in engineering design and management, which includes six years within the aerospace sector as project manager and technical lead on various development projects. He has been closely involved in the development of NGenTec to date and is a Saltire Fellow.
For further information, please contact:
Elizabeth Lambley Tom Davison
Indigo Indigo
Tel: +44 (0)131 554 6026 Tel: +44 (0)131 554 9866
Mob: +44 (0)7967 374 330 Mob: +44 (0)7823 441 637
Email: Lizzylambley@indigopr.com Email: Tom@indigopr.com
Dr Makhlouf Benatmane, CEO, NGenTec, +44 (0)7415 124 641
Dr Charles R Gamble, chief marketing officer, NGenTec, +44 (0)7572 464 793
James Murray, business development manager, NGenTec, +44 (0)7977 010 982
