ATLANTA, May 25, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- EMS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ELMG) has reported that Francis J. Erbrick and Bradford W. Parkinson were elected to join its Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on May 19, 2006. Mr. Erbrick and Dr. Parkinson join the six directors who had previously been serving, and who were also re-elected to additional one-year terms at the Annual Meeting.
John B. Mowell, Chairman of the Board, stated, "We are very proud to be adding such qualified board members as Frank Erbrick and Brad Parkinson. These are men with broad experience in both business and technical areas that are important to EMS and its customers. Frank's experience as the Chief Information Officer at UPS, during the days it was building its world-class communications and package-tracking systems, and his current role as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, make him uniquely qualified to help guide not only our overall business, but also the logistics and mobile computing business of LXE, which is the largest of our business units. And Brad Parkinson is a highly regarded technology expert in the space world that is so important to our Defense & Space Systems and SATCOM divisions, and he has also been heavily involved for over 20 years in managing a space-oriented technology business."
Mr. Erbrick has worked since 1997 as a consultant with the Business Technology Office of McKinsey & Company, Stamford, CT (since 1997), providing information technology consulting services, typically to large companies. For the previous 12 years, Mr. Erbrick was Chief Information Officer and a member of the Management Committee of United Parcel Service, where he oversaw the development of UPS's information systems architecture, its telecommunications network, and its Package Tracking System. Mr. Erbrick was a 1994 recipient of the Carnegie Mellon Award for Excellence in Information Technology.
Dr. Parkinson holds the title of Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, where he continues to have substantially full-time research and student advisory responsibilities. Until 2001, Dr. Parkinson was Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford, where he directed NASA's Gravity Probe-B spacecraft development project. During his career, he has actively participated on teams and committees responsible for the design or redesign of a number of space programs, including the GPS system, the Space Station, the Hubble Telescope repair, and a proposed flyby mission to Pluto. In 2003, Dr. Parkinson was awarded the Draper Prize by the National Academy of Engineering for his role in the development of the GPS system. Since 1984, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Trimble Navigation Limited, Sunnyvale, CA, which provides advanced geographical positioning solutions, typically to commercial and governmental users. From 1998 to 1999, he served as Trimble's President and Chief Executive Officer while that company was seeking a permanent CEO. He holds his Ph.D. in Astronautics Engineering from Stanford.
John Mowell added, "The Board feels very fortunate to be able to attract directors of this caliber and with such strong qualifications. The expertise that Frank Erbrick and Brad Parkinson bring to the Board now provides the Company with a high level of knowledge in virtually every aspect of the markets and customer base that EMS serves."
EMS Technologies, Inc. is an innovative leader in the technology of advanced wireless communications, focusing on the needs of the mobile information user and broadband applications. Headquartered in Atlanta and with approximately 1,200 workers worldwide, we provide wireless communications products for diverse markets, including commercial and defense. The Company's four business units address the needs of different markets, but they share a common foundation in broadband and other advanced wireless technologies, leading to important technical and marketing synergies:
-- LXE is a leading provider of rugged computers and wireless data
networks used for logistics applications such as distribution
centers, warehouses and container ports. LXE automatic
identification and data capture products serve mobile information
users at over 7,500 sites worldwide;
-- Defense & Space Systems supplies highly-engineered subsystems for
defense electronics and sophisticated satellite applications --
from military communications, radar, surveillance and
countermeasure to commercial high-definition television, satellite
radio, and live TV for today's most innovative airlines;
-- SATCOM supplies a broad array of terminals and antennas that
enable end-users in aircraft and other mobile platforms, such as
military command vehicles or over-the-road trucks to communicate
over satellite networks at variety of data speeds; and
-- EMS Wireless is recognized globally as a leading supplier of
RF-based mobile telephony solutions. The division's extensive
product line rages from base station antennas and wireless
backhaul products for PCS/cellular telecommunications to active
antennas and repeaters for complete in-building communications
solutions.