May 12, 2021 - Effective May 1, 2021 Kartik Vaidyanathan Iyer (pictured) has been named director of the TRUMPF Smart Factory in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. In this position, Iyer will report directly to Burke Doar, senior vice president of TRUMPF Inc. and succeeds Markus Zimmermann who has assumed the role as head of R&D for TRUMPF Austria.

Prior to working for TRUMPF, Iyer was president & CEO of Metamation Inc. Iyer joined TRUMPF Inc. as head of the software division for North America in December of 2019. In this role he worked to expand upon TRUMPF’s ambitious software strategy for the North American market. Additionally, he was responsible for leading the sales, customer support and order processing teams across all TruConnect software products for TRUMPF Inc.

Iyer holds a master’s degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Michigan State University as well as an executive education certificate from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Artificial Intelligence with a focus in strategies for leading business transformation.

In his new role, Kartik will be responsible for the operation and continuous development of the TRUMPF Smart Factory in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. By utilizing the latest TRUMPF technology to demonstrate industrially viable autonomous factory solutions, he will also drive initiatives to help customers realize zero unplanned down time.