Executive Moves: DENSO, CEVA, MULR, Vnomics

   Hirokatsu Yamashita has been named president of DENSO Products and Services Americas Inc.
   Yamashita (pictured above left) took charge of the aftermarket products and services arm of the advanced mobility supplier on June 1.
   The appointment follows what a company press release called “sweeping personnel and organizational changes announced in March that enable DENSO to act more nimbly and efficiently in the face of rapid industry change.”
   In his new executive role, Yamashita oversees more than 600 employees in all DENSO Products and Services Americas groups. Operations include the company’s headquarters in Long Beach, Calif.; manufacturing operations in Murrieta, Calif.; regional sales offices in Plano, Texas, and West Chester, Ohio; warehouses in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and Jeffersonville, Ind.; and a new technology center in Jermyn, Pa.
   Yamashita brings more than 26 years of experience with DENSO in its sales, business planning and administrative operations to his new post. He has held positions of increasing responsibility within the corporation’s overseas network as well as DENSO headquarters in Japan.
   Yamashita said he was “honored to lead DENSO Products and Services Americas and build on the success of our team and our company’s continued growth in a rapidly changing automotive industry. We are dedicated to staying ahead of the curve to meet our customers’ needs and strengthening relationships built on the quality and value of our parts and services.”

   CEVA Logistics has promoted Dave Dudek (above center) to executive vice president of the global automotive sector.
   Dudek succeeds Antonio Fondevilla, “who has decided to pursue new opportunities outside CEVA,” the announcement said.
   Dudek previously served as senior vice president of strategic initiatives and global program management.   
   Laurent Binetti, CEVA Logistics’ chief commercial officer, thanked Fondevilla for “his dedication and outstanding contribution to CEVA over the years” and said in Dudek the company has “a worthy successor and his extensive knowledge of the worldwide automotive sector has already ensured a seamless transition for our customers in all locations.”

   International maritime charity Sailors’ Society has announced that Prasanta Roy (above right) will serve as the new director general.
   Roy, who has 25 years of experience in leadership and governance in the banking and finance industry, is stepping down as a trustee of the charity to take the new role.
   Sailors’ Society works internationally to provide practical, emotional and spiritual welfare support to the world’s 1.6 million seafarers, regardless of background or faith.
   Sandra Welch, previously the society’s deputy CEO and program director, has been promoted to chief operating officer. She will continue to head up global program delivery as well as take on additional responsibilities across the operations of the society, while Prasanta will focus on the charity’s growth and development.
   Former CEO Stuart Rivers left the charity in May. Chair of Trustees Alastair Fischbacher said the Sailors’ Society was “grateful to him for his strategic leadership, creativity and commitment over the past six years. We are confident that Prasanta will build on this as he takes over the helm.”
   Prasanta previously was the chief administration officer at Wells Fargo for nine years and has held senior roles at Barclays, UBS, JP Morgan Chase and Nomura.

   Theodore W. Baun will join MUL Railcars Inc. (MULR), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co. Ltd., as chief commercial officer on July 1.
   Baun brings 25 years of experience in the railcar industry to MULR, based in Portland, Ore. Previously he served as vice president and CCO for FreightCar America Inc. of Chicago.
   He will be responsible for fleet utilization, revenue generation and operations supporting customer experience. In addition, he will play an integral role as part of the corporate leadership in planning and orchestrating the growth of the platform and the fleet as MULR drives toward its near-term objective of having a 25,000-car portfolio by the end of 2020.
   “Ted’s commitment to value creation, partnership, customer focus and integrity coincide perfectly with the culture we are building at MULR,” said CEO J.T. Sharp. “His background, experience and vision will be instrumental in helping us achieve our goals both in the near term and in the future.”

   Vnomics Corp., a provider of onboard fuel-optimization solutions that combine real-time driver coaching and fuel-efficiency insights, announced Wednesday that Bob Peckham has joined the company as director of advanced solutions development.
   Peckham previously served as Vnomics’ director of customer support from 2011 to 2016.
   “Bob Peckham’s deep knowledge of True Fuel’s analytical capabilities and its potential to positively affect driver behavior make him the ideal person to work with fleets that want to delve into data and use integrations with other information sources,” said Bob Magnant, vice president of product management at Vnomics. “He has that rare mix of deep technical knowledge, especially with respect to fuel efficiency and hands-on, real-world practical experience with vehicles and driver behavior that make him perfect for a position that is responsible for delivering solutions and a solid ROI.”
   Most recently Peckham served as vice president of client relations at CurAegis Technologies, for which he created a support department for a newly developed fatigue-monitoring device for the trucking industry. 

   The International Maritime Rescue Federation elected its board of trustees Tuesday at its quadrennial general meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. The meeting followed the 4th World Maritime Rescue Congress, which brought together maritime search and rescue specialists and equipment providers from around the globe.
   The trustees elected to four-year terms are Chair Dean Lawrence, Coastguard New Zealand; Jorge Diena, ADES Uruguay; Mohammed Drissi, Ocean Fisheries Department, Morocco; Cia Sjostedt, Swedish Sea Rescue Society; Nicolaus Stadeler, German Maritime Search and Rescue Service; James Vaughan, RNLI; and Zhang Rongjun, China Rescue and Salvage.
   Outgoing IMRF chairman is Udo Helge Fox, whose term came to an end after more than 12 years of involvement with the organization. Fox, the executive director of the German Maritime SAR Service, joined the board in 2007 and had served as chairman since the last quadrennial general meeting in 2015.
   IMRF was founded as the International Lifeboat Federation in 1924. Its member organizations share their lifesaving ideas, technologies and experiences and cooperate to achieve their common humanitarian aim of preventing loss of life in the world’s waters.