News: LEDs
14 October 2020
Lumileds appoints Steve Barlow as president of its Automotive business unit
Lumileds LLC of San Jose, CA, USA has appointed Steve Barlow as president of its Automotive business unit. He succeeds Matt Roney, who in September was appointed CEO (replacing Dr Jonathan Rich, who continues as executive chairman of the board).
Barlow has led the Lumileds’ LED Solutions business unit for over three years and, in his more than 18 years of executive leadership at Lumileds, he has managed both sales and marketing of automotive, illumination and specialty LED businesses.
Barlow has over 28 years of sales, marketing and business development experience in the semiconductor and LED lighting industry. He first joined Lumileds in 2003 and helped to build its LED lighting business. Barlow re-joined Philips Lumileds in 2017 as senior VP of Illumination. In 2012, he served as chief commercial officer at Intematix Corp and then in 2014 as senior VP of sales & business development at Cree.
“Steve is bringing his significant LED knowledge and his customer-focused business philosophy to our Automotive business unit,” comments Lumileds’ CEO Matt Roney. “With his previous experience in the automotive sector, and as one of the industry’s innovative thinkers in the LED space, Steve will continue our commitment to deliver valuable solutions to our automotive customers and end-users.”
Replacing Steve Barlow, Leon Pikaar has been appointed as VP & general manager of Lumileds’ LED Solutions business unit.
Pikaar has more than 30 years of experience in the LED and lighting industry, including an extensive tenure at Philips Lighting and Lumileds where he has led international business organizations, strategic accounts, and developed the specialty business in camera flash, display and UV markets.
His career started at Philips Lighting in The Netherlands. He was soon transferred to Brazil where he became regional manager Latin-America for lamp drivers. In 1999, he joined the team that founded Lumileds as a joint venture between Hewlett Packard and Philips, after which he became responsible for sales & marketing of specialty lamps for Philips Lighting in Europe. Prior to his new role, Pikaar was head of marketing for the LED Solutions business unit, after having served as VP of sales & marketing at RayVio, a startup company in UV-B/C LEDs.
Pikaar has enjoyed successful overseas assignments, is fluent in multiple languages, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tilburg Polytechnic in The Netherlands.
“Leon has been at the tip of the spear for Lumileds for more than two decades,” comments Roney. “The LED Illumination and Specialty side of our business is in great hands.”
Lumileds names Matt Roney as CEO
Lumileds appoints auto industry veteran Matt Roney to lead Automotive business unit
