Management Team
Our Management Team
RAE Systems’ executive team brings a wealth of experience from many corners of the high technology and safety industries, and academia. The group of seasoned, highly educated managers understands the needs of customers – demonstrated by an established record of success in developing and delivering the latest technologies and innovation in gas- and radiation-detection solutions.
| Christopher Toney Chief Operating Officer | Michael G. Hansen Chief Financial Officer |
| Fei Shen Vice President of Worldwide Manufacturing General Manager of RAE Systems, Shanghai | Thomas Nègre Vice President of Products and Marketing |
| Ryan Watson Vice President of Sales North and South America | Joseph Maxwell Vice President of Sales Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia Pacific (EMEAA) |
| Yongbiao Qian General Manger, RAE-KLH | William R. Kolbeck Vice President, Radiation Business |
| Wen-Peng Hsueh Vice President of Engineering | Li-chung Lee Vice President of Sensor Operations |
 | Christopher Toney Chris Toney a Pittsburgh, PA native joined the Pennsylvania based Avondale Division of Hewlett Packard after earning his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in 1981. Over his 14 years at Avondale, Chris progressed to become an overall R&D leader for several new product areas within Avondale’s Gas Chromatography business. In 1995 Chris moved to Hewlett Packard Headquarters in Palo Alto, California, to lead R&D for HP’s Mass Spectrometry business. When HP spun-out its Test & Measurement Business to become Agilent Technologies in late 1999, the entire business was reorganized into end-market businesses and Chris joined the Life Sciences Business as head of R&D and Marketing for Mass Spectrometry Products for the Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences industries. In 2004, Chris was promoted to VP & General Manager of Agilent’s Gas Phase Mass Spec Solutions Business and, over a five-year period, grew this business from $175 to $300 million. In 2009 Chris became VP & General Manager of Agilent’s $700 million Gas Phase Division, which also included supply chain management for Agilent’s entire $3.5 billion Chemical Analysis business. Chris Toney has been the Chief Operating Officer of RAE Systems since May 2012 and is currently responsible for all worldwide R&D, engineering, manufacturing and QA functions. | |||
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 | Michael G. Hansen Michael Hansen has been the Chief Financial Officer of RAE Systems Inc. since July 2011. He was born and raised in South Africa. After receiving an accounting degree from the University of Natal (Durban), in 1980, Michael was recruited by Arthur Andersen & Co. In 1985 he completed his compulsory military service as an Officer in the South African Army, with distinction. From 1986 to 1998 Michael held both senior financial and operational management positions with various South African companies in the software, automotive, electronics, and food & beverage industries. In 1999, Michael joined Smiths Group PLC, a global technology company listed on the London Stock Exchange. During his tenure at Smiths Group, Michael gained extensive international exposure, both living and working in 4 continents, the last 6 years were spent as Divisional Vice President of Finance for Smiths Interconnect, a $550 million global leader in technically differentiated electronic and radio frequency products for commercial, military & aerospace markets with operations around the globe. On relocating to the USA, Michael became a naturalized US Citizen in 2011. In addition to a Bachelors of Commerce in Accounting Degree from the University of Natal (Durban), South Africa, Michael also received a Master of Business Administration from Edinburgh Business School (Heriot Watt University) and is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant. | |||
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 | Fei Shen Fei Shen joined RAE Systems in 2001, and was named vice president of worldwide manufacturing and general manager of RAE Systems’ Shanghai operations in 2011. Mr. Shen is responsible for all aspects of the Shanghai operation, including finance, HR, IT and general administration. In his role as vice president, Mr. Shen is responsible for all of RAE Systems worldwide manufacturing operations, including production, manufacturing engineering, QA, supply-chain management, and product lifecycle management. He has had many successes at RAE Systems, including expanding the company’s manufacturing and service operations in North and South America, and in Shanghai. In 2006, he was appointed vice president and general manager of RAE Systems’ China Business Operations, where he was responsible for all sales, marketing, service and systems Integration functions with 900 employees at two major sites. Prior to joining RAE Systems, Mr. Shen held a variety of engineering and management positions at Solectron Corporation and Space Systems Loral. Mr. Shen was born and raised in Shanghai, China where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Shanghai Jiao-Tong University. He continued his graduate studies in the U.S. and received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Idaho in 1992. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1999. | |||
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 | Thomas Nègre Thomas Nègre joined RAE Systems in 2004 when he founded RAE Systems’ operation in France, now headquartered in Lyon, France. He accepted his current leadership role in 2011, where he has global responsibility for corporate and product marketing and management, including marketing communications and demand-generation functions, and product certifications. In 2006, he was named RAE Systems’ director of global product marketing. Prior to joining RAE Systems, Mr. Nègre was a regional sales manager and product-marketing manager for several instrumentation and gas-detection companies, including Panametrics and GE Sensing in France. He was born and raised in France. He holds two master degrees in scientific and technical subjects; one for studies in physics measurement and instrumentation from University of Provence in France in 1994, and one for science and business studies from the School of Management in Marseille, France, in 1996. He completed a Stanford University executive management program in 2010. | |||
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 | Ryan Watson Ryan Watson joined RAE Systems in 1999, and has led the company’s sales and service operations for North and South America since 2008. Mr. Watson possess many years of field experience selling into multiple market segments, including the industrial, fire/first responder, government/military, oil and gas, petrochemical, and environmental markets. While at RAE Systems, he has served as the company’s Midwest regional sales manager and as sales director for the Eastern U.S. and Canadian regions. Prior to joining RAE Systems, Mr. Watson was employed by distributor partners that promoted sales, service and rental of products for the safety, compliance and multi-million dollar asset protection business. He is an active member of several trade organizations, including the ASSE (American Society of Safety Engineers), and the AIHA (American Industrial Hygiene Association). Mr. Watson currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and has a bachelors’ degree in human environmental sciences from the University of Missouri. | |||
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 | Joseph Maxwell Joe Maxwell joined RAE Systems in 2005 and has led its EMEA operations since 2011. He oversees the sales and service operations for all of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific region. He’s held several leadership positions at the company, including UK manager, director of European sales, and director of EMEA. Mr. Maxwell brings 35 years of experience within the fire and gas safety industry. Prior to joining RAE Systems, Mr. Maxwell was a senior vice president of international sales and marketing for Total Safety, a worldwide industrial safety services and solutions company. Mr. Maxwell specialized in the oil and gas, refinery, chemical and power generation markets, covering the U.K.; Europe; North, West & South Africa; the Middle East; and the Soviet Union. He began his career as a fire fighter and safety engineer. He also held positions as a field sales engineer, business development manager, and a sales and operations manager for various UK and European safety firms that specialized in fire engineering, gas and radiation detection, contingency planning and disaster management. He earned a degree in business from Glasgow Caledonian University and is a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. | |||
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 | Yongbiao Qian Yongbiao Qian joined RAE Systems in 2001. He was named general manager of RAE-KLH, responsible for RAE Systems China Operations, in 2010. As a RAE subsidiary in China, RAE-KLH is responsible for Mainland China’s business operations, including sales, marketing, service and systems integration. Mr. Qian joined RAE Systems from Shanghai University, where he headed of the Department of Electronic Science & Technology. Mr. Qian was named RAE Systems’ senior director of sensor operations, which included responsibility for sensor R&D, engineering, manufacturing and quality assurance for RAE Systems’ Sensor Business Unit. He has had many successes over the years, including expanding the company’s sensor team and led the team to develop a variety of sensor lines. These include electrochemical sensors (EC), photoionization detectors (PID), non-dispersive infrared sensors (NDIR), lower explosive limit sensors (LEL) and radiation sensors. Mr. Qian holds a Ph.D. from Shanghai University and has accumulated more than 25 years of experience in materials science and sensor technology. | |||
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 | William R. Kolbeck William (Bill) Kolbeck joined RAE Systems in 2012 and currently manages the company’s Radiation Business Unit. Mr. Kolbeck is responsible for all aspects of RAE Systems’ radiation business including strategy, business development, product development, operational execution and financial management. Prior to joining RAE Systems Bill held various senior Sales & Marketing and General Management positions for several instrumentation companies. From 2001 to 2012, prior to joining RAE Systems, Bill was a Business Unit Director with Raytek Corporation, a division of Fluke Corporation. Raytek designs and manufactures a large array of noncontact and fixed infrared sensor sensing instruments. In 1980 Bill began his career in Minnesota as a Regional Sales Manager for TSI Inc., a sensor and instrumentation company for the scientific research and contamination control industry. In 1984 Bill relocated to California where he held sales and marketing, general management and business development positions for several instrumentation companies associated with the semiconductor industry. Bill earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1980 and an MBA from San Jose State University in 1988. | |||
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 | Wen-Peng Hsueh Wen-Peng Hsueh joined RAE Systems in 1999 and was named vice president of engineering in 2012. During his time with RAE Systems, Mr. Hsueh was a senior firmware engineer where he developed several firmware-related processes and a tracking database to improve software development efficiencies. As director of software and firmware development in 2007, Mr. Hsueh lead a team to develop a range of products, including third-generation photoionization detector (PID) technology and the second-generation of RAE Systems’ MultiRAE detection product family. Prior to joining RAE Systems, he worked as a software engineer and manager. In 1995, he developed several multi-channel optical switches at Lightech Fiberoptics, Inc. and he designed a highly efficient memory cycling system that cut cycle times in half while at Integrated Silicon Solution in 1997. He was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, and received a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from National Cheng-Kung University in 1984. He served in the Air Force for two years before earning a masters’ degree in computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts in 1988. Mr. Hsueh became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2007. | |||
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 | Li-chung Lee Dr. Li-chug Lee joined RAE Systems in 2005 and currently leads the company’s Sensor Operations Unit. While at RAE Systems, he has held several positions, including vice president of RAE Systems’ Engineering and vice president of RAE Labs. Prior to joining RAE Systems, Dr. Lee served with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) from 1986 to 2005. The ITIR is a nonprofit research institute in Taiwan that focuses on applied research and technical services. He directed a variety of R&D programs and led a team of more than 600 with a $45 million (USD) budget. In 2000, Dr. Lee was named president of ITRI International, a subsidiary of ITRI based in Hsinchu, Taiwan. He led the ITRI International’s effort to nurture joint projects with renowned universities in the U.S., including MIT, Stanford and UCLA, in addition to fostering alliances with major U.S. and Canadian companies. Early in his career, Dr. Lee held various engineering positions in New York at Corning Glass and IBM. He was born in Shanghai, China, and grew up in Taiwan where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Taiwan University in 1971. After a year of military service, he came to the U.S. where he received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Maine in 1974, and a Ph.D. in theoretical and applied mechanics from Cornell University in 1977. Dr. Lee became a naturalized U.S citizen in 1985. | |||
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Our Board of Directors
| Robert I. Chen President and Chief Executive Officer | Peter Hsi Chief Technology Officer |
| Andy Fishman Board Member | David Fishman Board Member |
| Alex Slusky Board Member | Vic Verma Board Member |
 | Robert I. Chen Robert Chen co-founded RAE Systems in 1991 and serves as chairman, president and chief executive officer. He has a long history of building successful businesses in Silicon Valley, where he founded and served in several business and community endeavors. His industry experience includes various engineering and management positions at General Motors, General Electric, Tektronix, Fairchild Semiconductor and Hewlett-Packard Company. He founded AOT Corporation (Applied Optoelectronic Technology), a manufacturer of computer-aided test systems, in 1981 and served as chairman, president and chief executive officer. It was later acquired by Hewlett-Packard as a division within its instrumentation group, where he served as general manager of the division for two years. Prior to HP, Mr. Chen helped co-found the AAMA (Asian-American Manufacturing Association). He also served on the board for the Monte Jade Science & Technology Association. Mr. Chen was born in China and grew up in Taiwan, where he earned a BSEE from National Taiwan Cheng-Kung University. He continued his graduate studies in the U.S. earning an MSEE from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in 1973. He also received an Advanced Engineer Degree from Syracuse University in 1977. He graduated from OPM Class 18 of the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1992. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1978. | |||
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 | Peter Hsi Dr. Peter Hsi co-founded RAE Systems in 1991 and serves as its chief technology officer and as a member of its board of directors. Mr. Hsi has been a major innovator at RAE Systems having guided the company in the development of many advanced sensors and advanced technology products. Mr. Hsi holds more than 20 patents in the U.S. and Europe, 14 of which are in photoionization, infrared, radiation and AC current-discharge sensing technologies. In 1984, Mr. Hsi joined AOT Corporation (Applied Optoelectronic Technology) as chief engineer and vice president of engineering. AOT manufactured computer-aided automated test equipment for the semiconductor industry. The company was later sold to Hewlett-Packard Company in 1989 as a division within HP’s instrument group. He continued to work for HP until co-founding RAE Systems. Prior to working for AOT and HP, he worked as a systems and research engineer at Network Analysis Corp. and within the carrier division for the United Technology Corp. He was born and raised in Taiwan where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. In 1974, he continued his graduate studies in the U.S., where he received a master’s degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Syracuse University. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1987. | |||
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 | Andy Fishman Andy Fishman is a principal at Vector Capital – which acquired RAE Systems in 2011. He joined RAE Systems’ Board of Directors in 2011. Mr. Fishman joined Vector Capital in 2008 with significant technology investing and operational experience. He worked at Silver Lake Partners with a focus on large-scale technology buyouts in North America and Europe. Previously, he worked in investment banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he focused on mergers and financing in the technology and telecommunications industries. On the operational side, he worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Artificial Intelligence Lab and at Sun Microsystems as a software engineer. He also worked at Vlingo, a mobile start-up based in Boston, as head of business development. Mr. Fishman also sits on the Board of Teletrac (formerly Trafficmaster) and previously served on the boards of Aladdin Knowledge Systems and SafeNet before the two companies merged. He holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in computer science from Dartmouth College, where he graduated magna cum laude. | |||
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 | David Fishman Board Member has been at Vector since 2006 and a partner since 2008. He joined RAE Systems’ Board of Directors in 2011. Mr. Fishman has been actively involved in the investments in SafeNet, RAE Systems, Aladdin Knowledge Systems and Teletrac (formerly Trafficmaster), Technicolor and Open Solutions. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of SafeNet, Teletrac, RAE Systems and Technicolor and was previously on the Board of Aladdin. He sits on the investment committee of both the private equity funds and the Vector Credit Opportunity Fund. He was named the 2009 Technology Investor of the Year – North America by ACQ Finance Magazine. Prior to joining Vector, Mr. Fishman worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. for 10 years and was a managing director in the Mergers and Acquisitions area, focused primarily on technology and media transactions. Mr. Fishman worked closely with senior management teams to analyze and execute a variety of strategic alternatives, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and leveraged buyouts. In his time at Goldman, he led or participated in more than 30 transactions worth an aggregate value of $120 billion, including transactions involving Microsoft, eBay, Adobe, IBM, Oracle and PeopleSoft. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Mr. Fishman worked at JPMorgan where he was responsible for raising debt financing for the firm’s corporate clients. He has an MBA with Distinction from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.A. with honors in Economics from Duke University | |||
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 | Alex Slusky Alex Slusky is the Founder and Managing Partner of Vector Capital – which acquired RAE Systems in 2011. He joined RAE Systems’ Board of Directors in 2011. Prior to founding Vector Capital in 1997, Mr. Slusky led the technology equity practice at Ziff Brothers Investments, where he managed a portfolio of public and private technology investments. Previously, he was at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) focusing on venture investments in software, communications and digital media. Prior to NEA, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Co. and a product manager at Microsoft Corp. Mr. Slusky also serves on the boards of Cambium Networks, Corel Corporation, SafeNet, WatchGuard Technologies, and Technicolor S.A. Prior to these acquisitions, he was a director of Register.com (acquired by Web.com), Savi Technology (acquired by Lockheed Martin), LANDesk Software (acquired by Avocent) and NetGravity (acquired by DoubleClick). He also serves on the investment committee of the Vector Credit Opportunity Fund. Mr. Slusky’s areas of expertise include infrastructure and applications software, Internet services, corporate spinoffs and technology buyouts. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, summa cum laude from Harvard University, and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) with distinction as a Baker Scholar from the Harvard Business School. | |||
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 | Vic Verma Vic Verma is president of strategic venture development for Lockheed Martin (LM), and joined RAE Systems’ Board of Directors in 2012. At LM, he is responsible for identifying and pursuing opportunities for monetizing existing LM technologies and programs in new commercial markets. Monetization approaches include corporate spinoffs, collaborative technology incubators, IP portfolio licensing and strategic partnerships. Mr. Verma holds eight patents and has won numerous industry accolades, including being named one of 40 “technology pioneers” by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2003. Prior to LM, Mr. Verma was chief executive officer of Savi Technology, Inc., a leader in RFID-based tracking and security solutions and pioneer in managed service offerings. He originally joined the company in 1990 as a design engineer. As president and CEO, he was instrumental in growing the company organically, and through technology acquisition and a strategic joint venture with Hutchison Ports. Lockheed Martin acquired Savi Technology in 2006. Mr. Verma holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from the Florida Institute of Technology (co-valedictorian); a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan; and a Graduate Engineers’ degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He has attended executive management programs at Harvard Business School, Stanford University and UC Berkeley. Most recently he has attended the Stanford Law School Directors’ College, and the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee programs at Harvard Business School. | |||
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Contact RAE Systems
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3775 North First Street
San Jose, CA 95134 USA
Toll Free: 1.877.723.2878
Phone: 408.952.8200
Fax: 408.952.8480
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