Stephan Haferl

Chief Executive Officer

Born 1972, Swiss and Norwegian citizen; Master's degree in mechanical and process engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, PhD with work on thermodynamics and fluid dynamics.

Stephan Haferl has been working for the Comet Group successfully in various management positions since 2007. His strong track record includes proven performance in business development, innovation, technology, and product management, among other areas.

Before, he held the positions of General Manager at Bartec-Meta Physics SA and Chief Operating Officer at Bartec Bacab SA.

Elisabeth Pataki

Chief Finance Officer

Born 1981; American citizen; Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Spanish (Boston College, USA); Master of Business Administration (University of Pennsylvania, USA)

Elisabeth Pataki has more than 17 years of experience as a finance expert in international companies. She began her career at Raytheon Technologies, a major U.S. aerospace and defense contractor, where she held positions of increasing responsibility in various divisions and locations. In 2008, Elisabeth Pataki became CFO for the Paris based NATO Business Line, part of the joint venture between Thales Group and Raytheon. In 2015 she joined EF Education First, a leading provider of educational travel and language training, first as CFO North America before assuming the role of Global Head of Internal Audit at the Zurich headquarters in 2019.

André Grede

Born 1979; German citizen; graduated in electrical engineering (Diplom-Ingenieur) with a specialization in high frequency technology from the Berlin Institute of Technology, Germany.

André Grede started his career in 2006 as a research associate at the chair of Electrodynamics at the Berlin Institute of Technology. In 2011 he joined TRUMPF Hüttinger in Freiburg, Germany, as a Team Leader in R&D. After several years in the role as Head of the RF Product Development Group, he joined Comet in 2015 as Vice President Global R&D and Technology for the division Plasma Control Technologies. In this position, André Grede was responsible for the overall technology and product
roadmap for radiofrequency (RF) subsystems.

Keighley Peters

Born 1971; British citizen; Master of Science in Information Technologies; various IT-related key certificates

Keighley Peters brings an impressive track record of strategic and operational leadership of a global IT organization as well as in the area of digital transformation of a global enterprise.

As Senior Director of Global IT since 2011, Keighley Peters has been responsible for the global IT strategy and its implementation at SPTS Technologies, a leading provider of wafer processing solutions for the specialty semiconductor device market, now part of KLA.

Prior to that, the Briton held interim CIO roles, gained valuable experience as IT Services Associate Director, Global IT for UK-based Cenduit Ltd, and worked as an IT consultant for the pharmaceutical, insurance and IT services industry.

Joeri Durinckx

Born 1979, Belgian citizen; Master's degree in Megatronics from the Group T International School, Leuven

Joeri Durinckx brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the semiconductor and display industry.

He gained his first experience as Startup Engineer at Applied Films, which later got acquired by Applied Materials, one of the world's leading manufacturers of equipment for the semiconductor and display industry before moving to a Marketing & Sales management position. After a short stint at SPX Radiodetection in 2006 Joeri Durinckx continued his career at Applied Materials in Belgium, where he held various management positions until he joined in 2019 Kulicke & Soffa Netherlands BV, a leading global semiconductor equipment manufacturer, as Vice President of two business units: Electronics Assembly/Advanced Packaging Mass Reflow and Lithography business units.

Dionys van de Ven

President Industrial X-Ray Systems

Born 1968, Dutch citizen; Master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven

Before joining Comet in 2022, Dionys van de Ven has led Waygate Technologies’ x-ray business unit (part of Baker Hughes) as the unit’s Business Executive since 2020. In addition, he has been serving as Managing Director of Baker Hughes Digital Solutions GmbH and member of the board of management of GE Inspection Robotics.

Dionys van de Ven began his career at Philips Assembléon in 1997. In 2005 he became Director of Customer Relationship Management at Philips Applied Technologies and, in 2007, Senior Director of Customer Programs, Service and R&D at Philips Healthcare. In 2017, he joined Waygate Technologies.

Michael Berger

President Industrial X-Ray Modules

Born 1973; Swiss citizen; Executive Master of Marketing Management from the University of Applied Sciences (BFH)

Michael Berger joined Comet’s Industrial X-Ray Technology business unit as Production Manager in 2013. Since 2018 Michael Berger has led Comet’s Industrial X-Ray Modules Operations, Engineering and Supply Chain as Vice President of Operations.

He began his career as production engineer at BAND-Cooperative, where he became manager of the production department and deputy of the plant manager in 2003. In 2005 he became co-owner, production manager and member of the executive committee at Teltronic AG and between 2007 and 2012 he served as its President of the Board of Directors.