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 Comet 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.

Christian Witt

Chief Financial Officer

Born 1971: German citizen; Master’s degree in economics from the Rice University Houston; diploma from the University of Regensburg.

Christian Witt is a seasoned finance professional with 28 years of professional experience in the industrial and technology sector with a strong international background. He has been the CFO of LPKF Laser & Electronics (Hannover) since 2018. During his tenure, he also served as interim CEO in 2021, and worked with the new CEO to expand the semiconductor business. Before joining LPKF, Christian Witt was CFO of independent industrial and technology companies. He had started his career at Baxter Healthcare (USA) and Daimler with assignments in Germany, Spain, and Argentina.

Meike Boekelmann

Chief Human Resources Officer

Born 1976; German citizen; Master's degree in economics and social science from Leuphana University Lüneburg.

Meike Boekelmann brings more than 20 years of experience in leading global HR organizations, in the areas of talent development and employee engagement. In her career, she has shaped HR in companies in the energy, technology, and chemical engineering sectors on an international level.

After launching her career at E.ON in 2001, Meike Boekelmann held various leadership positions at Baker Hughes starting in 2003, including in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the U.A.E.. In 2015, she moved to Switzerland to join Sulzer, where she was appointed Global Head HR Chemtech and member of the Chemtech divisional leadership team in 2017. 

Robert Leindl

Born 1966; German citizen; degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Robert Leindl (1966) brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the semiconductor industry to Comet, demonstrating expertise in managing projects in complex high-tech and engineering environments on a global scale, including M&A and transformation projects. Most recently, Robert Leindl served as the CIO at Infineon Technologies AG, where he shaped digitization and transformation. Prior to that, he also held several senior management positions such as Head of Post-Merger Integration, VP of Corporate Channel Sales, and VP of Operations.

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.

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.