Syft Appoints Doug Hastie as CEO

May 9, 2012

For Immediate Release

Syft Appoints Doug Hastie as CEO

Syft announces the appointment of engineer, entrepreneur and Yale MBA Doug Hastie as CEO.

Christchurch’s Syft Technology, the global experts in selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS), has appointed Doug Hastie as CEO, replacing Michael Hawkins who was the Acting CEO for the past two years.

“Syft has invested nine years and $29 million developing the Syft Voice machines”, said Doug, “and end users love them. I’ve just come back from visiting our major customers, and not only did they fill our production quota for the next few months, but they also told us that their own business and demand from us is getting stronger and stronger. The product is still relatively unknown, but as users are becoming aware of the benefits of this technology the market is developing. It seems that the time for Syft is arriving, and driven by steadily increasing demand from a variety of customers and markets.”

The Syft Voice 200 is used for a variety of purposes, including detecting toxic chemicals in shipping containers. While chemicals are present in 10-30% of containers arriving in ports, analysis and safe defumigation by customs agencies, logistics and receiving companies are rarely done before workers enter. The Voice 200 is also used for medical research, in labs and universities, for air quality testing, food and flavour, oil services and is even being tested in silicon chip manufacturing.

Chair of Syft, Ruth Richardson, welcomed Doug’s pedigree and energy. “We conducted a wide ranging search, and were delighted to be able to retain Doug. He brings a mix of international experience, financial rigour and front line sales experience. Doug has strong sales DNA and as an entrepreneur himself he really understands what it takes to relaunch Syf. He is already building our future.”

Once the darling of the technology press, Syft struggled for years to captalise on early sales of the Syft MS device. However Hastie sees that tenacity as astrength, saying “I’m deeply impressed at the quality of the staff and their resilience during these tough times. Our future looks very bright now, but only because they stuck by and adapted in the last few years.

Doug qualified as a civil engineer, working in senior roles on a variety of projects, including the Channel Tunnel and Euro Disney. He completed an MBA at Yale University in 2000, before spending two years in New York at Goldman Sachs. He returned to New Zealand in 2003, starting a tea company, Chanui, and providing management consulting advice to a number of leading New Zealand andinternational companies.

Ends.

© Scoop Media