AeroVironment‘s board of directors has chosen Chief Operating Officer and President Wahid Nawabi to succeed Tim Conver as CEO of the Simi Valley, California-based unmanned aircraft systems maker from May 2.
Conver, who has led the company since 1992, will continue to serve as chairman of the board after he retires from the chief executive post, AeroVironment said Monday.
“Throughout his tenure at AeroVironment, Wahid has demonstrated exceptional leadership in complex and broad management roles while executing our strategy and generating value for our customers, ” Conver noted.
Conver has led AeroVironment as CEO since 1992 and the company has since grown its annual revenue from $10 million to $259 million, while he also oversaw the company’s January 2007 initial public offering.
Nawabi came to the company in 2011 as senior vice president and general manager of its efficient energy systems unit and later oversaw the creation of a single shared-services structure for AeroVironment’s EES and UAS segments.
He took on the COO role in April 2015 and added the president title earlier this year.
Prior to AeroVironment, he led the enterprise and data center business of power management technology firm APC and has held positions at multiple companies that produce industrial and electrical equipment and clean technology.
