Jobs/Appointments
Velodyne Lidar Promotes Rick Tewell to Chief Operating Officer
By Dipo Olowookere
Silicon Valley-based LiDAR technology company, Velodyne Lidar, has announced the promotion of Mr Rick Tewell to Chief Operating Officer.
Mr Tewell assumes leadership of the company’s vast manufacturing efforts at its Megafactory in San Jose, California.
He joined the company in September 2017 as Senior Vice President of Automated Manufacturing and was promoted to Chief Advanced Manufacturing Officer prior to the promotion to COO.
He brings a wealth of expertise to the day-to-day production of Velodyne’s industry-leading lidar sensor product line.
According to Marta Hall, Velodyne’s President and Chief Business Development Officer, Velodyne “recruited Rick Tewell to manage Robotics and Advanced Technology, and within a year it was clear he could lead Operations as COO.
“Velodyne Lidar is at the extreme edge of high tech, and Rick meets the challenge with da Vinci-like multiple talents. In the last three months Rick upgraded the entire Velodyne Megafactory with robotics and newly designed innovative processes for production. As COO he brings a futuristic vision and fresh energy to the operations of the company.”
“My main responsibility,” said Mr Tewell, “is to take a design that came from the mind of a genius, David Hall [Velodyne’s Founder and CEO], and make it into a product worthy of the Velodyne name. I work with David and Anand [Gopalan, Velodyne’s Chief Technology Officer] to translate these wonderful designs that have the ability to change the world into something that is manufacturable and then ramp production to meet the demand. To take an invention from Dave Hall and turn it into a manufacturable product is a huge responsibility and one that I take very seriously. It’s an incredible opportunity. I get out of bed excited to go to work, and I go to bed thinking about it.”
According to Mr Tewell, the job of Chief Operating Officer at Velodyne is unlike any other. Between designing and manufacturing the highest quality sensors on the market comes the equally challenging task of inventing and building the machines that then build the sensors.
“For our sensors to be able to see so far and produce incredibly accurate data for autonomous vehicles to use, we have to employ incredibly precise processes, which include utilizing robotics and automation. So we need to also invent the machines that will build our sensors.” Given the uniqueness of Velodyne’s products, Mr Tewell pointed out that he must address the complex processes of “taking something that’s never been invented or built before and building tens of thousands — hundreds of thousands — millions of them. It is a whole series of inventions to produce the sensor invention. So, it is not just the genius of the lidar itself; it’s the genius of saying, ‘This is what you are going to need to invent in order to manufacture the sensor.’”
Before coming to Velodyne, Mr Tewell established a successful career in the automotive semiconductor industry, including stops at Fujitsu and NVIDIA.
Rick remembers, “The idea that cars eventually would be robots emerged while Dave Hall was participating in the DARPA Grand Challenge. At NVIDIA we were creating the brains that would be used in self-driving cars.”
Mr Tewell’s interest and experience in developing key technologies for autonomous mobility grew over the years. Finally, Tewell decided to join Velodyne with the clear realization that he would be “aligning with a company that will be one of, if not the, principal company in the self-driving industry.”
Mr Tewell recognizes the essential role Velodyne’s products have in enabling safe mobility at scale. “We are working hard to meet the next wave of demand for sensors to put on autonomous vehicles. Scaling up will drive the cost down to where the price is attractive to all customers. But we will never compromise on quality. It is critical from an operations standpoint that our product will ultimately impact someone’s life. This realization needs to permeate every aspect of what we do. This is not a piece of technology that is going to stay in a box. When you put a sensor on a car the person in that car is trusting that technology to keep them safe.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Limited, Mr Fola Adeola, has been appointed by President Bola Tinubu as chairman of the newly formed Presidential Petroleum Reform and Value Optimisation task force.
The team has Mofoluwasho Fadayomi as secretary, while the members are Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Osagie Okunbor, Abubakar Suleiman, Adaeze Aguele, Farouk Gumel, Phillipa Osakwe-Okoye and Seyi Bella.
A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Friday disclosed that the task force would be responsible for the next phase of structural reforms in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
The initiative, the statement said, reflects the President’s commitment to transforming Nigeria’s petroleum industry into a more competitive, transparent, and value-maximising sector capable of driving long-term economic growth, macroeconomic resilience, and industrial development.
It will operate as a technical reform body rather than a representative committee, engaging industry operators, regulators, investors, and civil society as consultees while focusing on actionable policy design and implementation strategies.
The task force will report directly to Mr Tinubu and provide monthly progress memoranda. An interim report will be submitted after three months, while the final outputs are expected within six months of inauguration, and he expects the team to deliver three major reform blueprints.
One of the deliverables is the Implementation Toolkit for Immediate Structural Fixes – including draft legislative amendments, executive instruments, and institutional restructuring proposals.
The second deliverable is the Capital & Liquidity Acceleration Blueprint, aimed at unlocking $5–10 billion in sectoral liquidity while safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereign interests.
The third blueprint will focus on the National Energy Transformation Strategy – a ten-year roadmap with measurable targets for production, foreign exchange earnings, GDP contribution, and cost competitiveness.
As constituted, the taskforce is a time-bound, high-level executive working group tasked with producing execution-ready reform blueprints that will consolidate ongoing reforms, unlock capital within the petroleum sector, and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a leading global energy investment destination. It will automatically dissolve upon submission and acceptance of its final report.
President Tinubu has directed all Ministries, Departments, Agencies, regulators, and relevant institutions to provide full technical support to the Taskforce and to submit inventories of ongoing initiatives to ensure alignment with the emerging reform framework.
In furtherance of this directive, he has also directed all existing committees, teams, and working groups established under various reform initiatives within the sector to align their activities, reporting structures, and work programmes with the new taskforce.
The streamlining will ensure coordination, avoid duplication of mandates, and provide institutional clarity, thereby ensuring coherence in the petroleum sector reform architecture.
Mr Tinubu has also directed that all relevant documentation, institutional knowledge, and ongoing workstreams should be made available to the task force to support the development and implementation of its comprehensive reform framework.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The appointment of Mr Wilson Agu to the board of Wema Bank Plc as an independent non-executive director has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a statement signed by the company secretary, Mr Johnson Lebile, it was disclosed that the appointment became effective on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.
The board welcomed Mr Agu into its fold, noting that it “looks forward to the valuable contributions his extensive experience in engineering, technology, and project development will bring to the bank.”
The new board member is a distinguished polymath and serial entrepreneur with over 35 years of professional experience spanning engineering consultancy, information technology, cybersecurity, and business development.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil/Structural Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1990. His engineering career includes notable leadership roles, particularly as Partner and Resident Engineer at Project Development Consortium (PDC) between 1993 and 2007, where he managed major projects, including the structural design for Orient Bank and the National Maritime Resource Centre.
In 2000, he founded I-Sixty Nigeria Limited, a diversified enterprise that has delivered several landmark projects, including the NIMASA Maritime Museum, the Nigerian Navy Dockyard Museum, and the beautification of eleven renovated airports across Nigeria.
Mr Agu has also contributed significantly to Nigeria’s technology governance ecosystem, especially during his service on the Governing Board of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) from 2013 to 2015, where he chaired the Committee on Standards, Guidelines and Regulations and supported the implementation of the National IT Policy and COBIT 5 framework.
He later collaborated with Precise Financial Systems (2018–2020) on banking automation solutions. He currently leads Eagle Industrial and Energy Limited, focused on industrial parks and free trade zone infrastructure, including the Enugu Tech Market project.
In recognition of his contributions to corporate and public administration, he was awarded a Professional Fellowship Doctorate (PFD) by the Institute of Corporate and Public Administration of Nigeria in 2021. He is also a member of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON).
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the most reputable rating agencies in Africa, GCR Ratings, has appointed Mr Saul Sassoon as its interim group chief executive.
In a statement on Friday, it was disclosed that Mr Sassoon will be in charge of the organisation after the exit of Mr Marc Joffe at the end of this month.
Mr Joffe is stepping down from the role after 25 years with the company, having joined GCR in 2001.
Over the past two decades, he has overseen the firm’s transformation into Africa’s leading credit rating agency, recognised for its deep market expertise and commitment to strengthening financial markets across the continent.
His tenure included landmark achievements such as the sale of GCR to Moody’s Corporation, positioning the company for sustainable long-term growth across Africa.
“Leading GCR Ratings has been a privilege. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved as a truly pan-African rating agency.
“I step down with profound gratitude, respect, and lasting appreciation for the trust, support, and collaboration of colleagues and stakeholders throughout this journey, and am confident in GCR’s future,” he stated.
The board thanked him for his exceptional leadership and vision, noting his role in building GCR’s reputation as the undisputed leader in African credit ratings.
It also welcomed the interim CEO into his new role, expressing confidence in his ability to guide the organisation through this transition period.
Mr Sassoon, who before his appointment served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the organisation, is expected to drive GCR’s growth, extensive capital markets expertise, and deep relationships with its customers and investors during this transition period.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn