ABB have announced that at the biannual meeting of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) Executive Board held recently in Seoul, Korea, Åke Lindqvist of ABB’s Robotics Division has been unanimously elected as their new President.
Commenting on the election the retiring President, Stefan Müller said “The election of Åke Lindqvist (ABB North America) represents a sensible next step which also reflects the importance of the US market. I would hope to see countries such as China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Russia working together with us in the IFR in the near future, giving them representation in the only world-wide federation for industrial and service robots. In this and all their other undertakings I wish my successor, and the entire IFR Executive Board, every success.”
Åke Lindqvist thanked Stefan Müller for all his tireless and successful efforts during his presidency. “I intend to follow in Stefan Müller’s footsteps by further strengthening the IFR as the most important organization for the world robotics community” commented Åke Lindqvist.
“I will continue to promote the expansion of the world robotics community and to recruit new members, especially in the emerging robot markets. Furthermore, I will continue to improve the quality of the service that the IFR offers its members. I am looking forward to a close and fruitful cooperation with our members, the robot suppliers and integrators, the national associations, and the research institutes.”
The new IFR President is Vice President and member of ABB Robotics Products Global Management Team. He joined ABB Robotics in 1973 just after its start up. After an active role in the acquisition of Cincinnati Milacron’s Robot Division, he managed a part of the merged company from 1991 through 2005.
Having held several international positions, and through his direct involvement in product R&D and market development, Åke Lindqvist has been one of the important individuals developing ABB Robotics into one of the well-known robotics companies in the world.
Åke Lindqvist holds a Master of Science degree from the Royal Technical University in Stockholm Sweden and an MBA in International Business Management.
In addition to his career at ABB, Åke Lindqvist has promoted the robotics industry as past President of the Robotics Industry Association (RIA) in North America, where he still serves on the board of Directors and is currently Chairman of the Statistics Committee.
Åke Lindqvist is Vice Chairman of ATC (Automation Technology Council), the governing board of RIA (Robotics Industry Association), AIA (Automation Imaging Association) and MCA (Motion Control Association).
Before Åke Lindqvist was elected President of IFR, he served as Vice President and Chairman of the IFR Robot Suppliers Group. He further supports Swedish American business relations through the Board of Directors of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce.