Telesat Chief Technology Officer David Wendling is retiring at the end of February and the company is adding a Chief Network and Information Officer to its leadership team.
Replacing Wendling as Chief Technology Officer is Michel Forest who most recently served as Vice President of LEO System Engineering at the company.
Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO said, “Michel has a strong track record of leading the development of innovative solutions and delivering exceptional results to optimize the performance, reliability and cost of Telesat’s satellite assets. I have great confidence in Michel’s leadership, expertise and vision in supporting our global customer base and executing on the Telesat Lightspeed program.” Forest will report directly to Goldberg.
Goldberg added in regard to Wendling’s departure, “In his nearly 40-year stellar career with Telesat, Dave has been the driving force of technical innovation at the company, resulting in several satellite industry firsts and the state-of-the-art design of Telesat Lightspeed. All of us at Telesat are deeply grateful for Dave’s outstanding contributions, dedication and leadership.”
The other change is the addition of Asit Tandon to the leadership team as Chief Network and Information Officer.
According to Telesat, “Tandon brings deep expertise from a distinguished career in planning, deploying and operating telecom networks. He was most recently the Vice President of Network Technology at Rogers Communications, where he was responsible for the technology development, design, engineering and operations of wireline access and core networks. Previously, Mr. Tandon held leadership roles in Network Operations at Hutchison-3 Indonesia, Bharti Airtel and Siemens Ltd. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Delhi college of Engineering.”
Telesat added that “Tandon will be responsible for the terrestrial elements of the Telesat Lightspeed network, including Network Operations systems, the Network Operations Center, facilities, program management and customer fulfillment, and network and corporate IT systems.”
On the appointment of Tandon, Goldberg said, “I’m excited to welcome Asit to our senior leadership team, where he will play a crucial role in building and integrating best-in-class technical operations systems and worldwide facilities that will be essential elements of the Telesat Lightspeed network. Asit’s deep expertise and global experience will be invaluable as we execute on our ambitious growth plans.”