Jim Barnhart appointed Chief Operating Officer of Velodyne Lidar

Velodyne Lidar, Inc. has announced that it has appointed James L. Barnhart as Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately.

Mr. Barnhart brings to Velodyne Lidar more than 30 years of experience and has a proven track record of manufacturing operations leadership, most recently serving as Senior Vice President, Operations at Nanometrics Inc. As COO of Velodyne, he will be responsible for leading Velodyne's world-class operations, supply chain, manufacturing and partner relations. Mr. Barnhart will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Dr. Anand Gopalan.

“The addition of Jim Barnhart, an accomplished industry veteran, as COO significantly bolsters our executive team and further advances Velodyne Lidar's global manufacturing leadership,” said Dr. Gopalan. “With a wealth of experience in semi-conductor technology, we are confident Jim will be a key leader as we scale our breakthrough automated micro lidar array manufacturing operations in San Jose and with partners worldwide. I am excited to drive Velodyne's next phase of growth with this leadership team as we work relentlessly to deliver on our promise to provide revolutionary sensor and software solutions that advance safer mobility for all.”

“Anand and the Velodyne Lidar team are among the best in the business,” said Mr. Barnhart. “I look forward to hitting the ground running as COO and helping to build on already strong momentum as we execute against our strategy to serve customers with lidar technology at scale and meet the needs of a wide range of industries.”