[SatNews]Martin Van Schaik has been appointed as Senior Vice President, Sales, at Thales Alenia Space, effective March 3, 2014.

Thales Alenia Space' new Senior Vice President of Sales, Martin Van Schaik.

Martin Van Schaik started his career in 1986 as a systems engineer for Thales in the Netherlands. From 1990 to 2000, he successively held the positions of deputy program manager, sales-engineer program manager, head of sales and contracts and then director of radar development. In 2000, Martin Van Schaik was named Vice President in charge of Naval Combat Systems activities for Thales in the Netherlands. In 2003, he moved to France and was named head of the Battlespace Transformation Centre, which forms the backbone of the Group's work on Network-enabled capability. Four years later, Martin Van Schaik was appointed Vice President of the Missile Defence activity at ThalesRaytheonSystems. From 2010 until this latest appointment, he was head of both the Above Water Systems international business line, and the Naval Combat Systems activities for Thales in the Netherlands.

Martin Van Schaik holds a degree in electronic engineering and business administration from the University of Twente in the Netherlands.