Newport Corp., the high-flying Irvine technology-manufacturing equipment maker, is doing the executive shuffle, adding on two new vice presidents and saying goodbye to its chief financial officer.
In a move CEO Robert Deuster called a “disappointment,” 54-year-old Robert Hewitt announced he plans to retire early. Hewitt will leave later this year, and the company has not yet named a replacement.
In the meantime, Dan Petrescu, 48, will join the company as vice president and general manager of Newport’s Fiber Optics and Photonics Division while Mark Edwards, 38, will join as VP and GM of its Vision Metrology Division.
Petrescu comes from Nortel Networks, where he oversaw that company’s manufacturing operations and carrier solutions in Quebec. Edwards was director of the Controls, Measurement and Sensing Division of Wisconsin-based Giddings & Lewis.
Newport’s stock has been on a rampage in recent months, jumping from about $18 per share in October to more than $126 per share last week.
