Livermore, Calif. — On the 130th anniversary of its founding, Toshiba Corporation, a world leader and pioneer in developing advanced electronics and communications equipment, recently named Ray O’Connor, CEO of Topcon Positioning Systems of Livermore, California, as recipient of Toshiba’s prestigious Business Performance Award.
As the primary shareholder of Topcon Corporation, Toshiba has benefited from the exponential growth of Topcon’s positioning instruments business throughout the world. Among all of its subsidiaries, Topcon Positioning Systems is the most profitable and contributed significantly to Topcon’s dramatic rise in stock value on the Nikkei Stock Index, from $2.15 to more than $25.98 in the past three years (based on current exchange rates).
Each year Toshiba recognizes outstanding performance within its extended company by presenting the special award. This year, for the first time in the 130-year history of Toshiba, the Business Performance Award was presented to a person of non-Japanese descent.
O’Connor received the award in recognition of his “superior leadership and performance” in creating a leading market share for Topcon Precision Positioning products in the world civil engineering and construction markets. Toshiba President and CEO Atsutoshi Nishida presented the award in a recent ceremony at the company headquarters in Tokyo.
“It is indeed an honor to have Ray and Topcon recognized as one of the very best performers in an industry that is renowned for creativity and innovation,” said Topcon Corporation President Koji Suzuki. “This award is also confirmation of the commitment and abilities of our research and development teams around the world.” Suzuki added. Topcon recently celebrated its 73rd anniversary.
“I am happy to have been selected by Toshiba to receive this honor,” O’Connor said. The award, he said, is due to “all of the dedicated and great minds that we have throughout the globe that provides us the ability to create products that are both expanding the applications for our core technologies while propelling their integration to create unique solutions.
“This global integration of resources and technology is enabling Topcon to quickly meet the goals for expanded automation in both construction and agriculture in order to meet the growing demands virtually everywhere in the world.
About Topcon
Topcon Corporation, the parent company of TPS, is located in Tokyo, Japan. As the sole proprietor of optomechatronics—a unique, synergistic blend of optics and electronics technologies—Topcon Corporation introduced a series of innovative and high-precision ophthalmic, medical, surveying and industrial instruments for a wide range of applications. Topcon has more than 300 active patents in the U.S. alone.
Topcon has revenues approaching $1 billion annually and employs more than 3‚000 people worldwide with 14 domestic subsidiaries‚ and 26 overseas sales and manufacturing subsidiaries.
Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc., based in Livermore, California, is the GPS and equipment automation products engineering and manufacturing subsidiary of Topcon Corporation. It is also the sales and marketing headquarters for all Topcon positioning products sold in the Americas. It was originally founded as Topcon Laser Systems in 1995 and through consolidation with the surveying instruments division and the acquisition of a GPS technology company located in San Jose, California, became Topcon Positioning Systems in 2001. It currently has over 500 employees and approximate revenues of $225 million in the current fiscal year.
