Itzhak Nissan is an Israeli engineer and business executive who is the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Meteor Aerospace Ltd., a privately owned

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

defense and security company that Nissan founded.

Formal education

Nissan holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in

Electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

and Radar Engineering, both with honours, from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Career at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)

Nissan joined

Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Aerospace Industries (Hebrew: התעשייה האווירית לישראל ''ha-ta'asiya ha-avirit le-yisra'el'') or IAI (תע"א) is Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both mi ...

Ltd. in 1978 as a

systems engineer Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles. At its core, systems engineering utilizes systems thinking p ...

. Nissan's notable accomplishments included conception and development of a leading weapon system for the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

and initiation of special programs in cooperation with other countries. In 1995, Nissan was appointed as general manager of IAI's MBT Division, which was IAI's engineering and development house for

missiles In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

, precision weapons, naval systems, and leader of all of Israel's space programs. In 2002, Nissan was appointed as corporate vice president and general manager of IAI's Systems Missiles and Space Group. In January 2006, Nissan was appointed as president and chief executive officer of IAI. Nissan led major changes in the company's culture and business orientation, adjusting its workforce structure and introducing the company to the

Tel-Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...

with bonds issuing. ''Globes business'' newspaper described Nissan as “a respected manager credited with winning huge deals for IAI”. Nissan left IAI with an all-time high record of orders backlog, totalling nearly $10 billion.

Chairman and CEO at Meteor Aerospace Ltd.

In 2013, Nissan and

Hezi Bezalel Hezi Bezalel (born 1951) is an Israeli businessman. He is active mostly in Israel, the US, Britain, India, and various countries in Africa. He serves as the Honorary Consul of Rwanda in Israel. Biography Bezalel was born in Basra, Iraq and move ...

founded a privately owned defense and Home Land Security (HLS) company – Meteor Aerospace Ltd. Meteor Aerospace develops and manufactures a range of defense solutions, and it develops new unmanned systems for air, ground and sea. Meteor has developed

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

(UAV) systems, manned or unmanned surface vessels (USV), and robotic ground vehicles.

Honours and awards

* 2001 – Award for Extraordinary Achievements from

Manufacturers Association of Israel The Manufacturers’ Association of Israel (MAI) (Hebrew: התאחדות התעשיינים בישראל) is the umbrella organization and representative body of all industrial sectors in Israel including the private, public, kibbutz, and governme ...

* 2008 – High Tech Manager of the Year award from Israel Management Association * 2009 – Selected by D&B as one of the most prominent Israeli business leaders * 2012 – Honorary Doctorate from the Technion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nissan, Itzhak Israeli chief executives University of Washington College of Engineering alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)