SAN JOSE, CA – JAI Group, a worldwide provider of camera solutions for industrial, scientific, medical, traffic, homeland security and other applications, has announced that longtime Asia-Pacific sales director Masao “Mac” Watabe has been appointed chief executive officer for JAI Ltd., Japan. Watabe assumes the position that was formerly held by Takami Hasegawa. JAI announced that Hasegawa will now resume the position of chief technology officer for JAI Ltd., Japan, enabling him to focus exclusively on the company’s R&D and engineering efforts.

Watabe will oversee all aspects of JAI’s Japanese subsidiary, which includes the JAI Group’s largest manufacturing and engineering operations, as well as the company’s Asia-Pacific sales organization.

“We are pleased to have such an outstanding manager as Mr. Watabe available to step into this key position,” says Jørgen Andersen, founder and chairman of the JAI Group. “Mac has successfully built a strong sales organization for JAI in Japan and Asia, and we look forward to him applying his knowledge, experience, and leadership skills to the entire Japan operation. I am confident in his ability to build upon the high standard of performance set by Hasegawa over the past 13 years.”

JAI manufactures industrial-grade cameras for the machine vision, transportation, aerospace, homeland security, medical and scientific markets. Camera offerings include a wide range of spatial resolutions with both digital and analog interfaces, plus a range of innovative 2-charge-coupled-device (CCD) and 3CCD prism-block cameras for demanding color, multi-spectral, and high-dynamic range applications.

Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, JAI has subsidiaries in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. The JAI Group has annual sales of more than $50 million and employs 220 people worldwide.