PTC elevates James E. Heppelmann as CEO

BANGALORE, INDIA: The product development company PTC recently announced that James E. Heppelmann, the company's president and chief operating officer, will succeed C. Richard Harrison as its chief executive officer, effective October 1, 2010.

Harrison will become the company's executive chairman, said a press release.

"Jim is a great leader who has already created tremendous value for PTC, its customers, shareholders and employees as a strategic member of the executive team," said Harrison.

"With his background as an engineer, Jim is one of those rare individuals who can understand our customers' business requirements and couple that with a unique vision for the industry, a passion for technology and the leadership qualities to drive the company to deliver solutions that provide measurable business value. I couldn't imagine a better person to lead PTC and leverage the company's momentum."

Heppelmann, 45, joined PTC in 1998 as a senior vice president and was later promoted to executive vice president and chief technical officer in June 2001, and two years later was named executive vice president of the Software and Marketing Group and chief product officer.

"I have tremendous respect and appreciation for Dick. He's built one of the truly great enterprise software companies," said Heppelmann. "PTC has a talented team, superior technology and a winning strategy. We're well positioned to capture the huge opportunity in the market today and achieve our goal of 20 per cent non-GAAP earnings growth. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead a company I believe in so strongly."