BOTHELL, WA, July 30, 2002 - Sonosite, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) today announced that, effective August 5, Jens U. Quistgaard, Ph.D., Sonosite's chief product and strategy officer, will leave the Company to become the president and chief executive officer of LipoSonix, Inc., a private company based in the Seattle area.
LipoSonix is developing medical devices for cosmetic surgery applications and is not a Sonosite competitor. "Jens has been with Sonosite since the beginning when we were the Handheld Systems Business Group at ATL Ultrasound five years ago," said Kevin M. Goodwin, Sonosite's president and CEO.
"Under his leadership, our product development and marketing groups have delivered ground-breaking products and strong market progress. Jens deserves an opportunity like this, and we wish him the best. "Blake Little, vice president of engineering, will become the Company's senior engineering officer and technology spokesperson," Goodwin continued. "Blake has been instrumental in the development and release of all of Sonosite's products, including our newest product line that we will be launching in the next several weeks.
Blake will continue to oversee engineering operations for the Company, and will report directly to me, as will Juin-Jet Hwang, Ph.D., our chief technology officer. With Blake and Juin-Jet -- both with Sonosite since the beginning -- we are fortunate to have a strong engineering management team, and we are well-positioned to maintain our leadership advantage." "When we began this enterprise, we had a vision of an "ultrasonic stethoscope,"" said Jens Quistgaard, Ph.D. "It has been gratifying to work with such a talented group of people to bring this vision to fruition with Sonosite's upcoming new product platform. Now I am moving on to new challenges as the CEO of LipoSonix, which will give me a great opportunity to expand my abilities and take on a larger leadership role."
About Sonosite
Sonosite, Inc. (www.sonosite.com) is the innovator and world leader in hand-carried ultrasound, with an installed base of more than 20,000 systems. The Company, headquartered near Seattle, Washington is represented by eight subsidiaries and a global distribution netwok in over 75 countries. Sonosite's small, lightweight systems are expanding the use of ultrasound across the clinical spectrum by cost-effectively bringing high performance ultrasound to the point of patient care. The Company employs approximately 450 people worldwide.
LipoSonix is developing medical devices for cosmetic surgery applications and is not a Sonosite competitor. "Jens has been with Sonosite since the beginning when we were the Handheld Systems Business Group at ATL Ultrasound five years ago," said Kevin M. Goodwin, Sonosite's president and CEO.
"Under his leadership, our product development and marketing groups have delivered ground-breaking products and strong market progress. Jens deserves an opportunity like this, and we wish him the best. "Blake Little, vice president of engineering, will become the Company's senior engineering officer and technology spokesperson," Goodwin continued. "Blake has been instrumental in the development and release of all of Sonosite's products, including our newest product line that we will be launching in the next several weeks.
Blake will continue to oversee engineering operations for the Company, and will report directly to me, as will Juin-Jet Hwang, Ph.D., our chief technology officer. With Blake and Juin-Jet -- both with Sonosite since the beginning -- we are fortunate to have a strong engineering management team, and we are well-positioned to maintain our leadership advantage." "When we began this enterprise, we had a vision of an "ultrasonic stethoscope,"" said Jens Quistgaard, Ph.D. "It has been gratifying to work with such a talented group of people to bring this vision to fruition with Sonosite's upcoming new product platform. Now I am moving on to new challenges as the CEO of LipoSonix, which will give me a great opportunity to expand my abilities and take on a larger leadership role."
About Sonosite
Sonosite, Inc. (www.sonosite.com) is the innovator and world leader in hand-carried ultrasound, with an installed base of more than 20,000 systems. The Company, headquartered near Seattle, Washington is represented by eight subsidiaries and a global distribution netwok in over 75 countries. Sonosite's small, lightweight systems are expanding the use of ultrasound across the clinical spectrum by cost-effectively bringing high performance ultrasound to the point of patient care. The Company employs approximately 450 people worldwide.