CN, Wabtec name new technology executives

CN yesterday announced it has hired Dominique Malenfant to serve as executive vice president and chief information and technology officer, effective Sept. 1.

Malenfant will lead the development and deployment of advanced technologies and digitalization to improve inspection reliability, provide data analytics, generate automation, and drive capacity and safety, CN officials said in a press release.

Prior to his appointment, Malenfant spent nearly 30 years in global leadership roles in the transportation and rail industries. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of engineering and chief technology officer at Wabtec Corp.

During his tenure at Wabtec as well as at GE Transportation, Malenfant focused on the next generation of precision scheduled railroading and positive train control technologies.

"Dominique spent his career building innovative products to improve efficiencies and safety in the transportation and rail industries, and has extensive operational experience," said CN President and Chief Executive Officer JJ Ruest. "He will join our strong bench of seasoned leaders to advance CN's strategy of enhancing our scheduled railroading through technology, while continuing to provide our essential transportation services to our customers, the economy and the communities we serve."

Meanwhile, Wabtec announced yesterday it appointed Eric Gebhardt to succeed Malenfant as executive VP and CTO. Gebhardt has more than 30 years of experience in power generation, battery storage, renewables and distributed power, Wabtec officials said in a press release.

Gebhardt, who will join Wabtec on Sept. 14, most recently was managing director of KCK-US, an investment firm focused on the energy, life science and industrial sectors. Prior to that, he spent nearly 30 years with General Electric in various global and engineering and leadership roles in which he was responsible for the strategic direction for product and portfolio development.