Foxborough, MA – November 20, 2020 – ICONICS, Inc., a group company of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, has appointed Yuji Ichioka as the company’s Interim President and CEO. Mr. Ichioka will replace Russell L. Agrusa, the former President and CEO, who recently retired from ICONICS and the company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Agrusa will become an independent business advisor for ICONICS and assist company leadership on various strategic issues. The company is engaging in a search for a new CEO.
Mr. Ichioka has a 25-year tenure with Mitsubishi Electric and has worked extensively with ICONICS products over the last decade. He was appointed as Executive Vice President of ICONICS in August of 2019, working in ICONICS headquarters in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Mr. Ichioka recently served as Deputy General Manager of Factory Automation Systems Department in Nagoya Works of Mitsubishi Electric, responsible for strategic global product planning and development of industrial controllers. In 2011, he served as Senior Director of Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc.’s North American Development Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Ichioka started with Mitsubishi Electric as a software engineer of PLC-based process control systems in Japan, and he has a Master of Engineering Degree from Nagoya University in Japan.
Mr. Agrusa founded ICONICS in 1986 and has managed it as President and CEO until now. Mr. Agrusa’s vision and tenacity pioneered the emerging PC-based automation market with the creation of off-the-shelf HMI and SCADA software for factory automation and grew ICONICS into a world-leading software company for energy, manufacturing, industrial, and building automation. Mr. Agrusa has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an M.S. in Computer Science from Boston University. Born in New York City, Mr. Agrusa’s career began at Westinghouse Electric Corporation and the Foxboro Company. He championed OPC technology, and has greatly contributed to the success of the OPC Foundation (www.opcfoundation.org), with Agrusa himself serving on the foundation’s Board of Directors, and as its marketing chairman.
“We are most excited about the future of ICONICS,” said Yoshikazu Miyata, Executive Officer and Group President of Factory Automation Systems Group at Mitsubishi Electric, “ICONICS is a valuable resource within Mitsubishi Electric Factory Automation Systems Group and its technology is an essential part of Mitsubishi Electric’s global digital transformation. Our vision is to continuously invest in the field of IoT and software, and ICONICS is the focal point in our strategy.”
“Over the years it has been my great privilege to have worked with so many exceptional, dedicated, and creative people at ICONICS,” said Mr. Agrusa. “I am grateful for all their tenacious hard work and long hours, which has elevated ICONICS to one of the world’s leading innovators, developers, and sellers of automation software technology. I look forward to continuing to serve ICONICS as business advisor.”
“Mr. Agrusa’s contributions to the industry and ICONICS cannot be overstated, and we are very pleased to keep him on as an independent business advisor,” said Satoshi Takeda, Vice Group President of Factory Automation Systems Group, Mitsubishi Electric. “Mr. Ichioka’s senior-level experience with ICONICS and Mitsubishi Electric make him the perfect fit as the successor for Mr. Agrusa.”
About ICONICS
ICONICS is headquartered in Foxborough, Massachusetts and is a global software developer of visualization, HMI, SCADA and energy solutions. With over 375,000 installations in over 100 countries worldwide and running in over 70 percent of Global 500 companies, ICONICS software is recommended for automating, monitoring and optimizing a customer’s most critical assets. ICONICS offers competitive software products for various business sectors, such as manufacturing, industrial and building automation, and it possesses advanced technology and remarkable industry leading knowledge in the development of industrial software. ICONICS was named finalist by Microsoft in 2020 as IoT Partner of the Year and has been recognized nine times for a Microsoft Partner of the Year award.
About Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
With nearly 100 years of experience in providing reliable, high-quality products, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) is a recognized world leader in the manufacture, marketing and sales of electrical and electronic equipment used in information processing and communications, space development and satellite communications, consumer electronics, industrial technology, energy, transportation and building equipment. Embracing the spirit of its corporate statement, Changes for the Better, and its environmental statement, Eco Changes, Mitsubishi Electric endeavors to be a global, leading green company, enriching society with technology. The company recorded a revenue of 4,462.5 billion yen (US$ 41.5 billion*) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. For more information visit:
ICONICS Background Information
ICONICS, a longtime Microsoft Gold Partner and six-time Microsoft Partner of the Year award winner, including the Manufacturing, Application Development, and CityNext Partner of the Year, provides solutions to improve productivity, reduce integration time and operating costs, and optimize asset utilization with visualization and automation software. Founded in 1986, ICONICS has 375,000 installations in over 100 countries worldwide. ICONICS meets the demanding application challenges of the automotive, building automation, food and beverage, government infrastructure, manufacturing, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, renewable energy, utilities and water/wastewater industries. As a managed Microsoft ISV Partner, ICONICS designs its solutions to leverage Microsoft technologies, including Windows 10, Windows Server, Microsoft .NET, Microsoft Azure, SQL Server and Microsoft SharePoint.
© 2020 ICONICS, Inc. All rights reserved. AnalytiX and its respective modules are registered trademarks of ICONICS, Inc. GENESIS64, GENESIS32, Hyper Historian, BizViz, PortalWorX, MobileHMI and their respective modules, OPC-To-The-Core, and Visualize Your Enterprise are trademarks of ICONICS, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.