Nautel Ltd., the Nova Scotia-based maker of AM and FM radio transmitters, has promoted Philipp Schmid to Chief Technology Officer.

Nautel said Schmid was most recently leader of the company’s digital systems team. In his new role, he will lead research teams in the development of new technologies for broadcast, navigation, sonar and high-power RF applications.

Schmid will remain active in select engineering projects and will also continue his industry role as a voice for the advancement of digital transmission technologies, said the company.

“Philipp has been instrumental in the development of Nautel’s industry-leading HD and DRM+ technologies,” said Nautel CEO Kevin Rodgers in the statement. “This new role both recognizes his contribution to Nautel and positions Nautel and Philipp to continue to lead the industry in digital radio technologies as they are adopted globally.”

Based in Hackett’s Cove, just south of Halifax, Nautel is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of AM and FM radio broadcast transmitters. More than 16,000 Nautel transmitters have been deployed in over 177 countries.

Schmid, who has been with Nautel for 14 years, holds a Masters of Engineering degree and has earned several patents. He was recognized in 2017 by the National Association of Broadcasters for “best paper” at the Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference. The award-winning presentation covered research on single frequency networks for HD radio.