David Foulkes named new chief technology officer at Brunswick
Mercury’s vice president of product development will be adding the chief technology officer title to his responsibilities, Brunswick Corp. announced Friday.
David M. Foulkes, has been promoted to the new position of chief technology officer, but also will retain his current responsibilities as vice president – product development, engineering and racing for Mercury Marine, Brunswick’s largest operating segment.
“In this new role, David will work with all of Brunswick’s businesses to ensure that they have a clear view of developing opportunities as well as a roadmap for technology evaluation and deployment to remain at the technological leading edge, and deliver on Brunswick’s product leadership objectives,” Brunswick president and COO Mark D. Schwabero said in a statement.
“David will work with the business presidents and product development leaders to develop and acquire the necessary technical talent to evolve and incorporate key new technologies,” Schwabero said. “He will seek synergies and promote resource sharing across all businesses as needed to enable efficient technology deployment and product program execution. He will also work with the businesses to develop and implement more systematic processes for innovation and product program delivery by forming partnerships and alliances that equip Brunswick with a robust innovation network providing opportunities for early access to new and emerging technologies.”
Foulkes has been with Mercury Marine since 2007 and previously spent 18 years with Ford Motor Company. He previously had also worked with Shell Exploration and the Ministry of Defense, both in the United Kingdom. He has a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and a master’s degree in structural and fluid mechanics from Imperial College in London.
At Mercury, Foulkes has led a major expansion of Mercury’s engineering activity; recruiting a large number of engineers and significantly expanding Mercury’s test and development facilities. He has also been responsible for the delivery of a number of new products, including the 150 horsepower FourStroke outboard, the new 75-115 horsepower outboard platform, the new 250 horsepower gasoline sterndrive engine, and the new line-up of high-speed diesel engines. Foulkes has also been responsible for major enhancements in Mercury’s advanced propulsion control technologies, including the introduction of Mercury’s Joystick Piloting system for outboards, and comprehensive suite of new Mercury helm systems.
Earlier this year, Boating Industry talked to Foulkes about the new sterndrive engine platform. That video appears below.
