ST. LOUIS -- Watlow®, a leading provider of industrial technology and thermal systems, welcomes Shiyi Zhou as its new regional president of Asia. Reporting directly to Rob Gilmore, Watlow’s chief executive officer (CEO), Zhou is responsible for the growth and profitability of Watlow in Asia. He is a member of Watlow’s executive team.

The regional president of Asia is a new and critical role at Watlow, and some of Zhou’s specific responsibilities include the structure, design and execution of the Asia region’s commercial, marketing and customer strategy, including successful growth with Watlow’s customers and sales partners. He will also link local customers’ engineering and supply chain teams in-region with key leadership, technical and manufacturing resources globally to allow for concurrent global growth of key multinational accounts based in the region. Additionally, he will collaborate with Watlow’s business unit leadership on enterprise strategic commercial and technology roadmaps by offering regional “Voice of the Customer” opportunities and will advocate for product innovation necessary to drive regional growth.

Zhou has 28 years of professional experience in both China and the U.S. and extensive sales and marketing experience in multiple industries. He also has proven experience in driving profitable growth by managing full regional and country P&Ls in China and in Asia Pacific.

Before coming to Watlow, Zhou was the vice president of Asia Fire and Security Group in UTC/Carrier Corporation. He also spent 12 years with Eaton Corporation in China, where he held several management roles including China general manager for the Vehicle group, China general manager of the Hydraulics group, commercial director for the vehicle group for Asia Pacific and plant general manager for the Electrical group.

Zhou holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology in China, a master’s degree in computer science from Georgia State University in Atlanta and an MBA from Georgetown University in Washington DC.

Rob Gilmore said, “We are thrilled to have Shiyi as our president of Asia. His experience, knowledge, expertise and background make him very well suited for the role and we are confident that under his leadership, we will grow and better connect with our customers throughout the Asia region.”