, a leader in many diversified markets with a focus on infrastructure, construction and cybersecurity, has appointed Dr Rida Hamza as its new vice president for business development (Critical Infrastructure Protection).

In his role, Dr Hamza will be responsible for international growth and operational excellence in critical infrastructure protection and large-scale physical and cyber security project delivery, with focus in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, as well as other high-growth regions, said a statement from the company.

He brings extensive experience in leadership and security. Dr Hamza was earlier the head of civil business at Thales.

Prior to the Thales' role, he was general manager at Honeywell Security Group in the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region and had been a key technical contributor for several integrated security solutions and leading industrial, government, and commercial contracts.

Welcoming him into the fold, Carey Smith, Parsons federal president, said: "The need for cyber and physical security continues to increase, and Parsons provides full-spectrum security solutions to customers around the globe." "

Gary Adams, Parsons MEA president, said: “We are very excited to welcome Rida on board. His valuable, hands-on experience across all sales operational areas and execution strategies will help expand Parsons’ ability to deliver information and critical infrastructure protection.”

Dr Hamza holds both a Management of Technology MBA and a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota in the US, said the statement from Parson.

He is an alumnus member of the Development of Technological Leadership Network at the University of Minnesota and an active member of the advisory board for the American University in the UAE on the Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering Graduate Program, it added.

Dr Hamza is also the author and co-author of several engineering books and video and signal analytics papers, and holds more than 48 US and international patents in support of physical security, video analytics, and biometrics technology and innovations.-TradeArabia News Service