Erna L. Grasz

As an experienced executive of more than 18 years, Erna Grasz has led organizations, teams and individuals to success in fast paced, high stress, and results-orientated high-tech environments. She is known as an organizer of chaos and a "turn-around" leader.  Her experience spans the rapid time to market corporate environment  to the highly rigorous government defense R&D environment.

Erna is currently the Vice President of Research & Development for Tyco Healthcare – Nellcor Business Unit. Nellcor R&D is based in Pleasanton and Athlone, Ireland. At Nellcor, the technical focus is embedded controls, adhesives, materials, NIR, spectroscopy, and system technologies supporting oximetry, and airway products. 

Prior to moving to Tyco Healthcare Erna was as a Vice President and General Manager at KLA-Tencor, a semiconductor capital equipment company. Erna managed the Automation Business Unit.  Through strategic planning, product positioning and time to market improvements she turned around a low-morale, non-responsive, organization to a competitive, results-focused stand-alone business, responsible for over $130M  in sales.

Erna started her career and spent 15 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), a national defense laboratory. Erna was a critical member of the Year 2020 Defense Strategy Planning team personally chosen by the CEO-President. Because of her breadth and depth of technical knowledge she represented the US State Dept. as a Science Advisor to Russia and the Ukraine. Large programs included building class 100 clean rooms for automated optics assembly, delivering mobile remote vehicles for Chernobyl remediation, and deployed numerous robot systems for land mine discovery, radioactive waste handling, and bomb removal. She has intimate hands on knowledge of the rigorous government standards and how to adhere/comply without it becoming a bureaucracy.

She has extensive technical knowledge in complex systems, intelligent controls, automation, and program management. To date she is internationally published on technical and business results, project management and leadership development including Institute of the Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), SEMI, and Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and several technical journals and magazines.

Erna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University and a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Engineering Management from Santa Clara University.   

Erna L. Grasz

925-367-5586