ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (Cambridge, ON) announces the death of Klaus Woerner, founder, president and chief executive officer of the company, following a battle with cancer. Woerner was 65 years old.

"Klaus was a gifted engineer, entrepreneur and business leader who made a significant and lasting contribution to the global automation industry, to the thousands of engineers and trades people around the world who benefited from his commitment to apprenticeship training," Lawrence G. Tapp, non-executive chairman of the board of ATS, says.

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. is a designer and producer of turnkey automated manufacturing and test systems as well as precision components and sub-assemblies.

Dr. Agostino Abbate, vice president of technology at Panametrics-NDT, A Business of R/D Tech Instruments Inc. (Waltham, MA), has passed away. Abbate joined the nondestructive testing company in 1999 as a staff scientist. He became vice president of technology in 2004. During his tenure at Panametrics-NDT, Abbate was instrumental in the development of many technologically advanced ultrasonic testing products, including the 25Multi Plus multi-barrier thickness gage, the MG2 series thickness gages and the Epoch 4Plus and Epoch LT flaw detectors.