A Conversation with Dorine Gurney, New President of Polar Instruments

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Dorine Gurney has recently been named president of Polar Instruments. With a 30-year resume that includes management positions at Mentor Graphics, Lattice Semiconductor and Tektronix, she takes the reins as Ken Taylor heads into retirement. I caught up with Dorine at DesignCon 2018 in Santa Clara, California.

Andy Shaughnessy: Dorine, you’re the new leader of Polar Instruments. Welcome! Tell us a little bit about your background.

Dorine Gurney: I am coming with both test & measurement and IC design backgrounds. All combined, I have about 30 years of experience in the high-tech industry; I’ve managed IC designers, software engineers, and product managers. I enjoy technology and am always fascinated by the power of the infinitely small. I have degrees in electronics materials, electrical engineering and international marketing. I studied both in France and in the United States. I moved to Portland, Oregon about 20 years ago.

Shaughnessy: What are your responsibilities at Polar? And how do you like the job so far?

Gurney: At Polar Instruments, I run the North America Sales and Support Office, also known as Polar Instruments Inc. My charter is to sell and support Polar Instruments signal integrity modelling, documentation, and measurement products for the PCB fabrication industry and the associated electronics design supply chain. My focus is to continue fostering long-term customer relationships. However, I have only been in the job for about a month now, so my first priorities are learning the “Polar way” (our people, the value they bring to the company, our products, our processes) as well as our customers, how we work with them and how we help them.  And DesignCon has proved, just as my new colleagues had predicted, an excellent opportunity to meet both the new and potential customers.

Shaughnessy: You have quite a varied background. What are your impressions of the PCB industry overall?

Gurney: PCB design and fabrication is a new world for me, with a new language, new materials and new challenges.  It is very interesting to see how the various parties in the PCB industry work together. And it’s fascinating to see how Polar’s family of software and hardware tools touch all of them:  suppliers, designers, and PCB manufacturers. Ultimately, without a tight relationship between these parties, reliable electronic end-products wouldn’t be possible.  Finally, looking at growth opportunities and trends, I am not surprised to find out that the PCB industry is driven by the same type of end-products and applications as the ones driving test & measurement, such as 5G, networking, military and automotive applications.

Shaughnessy: What changes do you envision bringing to Polar?

Gurney: Polar has evolved to its present position as a result of many years of extensive experience gained by listening at our customers in an industry that is new to me.  So, I don’t presume to bring “change,” per se. I’m joining a team of experienced contributors and innovators, and I hope and expect to offer some innovative contributions of my own. The team, as a whole, will develop and introduce any resulting changes.

Shaughnessy: Thanks for your time, and welcome.

Gurney: Thank you, Andy.

Visit I-007eBooks to download your copies of Polar Instruments micro eBooks today:

The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to…Secrets of High-Speed PCBs, Part 1

The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to…Secrets of High-Speed PCBs, Part 2