CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO-ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. founder, president and CEO Klaus Woerner died Feb. 7, following a long battle with cancer. He was 65.

"Klaus was a gifted engineer, entrepreneur and business leader who made a significant and lasting contribution to the global automation industry, to the Region of Waterloo where he chose to found ATS more than 25 years ago, and to thousands of young engineers and tradespeople around the world who benefited from his commitment to apprenticeship training," says Lawrence G. Tapp, nonexecutive chairman of the board at ATS.