February 20, 2008 — Since the beginning of February, a number of companies have announced significant shifts in management and personnel. Among them were Amkor, who’s COO accepted a CEO position elsewhere; Tessera Technologies, who appointed former CTO of Flextronics to their board; Asymtek, who promoted their European sales and marketing manager to general manager; SUSS MicroTec, who appointed a V.P of sales; and Landrex Technologies, who hired an eastern regional sales manager.
At Amkor, Ken Joyce, chief administrative officer of Amkor, has been named to succeed Oleg Khaykin as COO. Joyce joined Amkor in 1997 and was CFO for more than 8 years before becoming chief administrative officer in November 2007.
“We greatly value Oleg’s contributions to Amkor during his time with us and wish him continued success in his new position,” said James Kim, chairman and CEO of Amkor. “Ken is a seasoned leader with an in-depth understanding of our business. I will continue to be actively involved as CEO of Amkor and remain committed to our core strategies for growth and profitability with fiscal discipline. I have great confidence in Ken and believe we have assembled a talented, deep and experienced management team.”
Nicholas Brathwaite has joined Tessera Technologies’ board of directors. Currently a partner with Bigwood Capital, Brathwaite recently retired from the role of CTO at Flextronics, where he was reportedly instrumental in transitioning the company from a $200 million contract manufacturer to a $30 billion global industry leader in electronics design and manufacturing services.
Brathwaite’s experience and knowledge of the camera module business, electronic system design and manufacturing, combined with his expertise in technology acquisitions, will provide valuable insight to Tessera moving forward, notes Bruce McWilliams, CEO Tessera. “His addition to our board will enhance our perspective across industries and provide a powerful advantage when making decisions that may affect our company’s long-term business objectives,” said McWilliams.
“The company’s optics and packaging technologies are truly cutting-edge with extensive market potential, and I’m looking forward to applying the knowledge I’ve gained from my experience in the electronics marketplace to Tessera’s long-range planning and growth opportunities.” said Brathwaite.
Brathwaite founded and managed Flextronics Design Services and the company’s ODM and camera module businesses, in addition to leading the development of several major products. Additionally, as part of the Flextronics Acquisition Committee, he played a key role in the due diligence and integration planning for the company’s Solectron acquisition.
Prior to Flextronics, Brathwaite held engineering and management positions at Intel Corporation in technology development and manufacturing. He was a founding member of nChip where he served as vice president and general manager of operations. Brathwaite serves on the board of directors for Power Integrations and Photon Dynamics, Inc. He holds multiple patents and has authored more than 50 national and international publications.
Asymtek, a Nordson Company, and pioneer in jet dispense technology, promoted Michel van de Vijver to the position of general manager Asymtek, Europe. Van de Vijver joined Asymtek in 2000 as European sales and marketing manager. During his tenure with Asymtek the European application laboratory has grown into a full experienced operational unit. Asymtek’s European headquarters is located in Maastricht, Netherlands.
Van de Vijver will be responsible for Asymtek’s operations throughout Europe including applications engineering, sales, service, and support for Asymtek’s complete line of dispensing and conformal coating products. He will also oversee the region’s distributor network and work closely with Asymtek’s regional sales managers and technical support departments.
In Europe, where Asymtek was already the leader in conformal coating technology, they have introduced additional features to ensure process control, said van de Vijver. “As new smaller applications develop, I know Asymtek will be there with products that make these applications possible. I look forward to working together with our customers to help them achieve their dispensing goals,” he added.
Prior to joining Asymtek, he was the sales manager of automotive products for VCST Industrial Products. Van de Vijver received his degree in engineering from TH Groep T in Leuven, Belgium.
At SUSS MicroTec Thomas Breser was appointed VP sales. Breser comes to SUSS with almost 20 years international experience within the semiconductor industry. He has held positions in general management, sales management, business development, product planning and strategic marketing.
“The challenges of selling a diverse product portfolio into a global marketplace requires a great deal of coordination,” said Stefan Schneidewind, Ph.D. CEO of SUSS MicroTec AG. “Thomas will work closely with the product divisions and our regional sales teams to further improve the efficiency of our sales force and increase our revenue.”
And at Landrex Technologies, Inc. Michael Triber was appointed to the position of Eastern Regional Manager. In his new position, Michael will be responsible for providing pre- and post sales support to Landrex’s salespeople and customers.
“Mike is an experienced customer and system support engineer whose extensive process knowledge and broad experience will be a great asset to our customers. He has a great understanding of the SMT assembly process overall,” said Lyle Sherwood, V.P. and technology director.
Triber has been in the field service industry for ten years. Most recently, he was senior field service engineer at Ekra America. Prior to that, he spent two years at Siemens as a Field Service Engineer. He holds a BS in electrical engineering from Wentworth Institute in Boston, MA.
— From Advanced Packaging’s Semi-monthly e-newsletter.