SEMATECH, the global consortium of semiconductor manufacturers, today announced the appointment of Satyavolu Papa Rao as Director of Process Technology. In this key role, Papa Rao will serve as the operational lead, overseeing the strategic development of SEMATECH’s manufacturing, process, materials and ESH-related activities.

SEMATECH’s Process Technology division addresses the capability gaps in current semiconductor manufacturing processes and identifies areas where research is needed to develop new processing technologies.

“SEMATECH is developing a comprehensive set of high-value activities that will be integrated with our core technology programs. Growth of the manufacturing effort is essential for future success,” said Ron Goldblatt, president and CEO, SEMATECH. “This latest hire brings additional expertise to SEMATECH, and, in turn, will raise the level of our manufacturing efforts, enhance our relationships with our partners, and further strengthen SEMATECH’s commitment to solving future manufacturing challenges.”

“We are fortunate to add someone with Pops’ wealth of expertise to lead our semiconductor process technology team which will help us in refining, growing, and expanding our integrated manufacturing activities at SEMATECH,” he added.

Papa Rao, who assumes his new role as director of Process Technology on May 21, brings more than 15 years of industry experience in process technology development. He joins SEMATECH from IBM Corporation, where he was a research staff member and manager of Advanced Films and Cleans Technologies for the Unit Process Development group. He previously held various technical positions at Texas Instruments.

Papa Rao holds a doctorate in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor of technology degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He holds over 35 U.S. patents and is the author of more than 36 publications.