12 June 2015

POET appoints GlobalFoundries' senior VP of technology development as its CEO

POET Technologies Inc of Toronto, Canada - which, through subsidiary OPEL Defense Integrated Systems (ODIS Inc) of Storrs, CT, USA, has developed the proprietary planar-optoelectronic technology (POET) platform for monolithic fabrication of integrated III-V-based electronic and optical devices on a single semiconductor wafer - has appointed Dr Suresh Venkatesan (an industry veteran with over 22 years of experience in semiconductor technology development) as CEO.

Venkatesan was most recently senior VP technology development at GlobalFoundries, responsible for its technology R&D. He joined GlobalFoundries in 2009, where he led the development and ramp of the 28nm node and was instrumental in the technology transfer and qualification of 14nm. In addition, he was responsible for the qualification and ramp up of multiple mainstream value-added technology nodes. Previously, Venkatesan held various leadership positions with Freescale Semiconductor in Austin, Texas. 

Venkatesan holds over 25 US patents, and has co-authored more than 50 technical papers. He has a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and Master of Science and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

"He has the unique skill set of product and device development and a deep understanding of the physics involved in the process," comments Peter Copetti (interim CEO since February 2014), who will continue to serve as executive co-chairman. "We have been looking for over one year for the perfect permanent CEO and I believe we have found that person. He brings tremendous leadership and foundry industry development and strategy experience. This is a critical milestone in the Company's succession plan as we continue our 'lab-to-fab' transition,"he adds.

"I see immense market potential for POET Technology's III-V complementary semiconductor fabrication process," says Venkatesan. "The industry is at inflection point where new innovative solutions are needed. Integrating electronics and optical devices on the same chip monolithically can revolutionize many segments of the semiconductor market," he believes.

"On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to express our most sincere thanks to Peter for his vision and his determination to take POET to the next level. The financial turnaround of the company was remarkable and is now complete," says POET founder Dr Geoff Taylor. "We are now focused on product development and achieving revenue."

Tags: POET

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