News: Optoelectronics
21 December 2023
Aeluma appoints Craig Ensley to board
Aeluma Inc of Goleta, CA, USA, which develops optoelectronic devices for communications and sensing applications including LiDAR (light detection and ranging), has elected Craig Ensley as a new member of its board of directors.
“He brings a breadth of experience from the semiconductor industry across multiple market verticals including sensors, communications, automotive, mobile, PCs, consumer and AI,” comments CEO & founder Jonathan Klamkin Ph.D. “Craig provides a deep understanding of technology, and also of strategy, customer engagement, and supply chain. We can leverage his experience driving high-growth advanced semiconductor companies, for Aeluma, where we have been establishing a foundation for rapid growth,” he adds. “Craig’s appointment is timely, given our recent achievement of revenue, recent wins, and our plans to begin scaling our technology for large-volume consumer markets.”
Ensley, age 73, has led global semiconductor businesses in analog & DSP, MEMS & sensors, and communications (RF/wireless, optical, and wired). His prior executive leadership roles include CEO of Atomica (formerly IMT), the largest MEMS & sensors manufacturing foundry in the USA; CEO of DisplayLink, an enterprise video networking firm; president of Peregrine, a high-volume RF & wireless devices company for 3G & 4G; and senior VP at Cirrus Logic, a mixed-signal circuits company for consumer applications. Earlier in his executive career, Craig helped to build the communications semiconductor business at Rockwell International, which spun out as three public companies: Mindspeed, Jazz and Conexant.
Ensley currently serves on the boards of AI company Mentium Technologies as well as the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group. Previously he was on the boards of the Consumer Electronics Association Audio and Home Networking Divisions, and the KLRU Austin PBS Television Station. He earned a Master in Business Administration from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, both from the University of California San Diego.
“It is impressive how far the company has come in such a short time since inception… This is a testament to Aeluma’s leadership, team, and its technology,” comments Ensley. “During its next stage of growth, I hope to provide the company with guidance on how to scale, how to accelerate business development activities, and how to make the most of the opportunities ahead for transformative semiconductor companies, given the strong demand for this technology.”
Aeluma is working to commercialize its chip technology for a markets including automotive LiDAR, mobile, defense & aerospace, AR/VR, AI, and communications. The firm says that it has established a unique semiconductor manufacturing capability in Santa Barbara, CA. With proprietary technology that combines compound semiconductor nanomaterials with mass-market semiconductor manufacturing, Aeluma is developing products that, it reckons, could offer high-performance and low-cost solutions for emerging markets. Key to its technology is the ability to manufacture its compound semiconductor chips on silicon substrates of up to 12-inches in diameter, which can scale and be mass produced, potentially reducing the cost of chips dramatically.
