As with any hard project, it all comes down to talent. I’m blessed to work with some of the most talented people in the industry, from our BRIDG employees to the incredible proven industry leaders volunteering their expertise as members of our advisory boards and sharing our passion for preserving the ability to introduce new semiconductors into the market through a US-based resource.
This month, we are highlighting some of the amazing talent keeping BRIDG on track to deliver value that makes a difference and shapes the future of the region and beyond. This includes two incredible talents that recently joined our fulltime team, John Callahan and Brett Attaway. John is responsible for grounding us on a focused technology trek; one that allows us to deliver differentiating value to our customers this year while finding innovative paths to ensure our relevance in the next decade. Brett partners with John and our operations team to build solid paths for generating near-term revenue while positioning us to grow as capabilities expand. Anyone that works in this industry understands that we are asking a lot to get both near and long-term focus from any one person. These incredible gentlemen are up to that challenge!
Also, as we celebrated International Women’s Day this month, it was an honor to have
i4 Business
recognize two of our dynamic and talented female leaders: Gloria LeQuang who handles our marketing, communications and outreach and Mandy Wilcox who likewise wears so many hats and leads on so many fronts from contracts and grants to trade compliance (and even serves as our security officer for classified work).
We count on this truly dedicated and talented team to keep us moving in multiple directions with the challenges of each day being different from the day before. As you read the stories on these individuals, please join me in expressing both admiration and appreciation for all they do, and join us on the journey as we leverage the incredible BRIDG infrastructure to shape NeoCity!
Chester Kennedy
CEO
|
|
Welcome to Dr. John J. Callahan and Brett Attaway
|
|
BRIDG is pleased to announce the recent addition of two new critical roles to its leadership team – Dr. John J. Callahan as Vice President of Technology and Brett Attaway as Director of Business Development. Each brings deep industry experience and will be key to our continued growth at BRIDG.
As the Vice President of Technology, Dr. John J. Callahan will work with Business Development and Fab Operations to drive the technical direction in various advanced technologies such as semiconductor-based devices, sensors, imagers, systems integration, III-V and other novel material-based devices. This new position ensures that BRIDG remains positioned to add value to the semiconductor industry and the Central Florida community.
Dr. Callahan has pioneered semiconductor laser technology for telecommunications, datacom, and industrial applications, as well as high density packaging of silicon technologies. Most recently, he was the Vice President of Engineering for SemiNex Corporation where he oversaw the Engineering and Operational efforts to develop industry leading high-power laser diodes in the 1200 nm to 1700 nm range. Dr. Callahan has also served as the Director of Research and Development for Cubic Wafer, and the Director of Research and Development overseeing the IC, Mechanical and Process Engineering teams for Xanoptix, Inc to create heterogeneously integrated optical transceivers. Dr. Callahan holds multiple national and international patents in the areas of high-density integration, packaging and optoelectronics. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
|
|
As our Director of Business Development, Brett Attaway will serve as the lead for industry recruitment responsible for engaging industry, government, and academic organizations as partners for researching and manufacturing next generation technologies.
Prior to joining BRIDG, Attaway was the Director of Design Enablement for the AIM Photonics Institute where he worked with Electronic-Photonic Design Automation software, IP companies, and industry photonics design teams to enable the industrial integrated electronic-photonic ecosystem to grow and engage with the State University of New York Polytechnic College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering 300mm silicon wafer fab. He spent half of his prior career at Synopsys and the other half in electronic ASIC, RFIC and SOC design and business development at Lockheed Martin and ITT-Exelis, which is now Harris.
|
|
i4 Business -
March 2018
Women Business Leaders in Central Florida
|
|
We are proud to have two of our very own “Women in Business” profiled in
i4 Business
magazine this month. Congratulations to
Mandy Wilcox
,
Gloria LeQuang
, and all the amazing women featured from Central Florida!
|
|
BRIDG ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
|
|
Dr. Melissa Grupen-Shemansky
|
|
Dr. Melissa Grupen-Shemansky serves as Chief Technical Officer (CTO) at SEMI / FlexTech. She is responsible for the technical advisory councils and program oversight of consortium R&D projects that are in-part funded by the Department of Defense. These programs support development in flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) and nano-bio applications. In addition, Dr. Grupen-Shemansky serves as a technical advisor to SEMI’s Advance Packaging initiative and as a technical liaison to NextFlex, the Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute.
With over 25 years in the semiconductor industry, Dr. Grupen-Shemansky has both Fortune 100 company and start-up innovation experience in research and development, manufacturing, business development and technology strategy. She began her career at Motorola in semiconductor research and development, and over the course of 10 years, has held various management positions in silicon and gallium arsenide device fabrication, packaging, interconnect and system integration. Following Motorola, she was the Director of Interconnect Technology and Design Engineering in Lucent, Bell Labs, microelectronics division. She later joined Spansion, the flash memory division of AMD, as Vice President of Packaging and Interconnect Technology. And before joining SEMI, Dr. Grupen-Shemansky was the Senior Vice President of Engineering for Advanced Nanotechnology Solutions, Inc., a startup in 3D ICs and cybersecurity.
Dr. Grupen-Shemansky holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Arizona State University. She has received various corporate and educational awards, has seven issued patents, numerous technical publications, and is a contributing author to Failure-Free Integrated Circuit Packages.
|
|
Tools Installation – It’s Time to Change the Color
|
|
Ever wonder why cleanrooms have an amber glow? The answer is simple. In the semiconductor manufacturing process, a layer of material, referred to as photoresist, protects a selected area of fabricated devices. The photoresist is activated once exposed to specific wavelengths (colors) of light.
The amber glow occurs when filters are installed to remove particular colors of light from ambient lighting to allow for transporting of wafers within an area without activating the photoresist chemical until ready.
As our tools installation enters its next phase, we recently installed amber filters on the overhead lights for the lithography area in the main cleanroom. This amber light filter removes the 365-nanometer violet light from the spectrum of light output by white LED lights and ensures no unintended chemical reactions will occur.
|
|
RECENT EVENTS / OTHER NEWS
|
|
Dr. Winston Schoenfeld’s Invited Talk at Photonics West
|
|
Dr. Winston Schoenfeld
, a UCF faculty member with joint appointment to BRIDG, recently delivered an invited talk about deep-UV photodetectors at SPIE Photonics West, one of the world’s most comprehensive technical conferences and exhibitions on subjects ranging from bio-photonics for brain research and healthcare to lasers for research and advanced manufacturing. Dr. Schoenfeld’s presentation helped raise public awareness of BRIDG and our involvement in research and development for the semiconductor industry.
|
|
Commissioner Peggy Choudhry Hosts County Citizens at BRIDG
|
|
Thank you to the Osceola County citizens that joined Commissioner Peggy Choudhry to learn about the potential of NeoCity and the role that BRIDG serves as its catalyst for economic growth. It was great to have you spend time with us!
|
|
Government Microcircuit Applications & Critical Technology Conference (GOMACTech)
|
|
Celebrating 50 years, GOMACTech is dedicated to microelectronics initiatives and applications developed by the Department of Defense and other government agencies. Thanks to everyone that spent time with us during the
GOMACTech
conference.
|
|
SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing – April 17-19, 2018
|
|
BRIDG will be participating as an exhibitor at
SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing
, one of the leading global technical conferences, courses, and exhibition on sensing, imaging, and photonics technologies for defense, security, industry, health care, and the environment. The event will be held at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Fla. Our partners at imec will also be exhibiting. If attending, please visit us at booths 1319 and 1321 located in the Florida Photonics Cluster section.
|
|
Junior Achievement Inspire – May 17, 2018
|
|
BRIDG will participate in
Junior Achievement Inspire
, an interactive exploration of local career pathways attended by 8
th
grade students each year. Led by Junior Achievement of Central Florida, this program initiative brings together educators and industry leaders from Central Florida to provide students with career mentorship from a variety of fields. This program will be held at Osceola Heritage Park from 8:30am to 2:00pm in Kissimmee, Fla.
|
|
BRIDG is located at NeoCity in Osceola County, Florida.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
