Thomas Sonderman was appointed CEO and elected to the board of directors in 2017. Under his leadership, he has driven the company’s transformation from an IDM to a pure play foundry and led its successful IPO in 2021. He has diversified the customer base, improved operational efficiencies, and leveraged SkyWater as a U.S.-based semiconductor foundry to expand its government business and reinstate a strong commercial manufacturing presence in the U.S. He has built a world-class leadership team and workforce that is driving innovation and delivering excellence to SkyWater’s customers every day.

Prior to joining SkyWater, Mr. Sonderman’s extensive industry experience included all aspects of fab operations and delivering market leadership and increased shareholder value to high-technology industry leaders Rudolph Technologies (now ONTO Innovation), GLOBALFOUNDRIES and AMD. Notably, he played a critical role serving as part of an executive team at AMD that spun-off manufacturing operations to form GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

Mr. Sonderman holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Missouri S&T and an M.S. in electrical engineering from National Technological University. He has 50 patents, is a renowned industry speaker and was inducted into the Academy of Chemical and Biochemical Engineers at Missouri S&T in 2024. Mr. Sonderman also received an honorary doctorate in engineering from Missouri S&T and serves as the Commissioner for Semiconductors and Microelectronics at Purdue University’s Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy.

Amy is President at SavanSys Solutions LLC, where she does cost modeling and analysis for companies in the electronics packaging and aerospace industries. In her time at SavanSys, she has established the company as the industry standard choice for cost modeling. She was the recipient of the Engineer of the Year 3D InCites award in 2019, received the IMAPS Leadership Award in 2021, and was selected as a Fellow of the Society by IMAPS in 2024.

Prior to joining SavanSys, Amy held positions in business development at TOK America and in engineering at Nokia Japan. Over the past two decades, she has published numerous technical papers, been an invited speaker at conferences and seminars, and contributed to many industry publications.

Andrea Chacko earned a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She currently serves as Director of Packaging Solutions within Brewer Science’s Corporate R&D team. She leads several projects including the development of materials for wafer thinning and for other advanced semiconductor packaging applications. She began her career at Brewer Science in 2013 as an Industrial Postdoc and has also worked on high-temperature-stable carbon materials and underlayers for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.

Angela started her business career by building her foundation with an international business degree, studying abroad and learning to speak several languages. Over 16 years, Angela advanced to a global sales position for Momentive Technologies, formerly GE Quartz. Three years ago, Angela seized an opportunity to join QQE Summit LLC as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and help lead a private equity transformation of a premier supplier in the Quartz fabrication market.

Bastiaan Saris is Procurement Director Front-End Materials at NXP Semiconductors. In this role, Bastiaan is responsible for managing all sourcing activities of materials and consumables used in NXP’s Internal Front-End Factories, globally. Bastiaan is located in Austin (TX).

Brett Walker, PhD is the Co-Founder and CEO of Eelctroninks and has extensive experience in advanced materials commercialization. Dr. Walker built Electroninks to over $1M in revenue after 1 year in business. Dr. Walker’s work in metal organic decomposition (MOD) metallization and commercialization has been recognized in Forbes and Scientific American.

Bhavya Vaidya is currently VP of Supply Chain at Lam Research Corporation. She is responsible for directing supply chain strategies for the OEM, Consumables and Contract Manufacturing Commodities at Lam Research. She started with the company 21 years ago as an Intern, and since then has grown with the company, being a key part of building the supply chain foundation of the company. She leads a team of Strategic Commodity Management and Supply Chain Directors and Managers, and has built a diverse, geographically dispersed team spanning over 6 countries, covering multiple product lines. The team is responsible for architecting the supply chain, which includes setting up scalable, robust, leading edge supply chain networks to support the company’s current and future needs.

Scott Clendenning joined the Intel Corporation in 2004 and currently leads the Atomic Layer Processing group in Technology Research, Portland, Oregon, working closely with partners on developing chemical precursors and vacuum-based deposition and etch processes for thin films to meet next generation semiconductor device needs. He has served as the Director of the Technology Research Nanofabrication Facility, as the Industrial Chair of the American Vacuum Society (AVS) Atomic Layer Deposition conferences ALD2021 and ALD2023 and on the Executive technical Advisory board of the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). Prior to joining Intel, Scott obtained his doctorate in inorganic chemistry with Prof. John Nixon at the University of Sussex, UK, and completed post-doctoral research with Prof. Ian Manners at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Devon Dion earned a B.S in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She is working at Entegris, as the Director of E/R&D for Gas Filtration in the Advanced Purity Solutions division. She began her career as an engineer designing gas filters and diffusers before working her way into the membrane R&D side of the team.

Jacob Wood is a Staff Engineer at Samsung Austin Semiconductor, leading the Specialty Gas and Thin Film Precursors Material Technology team. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Chemistry from Texas A&M University. Since joining Samsung in 2016 as an intern, Jacob has progressed through multiple engineering roles, focusing on materials science, quality improvements, and process optimization. In his current role, he drives initiatives in material quality control, vendor management, and site safety to enhance semiconductor manufacturing processes.

Jim Reed has over 30 years’ experience in the Semiconductor and the Silicon Industry. Currently, Mr. Reed is working in a new global role as Vice President of Okmetic Key Account Development in addition to his role as President of Okmetic Inc. since 2010. Prior his new role, he was the VP of Okmetic North America sales. Mr. Reed also holds extensive experience from several management positions at Texas Instruments and MEMC related to Quality Assurance, Product, Process and Equipment Engineering, Quality Assurance Management, Operations, and Sales and Marketing. Mr. Reed has a M.Sc. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Penn State. He also holds a patent for a semiconductor barcode reader system.

Dr. Karey Holland has specialized in advanced semiconductor transistor fabrication, including metrology, CMP, ALD & CVD, photolithography, and interconnect technologies for over 30 years. She was CTO of start-up NexPlanar, strategic marketing senior manager at FEI, on the Board of Directors at Nova Measuring Instruments, VP of technology at CMP pad supplier Thomas West, and CTO and VP of process technology at CMP OEM IPEC/SpeedFam-IPEC. Previously, she was manager of manufacturing planning for Motorola’s Microprocessor and Memory Technology Group. Her career began in process engineering at IBM where she managed DUV lithography technology development, and worked on interconnect integration for 4 and 16 Mb DRAMs, which were the first chips in the world to use tungsten plugs and CMP for all interconnect dielectrics. She holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Pennsylvania State University, a M.S. in analytical chemistry from Purdue University, and a B.A. in chemistry from Albion College.

Keith started his career in 1991 at Texas Instruments in the 16Meg Engineering team. Goal was to covert TIs memory products from mass production 4Meg DRAM to 16Meg DRAM on 200mm. Following work in multiple fabs, startup and engineering projects, Keith joined the growing global procurement team managing the Chemical and Gas commodity team. In this role he was responsible for all fine chemicals, gases and photo resist procurement to support TI’s global manufacturing foot print. He was able to move to Malaysia for 3 years working supply chain procurement and logistics leadership in TI’s largest Assembly Test facility at the time in Kuala Lumpur. This was during the slowdown and subsequent exponential growth coming out of 2008. Coming back to the US he managed Global Transportation during the Japan earthquake recovery, ocean congestion in SE Asia and some of the first port shutdowns in the US. Following 8 years Keith moved back to a familiar area of wafer fab capital and spares. Managing a global team responsible for enabling new Texas Instruments factory expansion and helping to ensure cost competitive procurement.

Laurie Beu is a semiconductor industry consultant with more than 40 years of experience. She has led industry efforts to address process greenhouse gases and currently leads the Semiconductor Industry Association’s Semiconductor PFAS Consortium and Semiconductor Onium PAG Consortium. Laurie began her professional career in environmental compliance and then managed efforts in Motorola’s R&D laboratory to proactively address environmental concerns during new process development. Laurie is a Lead Author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2019 Refinement of the Electronics chapter and the 2006 guideline, and shares in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Laurie is a Registered Professional Engineer in Texas, a SESHA Fellow, and a recent recipient of SESHA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lita Shon-Roy – President/CEO and Founder of TECHCET—has worked throughout the semiconductor supply chain, leading strategy, business development, marketing and sales for chip designers, equipment OEMs, and material suppliers for over 30 years.

Her experience spans from process development of memory chips to business development of gases & precursors. She developed new business opportunities for companies such as RASIRC/Matheson Gases, Air Products & Chemicals, and IPEC/Speedfam, and managed marketing and sales in companies such as Air Products/Schumacher, Brooktree/Rockwell, and Hughes Aircraft.

Ms. Shon-Roy is considered one of the leading experts in electronic materials market analysis and business development. She has authored and co-authored 100’s of articles, reports and texts on semiconductor process materials markets, trends, and worldwide supply chain issues, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and featured on BBC News. She holds an M.B.A. from California State University, Dominguez Hills, a M.S.E.E. focused on Solid State Physics from the University of Southern California, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC San Diego.

Mayumi Sato is Technical Manager at Resonac America, Inc., engaged in the establishment of the semiconductor open innovation platform “US-JOINT” Joined Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. (now Resonac Corporation) in 2007 and worked on the development of Dry film resist, UV-curable resin films utilizing quantum dots, and Anisotropic conductive films. Involved in projects aimed at expanding into
new technological fields.

Mayumi Sato hold a Master of Engineering in Pure and Applied Chemistry was obtained from the Graduate School of Science and Technology at Tokyo University of Science.

Michael Haverty is a Director and Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Applied Materials with Materials & Computer Science degrees from Johns Hopkins & Stanford. His career began as an intern as Intel Corporation’s first Materials modeler in 2001. He now leads one of the largest atomic scale modeling teams in the Semiconductor industry. He’s worked closely with some of the earliest software companies in the field, at a startup as VP of Science, on his own modeling consulting firm, and advising new start-ups. He has a wide range of 40+ granted and in-process patents, funded and collaborated with academics through SRC and direct funding research projects, and obtained and worked on multiple US and European government funded grant projects. Now leading the Materials Design team at Applied Materials he focuses the team on discovering, screening, and designing new materials, precursor chemistries, and manufacturing strategies to extract tangible value for experimental utilizing an all-of-the above modeling approach including DFT, AI, and more.

Dr. Nathaniel Cady earned his BA and Ph.D. from Cornell University and is currently an Empire Innovation Professor of Nanobioscience and Associate Dean for Research at the University at Albany. His research focuses on the intersection of nanotechnology and biology and includes the development of novel biosensor technologies, and bio-inspired nanoelectronic devices, including resistive memory devices (memristors). Dr. Cady’s research leverages the advanced nanofabrication facilities at the Albany NanoTech complex, and his research group has successfully transitioned multiple technologies from the laboratory to both 200mm and 300mm wafer scale fabrication and integration. Dr. Cady is one of the lead investigators and governance board members for the NORDTECH Department of Defense Microelectronics Commons Hub and works closely with industry partners on transitioning new technologies towards commercial applications.

Parviz is a published author (Data Unplugged: Understanding Data and Why It Matters) and a highly experienced technology executive, who still enjoys getting my hands dirty to test technologies, develop proof of concept experiments and work with scientists to build new algorithms and to strategize new data architectures. He offers experience in a broad spectrum of topics within various industries including Semiconductor Manufacturing, Software development, Investment Banking, and Education. Parviz’s background also includes introducing processes and procedures that enhance operational efficiencies and leading assignments from idea to launch, as well as expertise in Global Supply Chain for increased traceability, enhanced product visibility, resource optimization and trend analysis.

Pratik has been working in the semiconductor industry for over 20 years. He has worked in various areas of semiconductor business, including technology research and development, technology transfer and high volume manufacturing. His expertise are in thin film development / characterization, and process integration. His career experience is comprised of positions with IBM T. J. Watson Research Labs, IBM East Fishkill and Samsung Austin Semiconductor. He has 15+ publications and 9 patents. He had served as a peer reviewer for Applied Physics Letters (APL), and has given invited talks at ASMC, MRS, AVS, TMS, SMC, CMC and SEMICON. At Samsung Austin Semiconductor, he is currently responsible for ensuring 24/7 FAB seamless operations through 11000 plus pieces of support equipments. In addition, Pratik is also serving as a chairman of the SAS invention review committee and a member of Samsung Idea Fair Committee and External Publication Review Committee. In the past, he had also served on the Industrial Advisory Board of Texas A&M University.

Robert Goodin is a Mineral Commodity Specialist for the National Minerals Information Center at the United States Geological Survey. As a Mineral Commodity Specialist, he is currently tracking feldspar, helium, high-purity quartz, hydrogen, noble gases, industrial sand and gravel, industrial quartz crystal, and special silica commodities. During his time as a Mineral Commodity Specialist, he has authored multiple chapters for a variety of mineral commodities in the Minerals Yearbook and Mineral Commodity Summaries publications, published special reports, and produced data releases to allow for more accessible public data. Prior to working as a Mineral Commodity Specialist, he worked in the oil and gas industry as a Geoscientist for ExxonMobil. He has publications in multiple scientific journals in the fields of chemistry, geology, and geophysics. Robert graduated with an Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Sciences from the University of Miami.

Dr. Robin Athle is currently a principal researcher at the Swedish startup Alixlabs, which develops tailored atomic layer etching processes for more sustainable semiconductor fabrication. He earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Lund University, Sweden, researching emerging memory technologies for accelerating artificial intelligence computation through dedicated hardware. His expertise lies within semiconductor devices, especially fabrication and structural and electrical characterization methods.

Ronit Erlitzki is the Director of Strategic Business Development and Innovation at IDE Water Technologies Inc. With over 20 years of experience in biochemistry research and environmentally focused business development, Ronit’s career is built on a strong scientific foundation and strategic critical thinking processes. She has successfully implemented several technologies in the field of water quality analysis, biological water treatment for drinking water and wastewater, high recovery reverse osmosis (RO), concentrate management, reuse, and a variety of Contaminants of Emerging Concerns (CEC), including PFAS. Ronit focuses on optimizing high-recovery, low-waste, and low-emission sustainable solutions for water and wastewater treatment, keeping the OneWater concept in mind. As a savvy water professional, Ronit has been instrumental in driving advancements in these areas. Ronit holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Tel Aviv University, and both Master of Science and Doctor of Science degrees in Medical Sciences from Technion-Machon Technology Le’Israel.

Sandra joined the Stable Isotopes activity within Orano in 2022 as VP Sales & Marketing to bring her extensive experience to this new activity. She developed the commercial portfolio from scratch and holds the offer and contract
management.

Sandra has over 20 years of experience in business management in nuclear industry, with her former position being at Orano as VP for Contracts and Customers’ services in the nuclear spent fuel recycling Business Unit. Sandra got a broad experience in business management, from business development to contract management of long-term international and complex business involving export control and intergovernmental agreements, and in Sales & Operations Planning as well.

Sandra holds a MSc degree in Mechanical Engineering and Energetics from the National Institute for Applied Sciences (INSA) in Toulouse.

Shari Liss, a seasoned professional with over 25 years in workforce development and tech education, is currently the driving force as the Vice President of Global WFD and Initiatives for SEMI. In this role, she focuses on leading impactful workforce development programs and fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives for the microelectronics industry that span over 3,200 global
companies.

Under Shari’s dynamic leadership, SEMI has successfully launched numerous national and global workforce development initiatives. With a profound commitment to shaping the future of tech education, Shari’s current role at SEMI exemplifies her dedication to addressing critical workforce needs and fostering cross-sector partnerships that bridge industry, academia, community-based organizations, and the workforce.

Shaun covers semiconductor packaging, metal chemicals, and high power device technologies. Shaun has over 25 years in both materials and semiconductor manufacturing and test experience. Throughout his tenure in the semi industry, he has held leadership positions in the assembly and test field supporting the top 100 Semiconductor companies worldwide in sales, product management, development, and technical programs. Shaun formed and led an R&D team focused on Memory, MEMS, Analog, and Power packaging aimed at the Automotive Semiconductor market segment as VP of Package Development and Technology Integration at Amkor Technology, Inc., which led the transition from Si to SiC packaging. Shaun has deep knowledge on key market players and different sourcing strategies and business methods in place today and is considered an automotive semiconductor and electronics expert. He has a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Gonzaga University, and received honors CORe certification from Harvard Business School in 2022.

Suhas Ketkar is a Marketing Leader for the scoutCarbon & prepFAST Carbon products developed by Elemental Scientific. Prior to working at Elemental Scientific, he was the Director, Global Analytical Technology at Air Products/Versum Materials/EMD Electronics. He has a PhD from the University of Texas in Austin and has over 35 years’ experience developing analytical methodology to measure trace level contaminants in semiconductor gases and chemicals.

Surya Kalidindi is a Regents Professor and Rae S. and Frank H. Neely Chair Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering with joint appointments in the School of Computational Science and Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia, USA. Surya’s research efforts have made seminal contributions to the fields of materials design, high-throughput mechanical characterization and materials informatics. Surya has been elected a Fellow of ASM International, TMS, and ASME. He has also been recognized with the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, the Vannever Bush Faculty Fellow, and the Khan International Award. His research currently has a h-index of 95 (as per Google Scholar). Most recently, he has co-founded the new venture-funded start-up Multiscale Technologies, Inc., which offers a commercial SaaS platform for Al/ML driven accelerated innovation for advanced technologies.

Tom Hackenberg is a Principal Analyst for Computing and Software in the Semiconductor, Memory and Computing Division at Yole Intelligence, part of Yole Group. Tom is an industry leading expert reporting on markets for semiconductor processors including CPUs, MPUs, MCUs and DSPs, SoCs, GPUs and discrete accelerators, FPGAs, and configurable processors since 2006. Tom is also well-versed in related technology trends including AI and edge computing, IoT, heterogeneous processing, chiplets, as well as vertical markets like Automotive, Computing and Telecommunications where processor trends play a significant role.

Tom has appeared as a presenter on these topics at associated events as the Chiplet Summit, OCP ODAS Workshop on Chiplets, Design and Automation Conference, Rosenblatt’s Age of AI Scaling, System-on-Chip Conference, Vision and AI Summit, Xilinx Adapt: Automotive: Anywhere, Yole’s Live Market Briefings and as well as custom proprietary presentations. He can also be found quoted or bylined in news and trade publications such as Cision, Computerworld, Design and Reuse, EE|Times & EE|Times Asia, Fierce Electronics, Insider, Semi Engineering, VentureBeat, and more for expertise on the processor market.

Tom worked with market-leading processor suppliers developing both syndicated and custom research. He holds a BSEE/BSECE from the University of Texas at Austin specializing in Processors and FPGAs.