Agenda

Nick Fichtenbaum is a Co-founder and Vice President of Engineering at Navitas Semiconductor and brings with him nearly 20 years of experience developing GaN materials and devices. Prior to Navitas, Nick was a VP at the private investment firm Malibu IQ, which lead to the creation of Navitas.  As an early employee of Transphorm, Nick served as both a member of the technical staff and manager of material engineering where he developed the GaN on Si epi technology.   Nick has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles based upon his GaN research and been awarded 20 patents related to GaN power electronics.  Nick holds a BA in physics from Denison University, a BS in electrical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Han Wui Then is a Principal Engineer at Components Research, Intel Corporation, working on advanced transistor and chiplet technologies.  He currently leads the process technology research in gallium nitride electronics and 3D CMOS integration, where he pioneered the development of 300mm GaN-on-Si(111) MOSHEMT technology and demonstrated the first 3D monolithic integration of GaN and Si CMOS.  He has published over 50 journal and conference papers and holds >180 US patents on semiconductor technologies. He received his Ph.D. in ECE from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009. 

Mohammad Ateeb Munshi received his M.Tech degree in Microelectronics from the National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, in 2021. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. His research interests include the fabrication, characterization, and reliability testing of GaN-on-Si HEMTs.

Rasik Rashid Malik received the M.Tech. degree in Microelectronics from the National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, before joining the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, for his Ph.D. in 2021. His current research interests include the physical exploration of reliability constraints in E-mode AlGaN/GaN HEMTs and addressing these challenges through novel device designs and technology.

Abhinay Sandupatla is a Post Doctoral researcher at IMEC since Nov 2021. He completed his Ph.D. on III-V (GaN) devices from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2019. He has received his MS from Syracuse University, NY, in Electrical Engineering and BE from the University of Pune, India, in Electronics and Telecommunication. He has authored or co-authored 22 journals and conference proceedings, including APEX, EDS, JJAP, IEDM, and others. His research topics include RF ESD characterization for devices and circuits in III-V/Si technology and modeling.

Rasik Rashid Malik received the M.Tech. degree in Microelectronics from the National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, before joining the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, for his Ph.D. in 2021. His current research interests include the physical exploration of reliability constraints in E-mode AlGaN/GaN HEMTs and addressing these challenges through novel device designs and technology.

Mohammad Ateeb Munshi received his M.Tech degree in Microelectronics from the National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, in 2021. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. His research interests include the fabrication, characterization, and reliability testing of GaN-on-Si HEMTs.

Abhinay Sandupatla is a Post Doctoral researcher at IMEC since Nov 2021. He completed his Ph.D. on III-V (GaN) devices from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2019. He has received his MS from Syracuse University, NY, in Electrical Engineering and BE from the University of Pune, India, in Electronics and Telecommunication. He has authored or co-authored 22 journals and conference proceedings, including APEX, EDS, JJAP, IEDM, and others. His research topics include RF ESD characterization for devices and circuits in III-V/Si technology and modeling.

Pasi received an M.Sc in Electronics Engineering from Oulu University, Finland, in 1997 and continued to work in NOKIA Networks with automated production technologies, testing, machine vision, process control, and design for manufacturability. From 2001 to 2005, he was at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and worked with risk management, EMC/ESD, and cleanroom control methods. Between 2005 and 2012, Pasi worked as the global process owner of ESD and cleanroom control at NOKIA Mobile Phones. Between 2014 and 2015, he worked in Microsoft R&D on product EMC designs. Between 2017 and 2021, Pasi worked in EDR&Medeso with electromagnetics simulations and business development. In parallel, Pasi has worked with IEC and ANSI standardization bodies since 2006, done research on electrostatics, antennas, RF, EMC/ESD failures, component, and system EMC/ESD/RF qualification, and control methods. He joined the Tampere University of Technology in 2012 and received a Doctor of Science and Technology degree in January 2017. Currently, he is working at Danfoss Drives on system-level EMC.

Shih-Hsiang Lin received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in electrical engineering from the National University of Kaohsiung (NUK), Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2018, and from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, in 2021, respectively. In addition, he spent one year as an intern at imec in 2021. In 2021 he joined the Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the ESD team at imec, Belgium, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. His current research topic is ESD risk investigation in three-dimensional (3D) technologies.

Joshua (Yong Hoon) Yoo has been involved in the static control industry since 1994 for ionization and test equipment business operations in semiconductors, flat panel displays, and automotive as a high-tech industry. He has been a member of EOS/ESD Association, Inc. since 2000 and served on the Board of Directors from 2016 to 2018. He is the founder and president of the Korea EOS/ESD Association since 2011. He is an active member of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers (Korean IEEE) since 2021. He published a number of technical papers and technical articles for Flat Panel Display ESD Issues, Ionization, and CPM Measurement Technologies. He is an iNARTE-certified ESD Engineer since 2007 and an EOS/ESD Association-certified Professional ESD Program Manager since 2011. He has 12 patents for alternative ionization systems and novel design steady-state DC bar ionization systems.

Toni Viheriäkoski established the electrostatics laboratory services for Nokia in 2001. He received iNARTE ESD engineer certification in 2004. Since 2008, he has been working on electrostatic and ESD risk analysis in the healthcare, medical, electronics, automotive, and process industries at Cascade Metrology Oy. Toni has written more than 30 publications. He has been the chair of the Finnish STAHA Association since 2006 and the chair of the Finnish Standardization Committee SK101 since 2016. He received the specialist qualification in business management in 2018 and the 1906 award of IEC in 2019. He is a member of several IEC and ESDA working groups.

Toni Viheriäkoski established the electrostatics laboratory services for Nokia in 2001. He received iNARTE ESD engineer certification in 2004. Since 2008, he has been working on electrostatic and ESD risk analysis in the healthcare, medical, electronics, automotive, and process industries at Cascade Metrology Oy. Toni has written more than 30 publications. He has been the chair of the Finnish STAHA Association since 2006 and the chair of the Finnish Standardization Committee SK101 since 2016. He received the specialist qualification in business management in 2018 and the 1906 award of IEC in 2019. He is a member of several IEC and ESDA working groups.

Joshua (Yong Hoon) Yoo has been involved in the static control industry since 1994 for ionization and test equipment business operations in semiconductors, flat panel displays, and automotive as a high-tech industry. He has been a member of EOS/ESD Association, Inc. since 2000 and served on the Board of Directors from 2016 to 2018. He is the founder and president of the Korea EOS/ESD Association since 2011. He is an active member of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers (Korean IEEE) since 2021. He published a number of technical papers and technical articles for Flat Panel Display ESD Issues, Ionization, and CPM Measurement Technologies. He is an iNARTE-certified ESD Engineer since 2007 and an EOS/ESD Association-certified Professional ESD Program Manager since 2011. He has 12 patents for alternative ionization systems and novel design steady-state DC bar ionization systems.

Shih-Hsiang Lin received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in electrical engineering from the National University of Kaohsiung (NUK), Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2018, and from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, in 2021, respectively. In addition, he spent one year as an intern at imec in 2021. In 2021 he joined the Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the ESD team at imec, Belgium, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. His current research topic is ESD risk investigation in three-dimensional (3D) technologies.

Pasi received an M.Sc in Electronics Engineering from Oulu University, Finland, in 1997 and continued to work in NOKIA Networks with automated production technologies, testing, machine vision, process control, and design for manufacturability. From 2001 to 2005, he was at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and worked with risk management, EMC/ESD, and cleanroom control methods. Between 2005 and 2012, Pasi worked as the global process owner of ESD and cleanroom control at NOKIA Mobile Phones. Between 2014 and 2015, he worked in Microsoft R&D on product EMC designs. Between 2017 and 2021, Pasi worked in EDR&Medeso with electromagnetics simulations and business development. In parallel, Pasi has worked with IEC and ANSI standardization bodies since 2006, done research on electrostatics, antennas, RF, EMC/ESD failures, component, and system EMC/ESD/RF qualification, and control methods. He joined the Tampere University of Technology in 2012 and received a Doctor of Science and Technology degree in January 2017. Currently, he is working at Danfoss Drives on system-level EMC.

Christopher Almeras is a Process Engineer and ESD SME for Raytheon Technologies in the Texas Electronics Packaging, Materials, and Processes Department in Dallas, Texas. He is responsible for different Circuit Card Assembly processes, along with capital acquisition as well as the ESD program for Raytheon Intelligence and Space. Christopher is a member of the ESDA Board of Directors, along with several working groups. He earned his ESD Professional Program Manager Certification in 2009. Christopher authored and presented “An ESD Case Study of Defect Analysis in High-Speed Electronics Manufacturing” at the 2018 EOS/ESD Symposium.

Chen is a Fellow and Senior Director at NXP Semiconductors. With a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, he has more than 20 years of experience and leadership in automotive microcontrollers and processors development, especially in the area of Zero Defect (ZD) stress and test methodology. His interests also include embedded Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) and Machine Learning (ML) applications to test. Chen has been issued 32 US patents and published over 35 technical papers. He has been elected to IEEE Fellow for his contributions to the test of automotive microcontrollers and microprocessors since January 1, 2023.

Dr. Vladislav Vashchenko is Sr. Director Power ESD Group at Analog Devices Corp (started in 2011 at acquired Maxim Integrated), responsible for the main aspects of ESD-IC co-design business process and technology development. Prior to this term, he oversaw the ESD technology development group at National Semiconductor (2000-2011). He received his MS Engineer-Physicist (1987), Ph.D. in Physics of Semiconductors from MIPT (1990), and "Doctor of Science in Microelectronics” habilitation degree (1997). He is the author of 150 U.S. patents, over 120 papers, and co-author of the books "Physical Limitation of Semiconductor Devices” (2008), "ESD Design for Analog Circuits” (2010), and "System Level ESD Protection” (2014) by Springer.

Andrei Shibkov, Ph.D. has been working in the device design, reliability, process development, TCAD, and EDA area for over 25 years, starting with his graduate work (MS, Engineer-Physicist - 1993 and Ph.D. in Semiconductor Physics - 1996) at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) then at Samsung Electronics, PDF Solutions, Sequoia Design Systems, Diakopto, and Angstrom Design Automation. During this time, he was involved in all aspects of the semiconductor process and device development and optimization, characterization, yield management, ESD and reliability, sub-wavelength lithography simulation, and EDA and TCAD tool development.

Andrei Shibkov, Ph.D. has been working in the device design, reliability, process development, TCAD, and EDA area for over 25 years, starting with his graduate work (MS, Engineer-Physicist - 1993 and Ph.D. in Semiconductor Physics - 1996) at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) then at Samsung Electronics, PDF Solutions, Sequoia Design Systems, Diakopto, and Angstrom Design Automation. During this time, he was involved in all aspects of the semiconductor process and device development and optimization, characterization, yield management, ESD and reliability, sub-wavelength lithography simulation, and EDA and TCAD tool development.

Dr. Vladislav Vashchenko is Sr. Director Power ESD Group at Analog Devices Corp (started in 2011 at acquired Maxim Integrated), responsible for the main aspects of ESD-IC co-design business process and technology development. Prior to this term, he oversaw the ESD technology development group at National Semiconductor (2000-2011). He received his MS Engineer-Physicist (1987), Ph.D. in Physics of Semiconductors from MIPT (1990), and "Doctor of Science in Microelectronics” habilitation degree (1997). He is the author of 150 U.S. patents, over 120 papers, and co-author of the books "Physical Limitation of Semiconductor Devices” (2008), "ESD Design for Analog Circuits” (2010), and "System Level ESD Protection” (2014) by Springer.

Reinhold Gaertner received his diploma in physics from the Technical University of Munich in 1987. Then he joined the Federal Armed Forces University Munich, where he was working on measurement techniques for ESD protective packaging materials. After working as an independent ESD consultant, he joined Siemens Semiconductors in 1996, which is now Infineon Technologies. As Distinguished Engineer for ESD protection, he is responsible for all problems regarding external ESD protection at Infineon worldwide and also for problems in customer production, as well as for ESD device testing for qualification. Since 1989, he has lectured on static control, and since 1991, he has been an active member of the German ESD Association, where he has been acting as vice president for the last couple of years. Since 1995, he has worked in the ESD standardization of IEC TC101 Electrostatics, where he is currently convenor of the working group "Protection of electronic devices against static electricity”. In 2009, he received the outstanding contribution award of the ESDA, and between 2011 and 2019, he was part of the ESDA board of directors.

Marko Simicic received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in electrical engineering and information technology from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, in 2010 and 2012, respectively. He obtained a Ph.D. from the Department of electrical engineering ESAT, KU Leuven, Belgium, in 2018. In 2017 he joined the ESD team in imec, Belgium. He is a certified ESD control program manager since 2022. He has authored or co-authored more than 35 papers in international journals and conference proceedings. His current research area is rather wide and includes ESD device and circuit design in advanced semiconductor and 3D/2.5D stacking technologies, novel ESD testing, and in-depth ESD control process assessment.

Reinhold Gaertner received his diploma in physics from the Technical University of Munich in 1987. Then he joined the Federal Armed Forces University Munich, where he was working on measurement techniques for ESD protective packaging materials. After working as an independent ESD consultant, he joined Siemens Semiconductors in 1996, which is now Infineon Technologies. As Distinguished Engineer for ESD protection, he is responsible for all problems regarding external ESD protection at Infineon worldwide and also for problems in customer production, as well as for ESD device testing for qualification. Since 1989, he has lectured on static control, and since 1991, he has been an active member of the German ESD Association, where he has been acting as vice president for the last couple of years. Since 1995, he has worked in the ESD standardization of IEC TC101 Electrostatics, where he is currently convenor of the working group "Protection of electronic devices against static electricity”. In 2009, he received the outstanding contribution award of the ESDA, and between 2011 and 2019, he was part of the ESDA board of directors.

Marko Simicic received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in electrical engineering and information technology from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, in 2010 and 2012, respectively. He obtained a Ph.D. from the Department of electrical engineering ESAT, KU Leuven, Belgium, in 2018. In 2017 he joined the ESD team in imec, Belgium. He is a certified ESD control program manager since 2022. He has authored or co-authored more than 35 papers in international journals and conference proceedings. His current research area is rather wide and includes ESD device and circuit design in advanced semiconductor and 3D/2.5D stacking technologies, novel ESD testing, and in-depth ESD control process assessment.

Reinhold Gaertner received his diploma in physics from the Technical University of Munich in 1987. Then he joined the Federal Armed Forces University Munich, where he was working on measurement techniques for ESD protective packaging materials. After working as an independent ESD consultant, he joined Siemens Semiconductors in 1996, which is now Infineon Technologies. As Distinguished Engineer for ESD protection, he is responsible for all problems regarding external ESD protection at Infineon worldwide and also for problems in customer production, as well as for ESD device testing for qualification. Since 1989, he has lectured on static control, and since 1991, he has been an active member of the German ESD Association, where he has been acting as vice president for the last couple of years. Since 1995, he has worked in the ESD standardization of IEC TC101 Electrostatics, where he is currently convenor of the working group "Protection of electronic devices against static electricity”. In 2009, he received the outstanding contribution award of the ESDA, and between 2011 and 2019, he was part of the ESDA board of directors.