Dr. Randhir Thakur Joining Applied Materials as General Manager of
Strategic Operations
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applied Materials, Inc. today announced that Randhir Thakur, Ph.D. is
re-joining the company as senior vice president and general manager of
Strategic Operations, initially helping to lead operations for the
company’s Applied SunFab™
Thin Film Line for producing solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. Dr. Thakur
was most recently executive vice president of technology and fab
operations at SanDisk Corporation, the world’s
largest supplier of flash memory data storage products. Prior to
SanDisk, he worked at Applied Materials for five years in executive
roles within semiconductor product groups.
“With strong demand for Applied’s
revolutionary solar production technology, SunFab is gaining traction
very fast and our global teams are ramping multiple SunFab lines around
the world”
“As head of Strategic Operations, Randhir will
focus on one of Applied’s biggest
opportunities, the ramp of our SunFab solar production lines at customer
sites,” said Mike Splinter, president and CEO
of Applied Materials. “His prior experience
with Applied enables him to hit the ground running, and his global
operations experience and ability to collaborate across multiple product
groups will be a great asset to our SunFab team.”
Reporting to Splinter, Thakur will co-lead a new organization named
SunFab Operations with Dr. Mark Pinto, senior vice president, chief
technology officer and general manager of Applied’s
Energy and Environmental Solutions group. Together, they will be
responsible for executing Applied’s roadmap
to lower the cost-per-watt of electricity produced from PV modules and
to establish the SunFab line as the fastest time-to-volume, thin film PV
solution in the market, as well as developing this innovative platform
for possible extension into future production line businesses.
“With strong demand for Applied’s
revolutionary solar production technology, SunFab is gaining traction
very fast and our global teams are ramping multiple SunFab lines around
the world,” said Dr. Pinto. “Randhir
will make a strong addition to our solar team as Applied delivers on our
commitment to substantially lower the cost-per-watt of solar PV.”
Thakur received his B.S. degree (with honors) in electronics and
telecommunications engineering from the Regional Engineering College,
Kurukshetra, India, as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical
engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and University
of Oklahoma, respectively.
Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) is the global leader in
Nanomanufacturing Technology™ solutions with
a broad portfolio of innovative equipment, service and software products
for the fabrication of semiconductor chips, flat panel displays, solar
photovoltaic cells, flexible electronics and energy efficient glass. At
Applied Materials, we apply Nanomanufacturing Technology to improve the
way people live. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.
