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Citing increased demand for its non-visual defect (NVD) inspection systems, Qcept Technologies has appointed Richard Hong, as president, Asia-Pacific. Hong, who previously served as president of KLA-Tencor Korea, will be responsible for driving Qcept's sales and strategic partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region. Qcept's has also established a subsidiary in Korea.

"As adoption for our ChemetriQ wafer inspection technology continues to grow, it's increasingly critical for Qcept to be where our customers are in order to provide the comprehensive and timely support they need," stated Bret Bergman, CEO of Qcept Technologies.  "Qcept is strongly committed to our customers in Asia, having previously set up a spare parts depot in Korea and now establishing our first subsidiary here.  We're also extremely pleased to have Richard Hong on board heading our Asia-Pacific sales efforts.  I can think of no one more qualified to drive Qcept's business growth in this region."

"Qcept has a great technology that can help leading IC manufacturers maximize their yields and bring their next-generation processes into production more quickly," stated Hong.  "I believe my previous experience in semiconductor process control on both the fab and equipment sides can be a benefit to the company, and I look forward to growing our existing customer relationships while expanding our business to more customers throughout Korea, Taiwan and China."

Hong has more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry.  He began his career at Samsung Electronics as a photolithography process engineer and was promoted several times, eventually becoming manager of process engineering, SSI, America.  He then joined KLA-Tencor, where he served in a number of positions, including senior director of strategic marketing, Viper Division and senior director of sales, Wafer Inspection Group.  He was later appointed vice president and general manager of KLA-Tencor's Samsung Business Unit-Korea, and became president of KLA-Tencor Korea in 2004.  

In 2008, Hong received the prestigious Bob Graham Award from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) in recognition of his pioneering work in introducing wafer inspection inline monitoring to semiconductor fabrication.

Hong received his master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Yonsei (Seoul, South Korea), an executive MBA from the Hass School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, and an MBA in marketing from Golden Gate University (San Francisco, Calif.).