Online information source for semiconductor professionals

Peter Smith has been brought on as CEO during a reshuffle at Voltaix. He is replacing Mark Fine who served as interim CEO since January 2010. He will have responsibility for a number of the company's strategic initiatives and will oversee relationships with distributor partners world-wide. Fine is taking up the post of president, in place of John de Neufville, who will continue as the company's chief scientist, overseeing chemical research and end-use applications development.

Smith's career spans two decades of high technology management. At Cooper Industries, Smith led the acquisition of Martek, a manufacturer of power management devices and dramatically improved Cooper's industrial wireless business. Before joining Cooper he led the consumer electronics product group at Dover Knowles which he grew from US$150 million to US$240 million.

"Peter is a top notch strategist who has proven himself developing specialty materials at Honeywell, scaling the MEMS business at Dover and significantly enhancing performance at a Cooper Industries wireless unit," said Voltaix director and former Renewable Energy Corporation CEO, Reidar Langmo. "He brings a broad array of leadership and management talents with a track record of successfully implementing corporate growth in North America, Asia and Europe."

"As we considered the impact of this growth and the potential for continued expansion, the Board of Directors sought a Chief Executive with vision and distinguished operating and technical leadership experience", said Peter B. de Neufville, Voltaix's chairman. "Over the last four years Voltaix has embarked on a plan that has increased sales and expanded manufacturing capacity."

Early last month, Voltaix opened up offices in China.