As part of a move to focus more of its efforts on its thin film technology for producing solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, semiconductor and PV manufacturing equipment giant Applied Materials said yesterday it has formed a new organisation within the company, named SunFab Operations.

Dr. Mark Pinto, senior VP, CTO and general manager of Applied's energy and environmental solutions group will co-lead SunFab Operations with Dr. Randhir Thakur, who is re-joining the company as senior VP and general manager of strategic operations.

Thakur will report to Applied president and CEO Mike Splinter, and is initially tasked with helping to lead operations for the company's SunFab thin film line for producing solar PV modules.

Most recently, Thakur was executive VP of technology and fab operations at flash memory data storage product maker SanDisk Corp. Prior to SanDisk, he served in a number of executive roles at Applied for 5 years within the company's semiconductor product groups.

"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. 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," Splinter commented in a statement.

Thakur and Pinto together 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, the company said.

Pinto noted, "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. 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 holds a B.S. degree (with honours) 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.

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor - Electronic News

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