Industry Veterans Cathal Phelan, John Kent, and Michael Reiha Join Silvaco Technical Advisory Board

Silvaco’s Technology Roadmap to Benefit from the Expertise of these Distinguished Industry Leaders and Researchers

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Jan. 6, 2021 – Silvaco, Inc., a leading provider of electronic design automation software and semiconductor IP, today announced that Cathal Phelan, John Kent, and Dr. Michael Reiha have joined Silvaco’s Technical Advisory Board (TAB). Operating under the leadership of Silvaco CEO/CTO Babak Taheri, the TAB is a collaborative team of industry and academic experts leveraging their industry knowledge and subject matter expertise to assist the Silvaco management and technology team in refining its technology vision and roadmap. Cathal Phelan, John Kent, and Dr. Michael Reiha join existing Silvaco TAB members Dr. Siegfried Selberherr and Dr. Jin Jang.

Cathal Phelan founded the consulting firm Atticotti LLC in 2013 and has worked with private equity firms, publicly listed companies, and early-stage startups as a M&A, IP, and product strategy advisor. He consulted with and then served as the CEO at Rapt Touch from 2014 to 2019. Prior to starting Atticotti, he was the CTO at Cypress Semiconductor from 2008 to 2012. Previously, he was the CEO at Ubicom (acquired by Atheros). Mr. Phelan currently serves as a member of the board of directors at Impinj, Inc., having earlier served as a board member at various firms including Touchstone Semiconductor (acquired by Silicon Labs), Virage Logic (acquired by Synopsys), Cypress Envirosystems, and AgigA Tech. He was a member of the Technical Advisory Board at Cypress Semiconductor from 2006 to 2008. He holds 38 US patents for architecture and circuit design in the memory, USB, and PLD fields.

John Kent is Executive Vice President, Technology Development and Design Enablement at SkyWater Technology Foundry, the only U.S.-owned and U.S.-based pure-play semiconductor foundry. He is responsible for leading SkyWater’s technical vision and strategy for developing technology roadmaps, design enablement capabilities, and partnerships to facilitate successful silicon for SkyWater customers. His 40 plus years of experience in the semiconductor industry include demonstrated successes in technology development, operations, and leadership positions. Mr. Kent’s prior experience includes vice president of Foundry IP; Customer Design Enablement at GLOBALFOUNDRIES, executive-level positions with KLA-Tencor in the Wafer Inspection Group, and technology development leadership positions at Rambus and AMIS (now ON Semiconductor).

Dr. Reiha is General Manager, FD-SOI business unit at Soitec Microelectronics Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. His current interests include broadband and high-speed IC design, in addition to SOI-based circuit techniques for low-power applications. From 2010 to 2012, he was an RFIC designer at Fujitsu Semiconductor Wireless Products. From 2013 to 2019, Dr. Reiha held various roles at Nokia including Head of Tunable RF business unit and Head of 5G DFE & RFIC. He received his B.A.Sc. degree from the University of Waterloo, Canada, his M.Sc. degree from the University of Michigan‒Ann Arbor, and his Ph.D. from Technische Universiteit Delft in the Netherlands. He is also a co-recipient of the 2006 IEEE RFIC Symposium Best Paper Award.

Cathal Phelan said, “The breadth of Silvaco’s semiconductor solutions really stands out in the industry. When I was asked to join the technical advisory board, I saw this as a real opportunity to work with its excellent technical leadership. I believe Silvaco has the right combination of technology, customers and team for success in the coming years.”

John Kent said, “I’m excited to become part of Silvaco’s technical advisory board team to help evolve the company’s technology innovation and build its partner ecosystem. Silvaco’s portfolio of technology CAD and EDA software with semiconductor design IP and management, offer military, aerospace, and commercial customers a suite of sophisticated and affordable development solutions.”

Dr. Reiha said, “It is an exciting time to join Silvaco’s technical advisory board, as the company has been growing its technology portfolio to take on the significant challenges facing the semiconductor design community. I look forward to helping develop the technology vision necessary to meet those challenges.”

“We are privileged to be able to announce the addition of Cathal Phelan, John Kent, and Dr. Michael Reiha to our technology advisory board,” said Babak Taheri, CEO/CTO of Silvaco. “Their deep expertise and experience in both the technology and business of semiconductor design will be of tremendous assistance as we further develop our growth strategies.”

About Silvaco, Inc.

Silvaco is a leading EDA tools and semiconductor IP provider used for process and device development for advanced semiconductors, power IC, display, memory, and SoC design. For over 35 years, Silvaco has enabled its customers to develop next generation semiconductor products in the shortest time with reduced cost. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and has a global presence with offices located in North America, Europe, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, and Singapore.

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