GaN Going Mainstream

Abstract: 
Moderated by well-know amplifier designer and GaN expert, Ray Pengelly, this online panel of GaN experts from leading manufacturers and OEMs will discuss their company’s strengths in GaN technology and answer questions about the major market opportunities for GaN to reach widespread commercialization.  Each panelist will review their company’s latest capabilities and then take questions from the audience about GaN performance, reliability, system cost reduction, improved efficiency, wider bandwidths, etc., in relation to major market opportunities.

Presenter bios:
Raymond S. Pengelly gained his BSc. and MSc. degrees from Southampton University, England. He worked for the Plessey Company in the UK from 1969 to 1986 in a variety of engineering roles with increasing seniority. From 1978 to 1986 he managed the world-renowned GaAs MMIC department at Plessey Research, Caswell. In 1986 he was employed by Tachonics Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey where he was Executive Director of Design for analog and microwave GaAs MMICs. He joined Compact Software, Paterson, New Jersey in 1989 as Vice President of Marketing and Sales. Starting in 1993, he was employed by Raytheon Commercial Electronics, Andover, Massachusetts, in a number of positions including MMIC Design and Product Development Manager and Director of Advanced Products and New Techniques. From 1999 to 2014, Ray was employed by Cree Inc. in Durham, North Carolina in a variety of technical and managerial roles within the RF business unit. From 2006, he was responsible for strategic business development of wide bandgap technologies for RF and microwave applications. Ray is now semi-retired and the founder of Prism Consulting NC. He has written over 140 technical papers, 4 technical books, holds 17 patents and is both a Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of the IET.

Monte Miller is currently compound semiconductor design manager for Freescale’s RF group.  Monte has over 25 years of experience in design, characterization and modeling and product development using GaAs, GaN and advanced silicon device technologies for wireless markets.  Monte has authored and co-authored over twenty five papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings and has eight issued U.S. patents.   Mr. Miller has B.S. in Electrical Engineering technology from Arizona State University and a M.S in Electrical Engineering from National Technological University, Fort Collins Colorado.

Since graduating from Texas A&M University in College Station with a MSEE (2000) and a BSEE (1996),James Nelson has worked for Qorvo, Inc., (formed by the merger of TriQuint and RFMD) in Richardson, Texas. James is the product line manager for base station power in the wireless infrastructure business unit. Prior to his current position, James was the product manager for point-to-point and VSAT radio business. He has been in the microwave industry for more than sixteen years.

Greg Baker has served as Senior Vice President and General Manager, RF & Microwave at MACOM since October 2014.  He previously served as Vice President, International Sales since February 2014. From September 2012 to February 2014, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Nitronex, LLC, a designer and manufacturer of gallium nitride (GaN) based RF solutions. From June 2010 to September 2012, he served as General Manager of RF Small Signal Products at NXP Semiconductors. From September 2008 to June 2010, he served as Sr. VP of Sales and Marketing at Mimix Broadband. Mr. Baker holds a BSEE from Texas A&M University, a MSEE from Georgia Tech, and an MS in Global Finance from HKUST/NYU Stern School of Business.