NASHUA, N.H.--()--GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) today announced that Dan Squiller has joined the company as President of PV and Worldwide Operations in a newly-created senior role based out of the company’s global operations headquarters in Hong Kong. Squiller will be responsible for the company’s DSS™ and HiCz™ PV businesses, as well as the company’s worldwide manufacturing and field service operations.
“As the company continues to grow and diversify, we need to add depth and broaden the experience base of our executive leadership team,” said Tom Gutierrez, president and chief executive officer. “In Dan Squiller, an executive with whom I have had a long association, we have added an experienced operations executive with a track record of successfully leading and growing global companies.”
Squiller comes to GT with over 25 years of senior technical and business leadership experience and a track record of success in operations, R&D, business development, and sales and marketing roles. Most recently, he was CEO of PowerGenix, a cleantech battery company, where he helped grow the organization from an eight person R&D company to a high volume producer with production and R&D operations in China. Prior to that he was president of the power components business at Invensys, a global division with over $1 billion in annual sales serving the semiconductor, industrial, telecom/datacom, medical, instrumentation, and defense markets.
The company also announced that Vikram Singh, Ph.D, previously vice president and general manager of PV Equipment and Engineering, has been appointed to a new position as executive vice president of advanced systems development, PV R&D and Corporate Engineering Services. In this new role, Singh will focus on next generation solar technologies that are expected to lower cost per watt to levels that can make solar more competitive with traditional sources of energy. Singh will also support Squiller as interim general manager of the HiCz business until the initial launch of GT’s HiCz equipment offering, slated for calendar year 2013.
“We are fortunate to have a talented technology leader like Vikram Singh on board to lead our efforts in next generation solar technologies,” continued Gutierrez. Dr. Singh, who joined GT in 2010, has over two decades of experience in the capital equipment arena including technology development leadership roles at Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates and Novellus Systems Incorporated. In his tenure at GT, Singh has led the development and launch of 3 generations of DSS furnaces, including the recently launched DSS™ MonoCast™, as well as the integration of Confluence Solar and development of the company’s HiCz product.
The company’s chief technology officer, Dr. P.S. Raghavan, who will continue to report to the company’s chief strategy officer, Dr. David Gray ,will separately lead the company’s expanded focus on advanced systems for silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN) and other emerging crystalline technology areas that leverage GT’s core competencies and support the company’s diversification strategy.
“These moves are intended to broaden the company’s executive and technical management teams as the company increases its investment in R&D, navigates through near term market challenges, drives diversification and seeks to double its revenue base over the next 4 to 5 years,” concluded Gutierrez.
About GT Advanced Technologies Inc.
GT Advanced Technologies Inc. is a global provider of polysilicon production technology and sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets. The company's products and services allow its customers to optimize their manufacturing environments and lower their cost of ownership. For additional information about GT Advanced Technologies, please visit www.gtat.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the information in this press release relate to future expectations, plans and prospects for our business and industry that constitute "forward-looking statements" for the purposes of the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, all statements regarding continued growth and diversification of the company, anticipation of introducing next generation solar technologies that are expected to lower cost per watt to levels that can make solar more competitive with traditional sources of energy , initial launch of HiCz™ equipment in calendar year 2013, company's continued efforts in generating next generation technologies, company's focus on advanced systems for silicon carbide and gallium nitride and other emerging crystalline technology areas, future increases in investments in research and development, diversification of the business and revenue streams, company targeting to double the revenue base over the next 4 to 5 years. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the company's control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. These factors may include the possibility that the company is unable to recognize revenue on contracts in its order backlog. We cannot guarantee that our bookings or order backlog will result in actual revenue in the originally anticipated period or at all, which could reduce our revenue, profitability and liquidity. Other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements include the impact of continued decreased demand and/or excess capacity in the markets for the output of our solar and sapphire equipment, general economic conditions and the tightening credit market for having an adverse impact on demand for our products, the possibility that changes in government incentives may reduce demand for solar products, which would, in turn, reduce demand for our equipment, technological changes could render existing products or technologies obsolete, the company may be unable to protect its intellectual property rights, competition from other manufacturers may increase, exchange rate fluctuations and conditions in the credit markets and economy may reduce demand for the company's products and various other risks as outlined in GT Advanced Technologies Inc.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the statements under the heading "Risk Factors" in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. The statements in this press release represent GT Advanced Technologies Inc.'s expectations and beliefs as of the date of this press release. GT Advanced Technologies Inc. anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause these expectations and beliefs to change. GT Advanced Technologies Inc. is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.