Annual Meeting

2024 Meeting Recap

PowerAmerica’s most recent Annual Meeting was held March 12-25, 2024, on NC State University’s Centennial Campus, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The three-and-a-half-day gathering of leaders and experts in silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) technology offered networking sessions, keynote remarks, industry perspectives, student poster sessions and PowerAmerica project updates.

Meeting Highlights

• 264 in-person attendees and 70 virtual connections
• Three Tutorials on SiC Power MOSFET Reliability and GaN in Transportation Electrification
• 10 technical presentations (Member Initiated Projects)
• 30+ Industry Member Session Presentations
• Two Industry Panel Discussions:
  • US SiC Chip Manufacturing – Panelists: Microchip, Wolfspeed, Qorvo
  • GaN Chip Production in the USA – Panelists: Infineon, Global Foundries, SkyWater, Polar Semiconductor
• Special presentations from Omdia’s Callum Middleton and NC State’s John Muth:
  • Update on the International Semiconductor Market – Callum Middleton
  • New CHIPS Act-funded Microelectronics Innovation Hub: Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide bandgap Semiconductors (CLAWS) – John Muth, CLAWS PI and Co-Director
• Nine New PowerAmerica Members Introduced
• 10+ industry sectors represented in attendance: Semiconductor production, Materials, Power Electronics, Automotive, Defense, Data centers and UPS, HVAC, Power Grid, Manufacturing Equipment, Scientific Instruments, and more
• Two evening Networking Receptions
• Half-day DOE Power Electronics Roadmap Session, on Friday 
• 16 guests from 14 non-member companies and universities

Keynote Presentations

Raj Nair: “Foundry Power Management Innovations – Technology and Business Considerations”

Vice President for Power Products – GlobalFoundries

Raj Nair is the Vice President for Power Products at GlobalFoundries. GF is a US-headquartered pure-play foundry with a truly global footprint. GF completed a successful IPO in 2021. Prior to Mr. Nair’s current position, he ran the Technology Development group in Singapore where several of the Power and Non-Volatile technologies currently in volume production were developed. Mr. Nair has over 30 years of Operations and R&D experience in the semiconductor and advanced battery industries.

Before joining GlobalFoundries in 2013, Mr. Nair held executive positions at Johnson Controls, Maxim, Motorola and On Semiconductor. At Johnson Controls he was the Vice President for Advanced Manufacturing and Quality. Raj is a pioneer in the development of SmartPower integrated circuit technologies. Raj has an MSEE degree from NTU, an M.S. ChE from Syracuse University and a B.Tech degree from IIT Bombay. Raj has been awarded eight patents and has authored multiple publications in the semiconductor domain.

Emmanuel Sabonnadière: “The SmartSiC™ and all the advancements made on this substrate”

SVP Division Automotive & Industrial – Soitec

Since July 2021, Emmanuel Sabonnadière has served as the Senior Vice President of the Automotive & Industrial Division at Soitec, where he also oversees the Strategic Program for Silicon Carbide (SiC).

Prior to this role, from September 2017 to July 2021, Dr. Sabonnadière held the position of CEO at CEA-Leti, a renowned laboratory in the fields of microelectronics and biotechnology located in Grenoble, France. Preceding his tenure at CEA-Leti, he served as CEO and Chairman of the Division Professional at Signify, formerly known as Philips Lighting, based in Amsterdam, for two years. From 2014 to 2016, he was a Senior Associate at the MidCap Private Equity firm Gimv, operating out of Paris, Antwerp, Munich, and The Hague.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Sabonnadière held executive roles including CEO and Chairman of General Cable Europe & Africa in Barcelona. He also served as CEO of NKM Noell GmbH, the German branch of the REEL Group, from 2005 to 2008. Furthermore, he spent five years as Vice President of the Distribution Transformers division at Alstom T&D. His career began in 1992 at Schneider Electric, where he held various positions, including Managing Director of equipment units for a decade.

Dr. Sabonnadière brings with him extensive experience in innovation, technology, and successful business strategies, with a proven track record spanning over three decades. An advocate for operational excellence, technological innovation, talent management, and inspiring leadership, Mr. Sabonnadière’s profound industry experience positions him as a highly respected and knowledgeable Senior actor in the International business landscape.

Dr. Sabonnadière holds a Ph.D. in Physics and an engineering degree in Information Technology, both from France, as well as an MBA from France.

Dev Shenoy: “DoD microelectronics priorities and plans”

Principal Director for Microelectronics – U.S. Dept. of Defense

Dev Shenoy joined the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, OUSD(R&E), as the Principal Director for Microelectronics in July 2021. In this role, Dr. Shenoy is responsible for leading the Department of Defense’s research and engineering efforts in microelectronics. He has provided numerous keynote addresses, participated in multiple discussion panels, and given interviews across a broad range of industry, academic, interagency, and defense communities.

Prior to joining OUSD(R&E), Dr. Shenoy served as the Director of Microelectronics Innovation and as Director of Advanced Technologies at the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute (USC/ISI).

Prior to joining USC/ISI, Dr. Shenoy served as Chief Engineer in the Advanced Manufacturing Office at the Department of Energy (DoE). In that role, he co-authored DoE’s 2015 Quadrennial Technology Review that served as a blueprint for DoE’s energy technology investments. Among other initiatives, Dr. Shenoy proposed and led a “Big Idea” for U.S. national security and economic competitiveness within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy on “Beyond Moore Computing” with participation from eight DoE national labs.

Prior to joining DoE, Dr. Shenoy served as a Senior Advisor at the Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy (MIBP) Office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) as a detailee from the Army Night Vision and Sensors Directorate at Fort Belvoir. In that role, he co-led a telecom initiative with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to explore U.S. opportunities in optical networks. While at OSD/MIBP, Dr. Shenoy proposed and helped develop a public-private partnership in photonics that led to the creation of the AIM Photonics Institute.

Prior to serving at OSD/MIBP, Dr. Shenoy was a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency where he developed and managed cutting-edge technology programs in the areas of spintronics, such as the Spin Torque Transfer Random Access Memory program, a technology that was successfully transitioned and commercialized. Dr. Shenoy also developed and led programs in photonics and micro-electromechanical systems or defense and commercial applications.

Dr. Shenoy has a Ph.D. in physics from the prestigious Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India, and National Science Foundation post-doctoral experience from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.