5 June 2014

Soitec appoints Infineon/Intel veteran to lead microelectronics business in North America

Soitec of Bernin, France, which makes engineered substrates including silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers and III-V epiwafers, has named Thom Degnan as VP of sales & business development for its Electronics Division in North America. The strategic appointment comes at a time when the Electronics Division is focusing its silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology on fast-growing mainstream and emerging mobile communication markets – from smart phones to the Internet of Things – with products including its FD-SOI wafers for digital electronics and RF-SOI wafers for radio-frequency applications.

Degnan will be based in San Diego, CA, and will report to Thomas Piliszczuk, corporate senior VP of global sales, business development & marketing for the Electronics Division.

“With his valuable insight from the chip-making side of the business, Thom is a great asset to provide leadership in driving adoption of Soitec products in our target market segments,” says Piliszczuk. “He brings a wealth of knowledge in business development and customer service,” he adds.

Immediately before joining Soitec, Degnan was VP of business development for Intel’s Services Division and, prior to that, VP & general manager of the Americas Region of Intel Mobile Communications. Previously he was VP & general manager of the Americas Region of Infineon Technologies Inc, responsible for all sales, business development & marketing for its Communications Division (acquired by Intel in 2011).

Earlier in his career, Degnan held several executive management positions within Qualcomm and Scientific Atlanta Inc (now part of Cisco). He also has experience in starting and participating in three early-stage technology companies in the satellite and mobile communications markets.

Degnan has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Connecticut State University and an MBA in international business and finance from the University of New Haven in Connecticut.

Tags: Soitec SOI engineered substrates

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