Editorial Board

Eelco is a 25+ year semiconductor executive with extensive international experience. He currently serves as VP of Business Development with Cyrium Technologies, Inc., a developer and supplier of multi-junction solar cells for the concentrating photovoltaic market. Prior to Cyrium, Eelco was a founding member of V-CAPS and also spent 14 years with Amkor Technology, most recently as SVP of Business Development. Previously, he spent four years in the Netherlands managing manufacturing operations for Eurasem, BV and held a variety of engineering management positions with Micron Technology, Inc. Eelco has a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan.

Christoph J. Brabec holds the chair "materials for electronics and energy technology (i-MEET)" at the materials science department of the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg. Further, he is the scientific director of the Erlangen division of the Bavarian research institute for renewable energy (ZAE Bayern, Erlangen). He received his Ph.D. (1995) in physical chemistry from Linz University, joined the group of Prof. Alan Heeger at UCSB for a sabbatical, and continued to work on all aspects of organic semiconductor spectroscopy as assistant professor at Linz University with Prof. Serdar Sariciftci. He joined the Siemens research labs as project leader for organic semiconductor devices in 2001 and joined Konarka in 2004, where he held the position of CTO before joining the university. He has authored and co-authored more than 150 papers and holds 200 patents and patent applications.

Alain recently became a professor at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany. His research will focus on the impact of nanoscale dimensions on the physical properties of materials; he also continues to work in the area of nanoelectronics metrology. He is a member of the International Metrology Technical Working Group, founder and co-chair of the U.S. Metrology Technical Working Group for the 2007 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, and chair of the Manufacturing Science and Technology Group of the American Vacuum Society. He was a SEMATECH Senior Fellow, with the main focus of his activities involving metrology industry coordination. He has edited the Handbook of Silicon Semiconductor Metrology, published in June 2001; is a Panel Member for the Metrology section of Future Fab International; and, he has co-edited three books that are conference proceedings from Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology and its predecessor conference. He also worked at Allied Signal in the areas of molecular beam epitaxy of III-V compounds and materials characterization of a broad range of semiconductor and amorphous metal products.

Robert E. Geer is a professor of Nanoscale Science and vice president for Academic Affairs in the CNSE at the University at Albany. As a founding faculty of the CNSE, he has maintained an active research, education and outreach portfolio in the science and engineering of nanotechnology. He has published more than 100 technical articles, books and book chapters. Professor Geer’s research in emerging energy applications, nanoelectronics and nanomaterials has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Department of Energy, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Semiconductor Research Corporation, DARPA, International SEMATECH and the New York office of Science, Technology and Academic Research.

Lior Handelsman is responsible for the company's product management activities, including product planning, definition, marketing and positioning. He also handles internal company project management and is responsible for the company's business development activities. Prior to co-founding SolarEdge Technologies, Mr. Handelsman was an Electro-Optics R&D Branch Head at the Electronics Research Department (ERD) of the Intelligence Corps, a top research and development unit of the IDF. During this time, his duties included collecting customer requirements and product specifications; assimilation of new technologies and products; in addition to managerial responsibility for both the branch and several large-scale techno-operational projects. From 1996 to 2003, he held several R&D positions in the ERD, including design engineering, large-scale project management and he was also head of the ERD's power electronics group. Mr. Handelsman holds a B.Sc. in electrical engineering (cum laude) and an MBA from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

Craig Hunter runs Intermolecular’s Clean Energy Technologies Group. He came to Intermolecular in early 2009 from Sequoia Capital, a leading venture capital firm, where he served as entrepreneur-in-residence. Mr. Hunter started Applied Materials’ thin film solar business in 2005 and was general manager of that group until mid-2008. Some of Mr. Hunter’s previous roles include: senior manager for the E-beam Test (EBT) and PVD Products of AKT, Inc.; CFO of Evercare Corp.; and director of M&A at The Beacon Group. He received a B.A. in East Asian studies from Harvard College and graduated with high distinction from Harvard Business School.

Philippe Malbranche is the research programme manager at CEA-INE. He received his engineering degree at the Ecole Centrale de Paris. Philippe started working in 1980 in the South Pacific on rural electrification projects with renewable energies. Afterward, he joined successively the French Department of Energy, Photowatt, the French PV manufacturer; and CEA-GENEC, a research laboratory focused on PV systems, which he managed until 2004. Since then, he helped in setting up INES, the new French Solar Energy Research Institute, which now hosts 200 researchers and covers various fields: PV cells, PV systems, solar thermal systems and zero-energy buildings. Philippe is also a member of the Steering Committee of the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform.

Danielle Merfeld is the director of the Solar Technology Platform at GE’s Global Research Center. She is responsible for managing the PV-related projects across the Center with topics ranging from material development to grid controls. Prior to taking on this role in 2007, she spent seven years managing the Semiconductor Technology Laboratory. Dr. Merfeld received her B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Northwestern University. She has authored or co-authored over 60 papers in refereed technical journals and has given scientific presentations at conferences and symposiums around the world. Dr. Merfeld is also a director on the Board of the Tyndall National Institute.

Brent spent most of his career studying second-generation photovoltaic (PV) devices; primarily hydrogenated amorphous silicon and its alloys at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He has worn many hats through his carrier and worked his way up from laboratory technician to staff scientist to leading the amorphous silicon team. Brent has authored 18 publications and numerous internal documents as well as co-authored an additional 77 other scientific publications. Brent referees papers for numerous journals and conferences. With more than 500 citations for his research, and having given dozens of scientific talks, Brent's work is well recognized in the amorphous silicon PV field.

Currently Brent manages a laboratory designed to integrate as many of the PV technologies and material characterization techniques as possible. The ultimate goal is to get the appropriate skill sets, working together with state-of-the-art equipment, to answer the most pressing PV-related questions. The operation of this facility, known as the process development and integration lab (PDIL) requires integrated hardware, software and "peopleware". It is one of NREL's most visible
laboratories.

Brent is also well known within the PV community for his expertise in safety practices in working with hazardous production materials (HPMs) and has chaired the HPM safety panel at NREL for over a decade. He has been on the organizing committee for six international scientific conferences, including a joint conference of the premier United States, Asian and European PV communities. Brent also volunteers with the NREL education office on promoting renewable energy in the classroom and is on the advisory board for the development of a renewable energy class at a local high school. He has given talks on the bigger energy picture to numerous community and industrial groups.

NREL is the premier laboratory dedicated to renewable energy within the Department of Energy's National Laboratory system: http://www.nrel.gov/html

Kristian Peter obtained his Master of Science degree in physics in 1993 at the University of Konstanz. He received his Ph.D. in applied solid state physics in 1997. Since 1997, Dr. Peter has been responsible for the further development of crystalline silicon solar cells. Since 2002, he has contributed significantly to the development of solar grade silicon feedstock from metallurgical process route at Elkem Solar (Norway). Dr. Peter is a co-founder of ISC Konstanz
and a member of the board of directors, as its CEO. Since January 2007, he has been working full time as a researcher, leading the department of advanced solar cell processes.

William Richardson heads Research & Development for SOLON Corporation, where he oversees module testing and product development as well as strategic management and evaluation of new technologies for the North American market. Prior to joining SOLON in 2008, Bill worked for Tucson Electric Power, where he developed a profound understanding of the challenges inherent in large-scale adoption of photovoltaics into the grid. In 2009, he implemented SOLON's North American Outdoor Testing Facility, where next-generation module, tracking and systems integration testing are conducted. Bill holds dual degrees in Renewable Natural Resources and Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona, where he currently sits on the advisory board for the Material Sciences and Engineering Department.

Currently an automation engineer with Heliovolt Corporation, Steve recommends and implements SCADA, MES, SPC, automated material handling and equipment control systems for thin films photovoltaic panel manufacturing. For more than 20 years, he has been a software/control systems product manager and engineer in the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industry. Prior to Heliovolt, Steve worked for MKS Instruments, Brooks Automation, Advanced Micro Devices, Dell Computer, SEMATECH and Veeco.

Prof. dr. Wim Sinke is Program Development Manager in the Solar Energy unit of the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and part-time professor at Utrecht University on “Science and Applications of Sustainable Energy Systems.” He is an active member of the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform; from 2005 to 2009 as leader of the Working Group on Science, Technology & Applications, and from 2009 on as general chairman. Wim Sinke has 30 years’ experience in photovoltaics. In 1999, he received the Royal Dutch/Shell Prize for Sustainability and Energy for his work in the field of photovoltaic solar energy. He has also authored and co-authored over 200 papers in the fields of solar cells, applications of photovoltaics, and semiconductor processing, published in: Proceedings of EC, IEEE and Asia-Pacific PV Conferences, Journal of Applied Physics, Applied Physics Letters, Physical Review B, Physical Review Letters, Solar Cells and Solar Energy Materials, Progress in Photovoltaics, etc.