Amtech Appoints Dr. James Hwang as Chief Technology Officer and Dr. SooKap Hahn to Board of Directors

Semiconductor and solar industry veterans bring extensive technology expertise and experience

TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASYS), a global supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies for the manufacture of solar cells, semiconductors, and sapphire and silicon wafers, today announced the appointment of Dr. James (Jeong Mo) Hwang, Ph.D., as Vice President, Chief Technology Officer and Dr. SooKap Hahn to its Board of Directors.

Dr. Hwang has more than 22 years of semiconductor and solar industry experience with career highlights in semiconductor device and process technologies, including crystalline silicon solar cell research and development. He has previously served in senior engineering positions with Westinghouse R&D Center and Texas Instruments, senior management positions with Simtek Corporation and Spansion, and executive management positions including VP with LG Semicon Company and Executive VP of R&D with Dongbu-Anam Semiconductor, both based in Korea. Dr. Hwang has authored and co-authored more than 30 journal and conference papers related to the semiconductor and solar cell areas. He received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University. Dr. Hwang has served the last two years on Amtech's Board of Directors.

Dr. Hahn brings more than 30 years of semiconductor experience to Amtech's board. He obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University in 1975 and 1978, respectively, and in 1991 joined Stanford University's faculty as a consulting professor. His career also includes senior management positions at Siltec Corporation and LG Siltron (a Korean wafer manufacturing company). In 1994, he started a high technology consulting company and has been carrying out various high technology transfer projects between the USA and Pacific Rim countries. He has organized more than 25 national and international technical symposia on CMP, Defect Engineering, Materials Characterization, Wafers, SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) and Wafer Cleaning. He was a distinguished guest professor at Helsinki University in 1986 and at Universidade de Sao Paulo in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1994 and 1995. He was also a technical advisor for the Ministry of Science and Technology in Brazil in 1995 and 1996. Dr. Hahn established a start-up company, SKW Associates, Inc. in 1997, which is providing standard characterization products for the chemical-mechanical polishing process used in the semiconducting manufacturing industry.

J.S. Whang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Amtech, commented "Dr. Hwang's extensive technology experience has been a valuable asset to our board and will now be even more valuable as he assumes day-to-day responsibility for the key technology projects we are pursuing as we continue our efforts to expand and enhance our solar product offerings and become increasingly technology focused. His tremendous knowledge of semiconductor device physics and process technologies will greatly benefit our ability to further adapt from semiconductor technology and continue to grow and improve our solar capabilities, with the goal of helping our customers increase the efficiency of their solar cells.

"I am very pleased to have Dr. Hahn join our board and further strengthen our technology bench. His tremendous experience in the semiconductor industry, including R&D projects and materials expertise, will be a valuable asset to our board as we continue to pursue technology solutions for our solar customers. With these latest changes in our management and board, I believe we are well positioned to continue successful execution of our growth strategies."

About Amtech

Amtech Systems, Inc. manufactures capital equipment, including silicon wafer handling automation, thermal processing equipment and related consumables used in fabricating solar cells, LED and semiconductor devices. Semiconductors, or semiconductor chips, are fabricated on silicon wafer substrates, sliced from ingots, and are part of the circuitry, or electronic components, of many products including solar cells, computers, telecommunications devices, automotive products, consumer goods, and industrial automation and control systems. The Company's wafer handling, thermal processing and consumable products currently address the diffusion, oxidation, and deposition steps used in the fabrication of solar cells, LEDs, semiconductors, MEMS and the polishing of newly sliced silicon wafers.

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    Source: Amtech Systems, Inc.