| Sencera / About / Management Team |
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| Photo Credit: Beck Energy |
- Thin Film market share increased from 8% to 12% between 2006-07.
- Thin Film PV modules outperform crystalline technologies in diffuse and low-sunlight geographies.
- The Germany solar market now accounts for 47% of all global installations.
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Sencera is led by a seasoned management team with core competencies in plasma physics, hardware development and electrical engineering:
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Russell Jewett, Ph.D. (CEO & President)
Sencera was founded and funded by Dr. Russell Jewett in 2003. He has over 20 years experience with plasma tools for surface treatments. This includes publically supported research at Sandia National Laboratories, and private sector positions with Lam Research, Litmas, and Advanced Energies Industries, Inc. Dr. Jewett has worked on a variety of plasma sources and diagnostic techniques, resulting in several papers and 8 issued US patents to date. These patents span capacitive, inductive helicon and microwave discharges. In 1998, Dr. Jewett founded Litmas. Here he developed and commercialized a solid-state integrated |
power source that eliminated the need for a mechanical matching network. The Litmas Blue™ achieved a 10-fold reliability increase over traditional power delivery systems. In 2001, Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (AE) acquired Litmas. Dr Jewett served as Chief Technology Officer for AE’s Component Systems and Instrumentation Division. After his service at AE’s headquarter office in Colorado, Dr. Jewett returned to Charlotte, North Carolina to found Sencera. The new company focused on the thin film transistor and integrated circuit industries using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition applications. Early success led to a development contract with the US Display Consortium. Dr. Jewett earned a B.S. in Physics at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of New Mexico. Today he serves on the Board of Directors for
Sunpower Incorporated, is a member of North Carolina's Institute for Emerging Issues and is an Adjunct Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
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Britt Weaver (Chief Operating Officer)
Mr. Weaver brings a diverse professional background to Sencera. His experience spans large Fortune 100 multi-national companies to self-funded start-ups. Mr. Weaver worked 20 years in Marketing and Sales Management with diverse companies such as Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee, Kellogg’s and Beiersdorf AG. In his last corporate assignment, he served as Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations for SonicBlue, a Santa Clara, CA, based manufacturer of MP3 hardware, audio and video chips. Mr. Weaver has also raised private equity capital and managed several commercial / industrial real estate ventures. |
At Sencera, his responsibilities include securing investment, financial reporting, marketing and Public Relations. Mr. Weaver earned a B.A. in Political Science at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. He was also awarded a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University in Boston, MA. |
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Cyrus M. Herring, Ph.D. (Vice President, Research and Development)
Dr. Herring’s career includes 17 years experience in all aspects of plasma systems design and characterization. Before Sencera, he founded and served as the President of Caviton, Inc., a Champaign, Illinois based company focused on the development of gas diagnostic technology and sensor design. There Dr. Herring developed unique atmospheric sensors using optical emission spectroscopy to quantify contaminant concentrations for several different applications. Caviton developed plasma diagnostic tools for customers including the US Air Force, DARPA, Honeywell, The US Navy, and The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). |
At Sencera, Dr. Herring is responsible for optimizing materials and processes of the various layers forming silicon thin-film photovoltaic cells. This effort will result in higher solar conversion efficiency while reducing production costs. Dr. Herring earned a B.S. in Physics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, a Masters in Physics and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign, IL. He has been issued one US patent with several additional ones pending. |
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Steven Pugh (Director of Engineering)
A founding member of both Litmas and Sencera, Mr. Pugh has worked on the commercialization of high-density plasma sources and PECVD manufacturing platforms since 1998. He was instrumental in the design and validation of the Litmas Blue™ series of plasma and power delivery systems now owned and marketed by Advanced Energies Industries. At Sencera, Mr. Pugh designed the LPS-48, an inductively coupled plasma source, and Sencera’s Atmospheric Plasma source. In his current role, he leads hardware design initiatives for both plasma sources and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) process |
equipment. Most recent, Mr. Pugh developed the Viper™. This is Sencera’s thin film photovoltaic PECVD manufacturing platform. The Viper™ process chamber deposits uniform thin films on a variety of substrates in a high-vacuum environment. Mr. Pugh earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering at The Citadel, Charleston, SC and is completing requirements for a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA. |
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Brian Drews PE (Director of Process Engineering)
Mr. Drews adds diverse mechanical engineering and systems experience in semiconductor manufacturing to the Sencera Management team. Previous experience includes positions with FlexICs Inc., a San Jose, CA based company specialized in the development of flexible integrated circuits. There Mr. Drews designed the hardware used in laser crystallization for the Thin Film Transistor industry. This process is applicable to the deposition of microcrystalline thin films used for Sencera’s photovoltaic devices. He also designed and refined inductively coupled Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition processes resulting in innovative |
tools for processing on a variety of substrates. At Sencera, Mr. Drews is responsible for photovoltaic recipe development for both process materials and module. Mr. Drews was awarded a Mechanical Engineering Degree by The University of Wisconsin, Madison WI. He is a licensed Process Engineer. |
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Loren Charnley (Director of Corporate Development)
Mr. Charnley benefits Sencera with 18 years of electronics design experience and manufacturing integration. His career includes over 10 years with multinational corporations such as Texas Instruments and Siemens focused on Integrated Circuit Design. Mr. Charnley leveraged this experience at Dynazaign, Inc., a Charlotte, NC based design engineering consulting company. Here he worked on behalf of clients such as XM Satellite Radio and SmartSynch, Inc., to create prototypes, validate pilot manufacturing lines, source and ramp-up offshore manufacturing. As Dynazign’s CEO, Mr. Charnley’s efforts increased revenue 75% annually during his tenure. |
Responsibilities at Sencera include management of the manufacturing process from photovoltaic cell and modules prototypes to pilot production line ramp-up. He also directs and manages all information technology functions. Mr. Charnley earned a B.S. and Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering at The University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC. He is also a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. |
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Donald Bailey (Director of Manufacturing)
Mr. Bailey joins Sencera with 23 years of manufacturing, engineering and supervisory experience. He began his professional career with the US Navy in the Naval Nuclear Power Program. During his tenure, he attained the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer, the Navy’s highest enlisted rank. Mr. Bailey’s responsibilities included managing the Engineering Department for several submarines and the training, maintenance and operations of the Nuclear and Steam plant systems. He concluded his military career as the Submarine Squadron Six Assistant Engineer Officer / Senior Squadron Nuclear Engineer. Here he managed 5 nuclear engineering departments with 225 engineers and technicians. |
Private-sector management experience includes a position with Celgard LLC. Here he led a team of 135 managers and technicians in the Company’s Polyethylene and Polypropylene Flat sheet material manufacturing operations. At Celgard, Mr. Bailey developed and implemented comprehensive machinery documentation procedures. He also implemented Lean Manufacturing, 5S, and data analysis resulting in a 30% plant yield improvement and a 25% reduction in manufacturing costs. Responsibilities at Sencera include leading and managing the manufacturing / operations of the Charlotte, NC solar module manufacturing facility. Mr. Bailey graduated from the Naval Nuclear Power School and the Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit. He earned a B.S. degree in Nuclear Technology at Excelsior College and is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt. |
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