Advanced Energy
Advanced Energy
A global leader in innovative power and control technologies that drive high-growth, plasma thin-film and nontech manufacturing processes.
PRODUCTS & SERVICES  |   NEWS & EVENTS  |   REFERENCE LIBRARY  |   SALES & SUPPORT  |   FAQ  |   MEMBER SIGN IN
AE Print Image
OFFICERS & BOARD

Executive Officers


Photo of Dr. Hans Betz Hans Betz 		Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Hans-Georg Betz joined Advanced Energy’s Board of Directors in July 2004 and was appointed to President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2005. Dr. Betz has over 30 years of experience in the electronics industry. Previously, he was chief executive officer of West STEAG Partners GmbH and STEAG Electronic System AG, as well as a managing director at Leybold AG. Dr. Betz currently serves as a board member for Mattson Technology.



Photo of Yuval Wasserman 
Yuval Wasserman 		President and Chief Operating Officer

Yuval Wasserman joined Advanced Energy in August 2007, bringing 24 years of executive, management, and technical experience in the semiconductor industry. Immediately prior to joining AE, Mr. Wasserman served as the President and CEO of Tevet Process Control Technologies, Inc., where he led the development and growth of the company. Prior to that, he held senior executive and general management positions at Boxer Cross (metrology company: acquired by Applied Materials, Inc.), Fusion Systems (plasma strip: a division of Axcelis Technologies, Inc.), and AG Associates (RTP). Mr. Wasserman started his career at National Semiconductor, where he held various process engineering and management positions.

Mr. Wasserman earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Ben Gurion University in Israel and studied business at the AEA/Stanford University Executive Institute.


Photo of Lawrence D. Firestone 
Lawrence D. Firestone
Chief Financial Officer

Lawrence D. Firestone joined Advanced Energy in August 2006 as executive vice president and chief financial officer.  He was most recently chief financial officer at Applied Films Corporation, a $240 million thin-film deposition equipment provider based in Longmont, Colorado, where he lead several strategic initiatives such as global manufacturing, gross margin improvement, acquisition strategy, integration, and public market financing. Prior to joining Applied Films, Mr. Firestone served as vice president and chief operating officer of Avalanche Industries, an electronics manufacturing services company located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Earlier, he held finance and operations positions at Woolson Spice and Coffee Company, TechniStar Corporation and Colorado Manufacturing Technology, Inc. in addition to consulting work for several early-stage technology companies. Mr. Firestone currently serves on the board of directors, and is the chairman of the audit committee of Amtech Systems, Inc., a publicly held semiconductor equipment company. 

Board of Directors
  Year
Joined		  
Douglas S. Schatz
Chairman		 1981 Douglas S. Schatz is a co-founder of Advanced Energy and has been its chairman and a director since its incorporation in 1981. He also served as chief executive officer until August 2005 and as president until July 1999. In March 2001, Mr. Schatz was re-appointed as president. Since December 1995, Mr. Schatz has served as a director of Advanced Power Technology, Inc., a company which provides high power, high voltage, and high performance semiconductors and power modules.

Richard P. Beck 1995 Richard P. Beck joined Advanced Energy in March 1992 as vice president and chief financial officer and became senior vice president in February 1998. He became a director of Advanced Energy in September 1995. In October 2001, Mr. Beck retired as chief financial officer but remained a senior vice president until June 2002. Mr. Beck is chairman of the board of Applied Films Corporation, a publicly held manufacturer of flat panel display equipment. He is also a director of TTM, Inc., a publicly held manufacturer of printed circuit boards, and serves as chairman of its audit committee.
Elwood Spedden 1995

Elwood Spedden was a vice president of KLA-Tencor Semiconductor, a manufacturer of automatic test equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductors, from July 1996 to June 1997. From 1990 through March 1996, Mr. Spedden was with Credence Systems Corporation, a manufacturer of automatic test equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductors, in various senior management positions including president, chief executive officer, and vice-chairman of the board of directors. In January 2002, Mr. Spedden joined the board of directors of Photon Dynamics, Inc., a publicly held manufacturer of flat panel display test equipment. From 1996 to 2001, Mr. Spedden was a director of Insight Objects, a privately held software company.
Trung T. Doan 2000 Mr. Doan is currently the Chairman and CEO of SemiLEDs Corporation. Mr. Doan held various management and executive positions at companies such as Intel, Honeywell and Micron where he had worked from 1988 to 2003 with the last position as Vice President of Process Development. Earlier, he served as President and CEO of Jusung Engineering, Inc., a major semiconductor/LCD equipment company in Korea. Prior to founding SemiLEDs, Mr. Doan was the Corporate Vice President of Applied Global Services (AGS) product group at Applied Materials.

Mr. Doan graduated from University of California with a Bachelor of Nuclear Engineering with honors. In 1981 after Mr. Doan received a Masters of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, he worked for Intel and received Intel's 1983 Outstanding Technology Development Award. He is an inventor of more than 200 patents with many pending. He was named as one of the most prolific inventors from 1988 to 1998 and was published by the U.S. patent office. Mr. Doan previously served on the Advanced Energy Board of Directors from July 2000 until January 2004.

Dr.Hans-Georg Betz 2004 Dr. Hans-Georg Betz joined Advanced Energy’s Board of Directors in July 2004 and was appointed to President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2005. Dr. Betz has over 30 years of experience in the electronics industry. Previously, he was chief executive officer of West STEAG Partners GmbH and STEAG Electronic System AG, as well as a managing director at Leybold AG. Dr. Betz currently serves as a board member for high-technology companies such as Mattson Technology, GuideTech, and Photodigm.

Thomas M. Rohrs 2006

Thomas M. Rohrs is currently chairman and chief executive officer of Electroglas, Inc., a supplier of wafer probing technologies to the semiconductor industry. Previously, he spent five years with Applied Materials, Inc., most recently as senior vice president of global operations, and was a member of its Executive Committee. He also has served as vice president of worldwide operations at Silicon Graphics and as senior vice president of manufacturing and customer service of MIPS Computer Systems. Mr. Rohrs also has worked in various manufacturing and operations positions at Hewlett-Packard Company. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Magma Design Automation, Inc., Ultra Clean Technology, and several private companies.
Edward C. Grady 2008 Edward C. Grady joined the Board of Directors of Advanced Energy in May 2008. From February 2003 until his retirement in October 2007, Mr. Grady was the president and chief executive officer of Brooks Automation, Inc., a leading worldwide provider of automation solutions to the global semiconductor and related industries, and continues to serve as a senior executive consultant. Prior to joining Brooks, he was a partner at Propel Partners, a venture firm in Palo Alto, California. Prior to this, he ran several divisions at KLA-Tencor and helped to grow the business to a level in excess of $1 billion in revenues. Before KLA-Tencor, he served as president and CEO of Hoya Micro Mask for three years. He started his career as an engineer for Monsanto/MEMC, and during his 13 years with the company, rose to the position of vice president of worldwide sales for EPI, the most profitable division in MEMC. Mr. Grady currently serves on the Board of Directors of the following publicly held companies: Evergreen Solar, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of solar panels and other solar energy products; Verigy Ltd., a provider of automated test systems for the semiconductor industry; and Electro Scientific Industries, Inc., a supplier of production equipment for micro-engineering applications.
Frederick A. Ball 2008 Frederick A. Ball currently serves as chief financial officer for Webroot, a software security company. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Electro Scientific Industries, a provider of photonic and laser systems for micro-engineering applications, and serves as a member of their audit committee. Mr. Ball's past positions include senior vice president and chief financial officer of Big Band Networks, a provider of network platforms for broadband multimedia services. He also held various executive positions at Borland Software Corporation, a provider of enterprise software development solutions, including chief financial officer and executive vice president of corporate development and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, Mr. Ball worked at KLA-Tencor Corporation, a manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, where he served as vice president, mergers and acquisitions, and vice president of finance. Mr. Ball holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and spent 11 years as a CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).