Shannon Davis

News and Web Editor

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Shannon, writes, edits and produces Semiconductor Digest’s news articles, email newsletters, blogs, webcasts, and social media posts. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Huntington University in Huntington, IN. In addition to her years of freelance business reporting, Shannon has also worked in marketing and public relations in the renewable energy and healthcare industries.

David J. Kenyon appointed CEO and Patrick Sullivan to CTO for Elevate Semiconductor

Elevate Semiconductor, announced that its Board of Directors has appointed David J. Kenyon as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Kenyon previously held the position of Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Elevate. The board of directors also appointed Patrick Sullivan to CTO. Patrick previously held the post of CEO.

Intel Acquires Artificial Intelligence Chipmaker Habana Labs

Intel Corporation today announced that it has acquired Habana Labs, an Israel-based developer of programmable deep learning accelerators for the data center for approximately $2 billion. The combination strengthens Intel’s artificial intelligence (AI) portfolio and accelerates its efforts in the nascent, fast-growing AI silicon market, which Intel expects to be greater than $25 billion by 2024. Intel’s AI strategy is grounded in the belief that harnessing the power of AI to improve business outcomes requires a broad mix of technology – hardware and software – and full ecosystem support. Today, Intel AI solutions are helping customers turn data into business value and driving meaningful revenue for the company.

City College Leads New Photonics Breakthrough

A new approach to trapping light in artificial photonic materials by a City College of New York-led team could lead to a tremendous boost in the transfer speed of data online. Research into topological photonic metamaterials headed by City College physicist Alexander B. Khanikaev reveals that long-range interactions in the metamaterial changes the common behavior of light waves forcing them to localize in space. Further, the study shows that by controlling the degree of such interactions one can switch between trapped and extended (propagating) character of optical waves.

Global Fab Equipment Spending Rebounds in Second Half of 2019 with Stronger 2020 Projected

Projected 2019 global fab equipment spending has been revised upward to US$56.6 billion on the strength of surging memory investments in the latter part of the year after a weak first half, SEMI reported today in its World Fab Forecast. SEMI data now point to just a 7 percent decline in fab equipment investments from 2018 to 2019, a marked improvement on the previously forecast drop of 18 percent. Rising investments in memory – particularly 3D NAND – leading-edge logic and foundries have powered the turnaround.

FLEX and MSTC 2020 to Showcase Flexible Hybrid Electronics, MEMS and Sensors Innovations for More Personalized Applications

Flexible hybrid electronics breakthroughs are driving the next wave of smart MEMS and sensing solutions for more personalized, portable electronics, setting the stage for the co-located Flexible Hybrid Electronics Conference and Exhibition (FLEX) and MEMS & Sensors Technical Congress (MSTC) Feb. 24-27, 2020. Co-sponsored by SEMI FlexTech and SEMI MEMS & Sensors Industry Group, FLEX and MSTC will gather more than 100 global experts for market and technical presentations, tech courses, and more than 50 exhibit opportunities for connecting with industry visionaries at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in San Jose, Calif. Registration is now open.

MIRISE Technologies to be Launched to Develop Semiconductors in Effort to Achieve Safe and Comfortable Future Global Mobility Society

DENSO Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation today announced that they have named the joint venture to be established in April 2020 MIRISE Technologies (“MIRISE”). The joint venture will conduct research and advanced development of next-generation in-vehicle semiconductors. MIRISE is an acronym for Mobility Innovative Research Institute for SEmiconductors. It also conveys “mirai” (a Japanese word for “future”) and “rise.” Yoshifumi Kato has been appointed President and Representative Director of the new company.

Industry Veteran Dr. Randy Allen Joins SiFive as Vice President of RISC-V Software

 SiFive, Inc., the leading provider of commercial RISC-V processor IP and silicon solutions, today announced that Dr. Randy Allen has joined the company as vice president of RISC-V software. Dr. Allen will be responsible for developing and implementing RISC-V software strategy for SiFive. Dr. Allen brings more than 30 years of industry experience and, most recently, served as vice president of software engineering at Wave Computing. He has also served in leadership roles at tech companies such as Mentor Graphics, National Instruments and Cypress Semiconductor.

QuickLogic Names New Chairman of the Board

QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK), a developer of ultra-low power multi-core voice-enabled SoCs, embedded FPGA IP, and Endpoint AI solutions, today announced the appointment of Michael R. Farese as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective December 6, 2019 to replace E. Thomas Hart, who passed away on December 3, 2019. Michael R. Farese (Ph.D.) has been serving as a member of QuickLogic’s Board of Directors since April 2008, most recently as the lead independent director, and brings to the position a deep understanding of consumer products, converged devices and wireless markets.

Aldec’s New FPGA-based NVMe Data Storage Solution Targets High Performance Computing Applications

Aldec, Inc., a pioneer in mixed HDL language simulation and hardware-assisted verification for FPGA and ASIC designs, has launched a powerful, versatile and time- saving FPGA-based NVMe Data Storage solution to aid in the development of High Performance Computing (HPC) applications such as High Frequency Trading and Machine Learning. The solution includes an Aldec TySOM embedded prototyping board, up to eight high-bandwidth, low- latency FMC-NVMe daughter cards, and a reference design (including source files and binaries) allowing engineers to fast-track their projects.

Nordson Corporation Announces Planned Retirement of Chief Financial Officer

Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ-NDSN) today announced that Gregory A. Thaxton, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, plans to retire in 2020 after thirty successful years with the company, with the last 12 years as CFO. The company has initiated a search of internal and external candidates for his successor. Mr. Thaxton will remain in his current role throughout this transition period. Mr. Thaxton started his career with Nordson in 1989. He became part of the executive leadership team in February 2007 when he was named Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer. He was appointed CFO in January 2008.