The supervisory board of SUSS MicroTec AG of Garching, Germany, which makes photomask aligners, laser processing systems and wafer bonders, has appointed Dr Franz Richter as a new member of the management board (with a contract running for three years, after assuming the role of president & CEO on 7 September.
Following his professional activities as a scientist at the Carl Zeiss Group and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, Richter spent 14 years working for SUSS MicroTec, the last six of them as its CEO until 2004. During this time, the IPO took place and revenue grew beyond 200m Euro. After serving as president of the Semiconductor Equipment Division at Unaxis (now OC Oerlikon) in Pfuffikon, Switzerland, he set up Thin Materials AG and became its CEO in 2007. The firm is engaged in process development for 3D chip integration and was sold in 2013 to Nissan Chemical Industries Ltd of Tokyo, Japan. Richter currently serves as a member of the supervisory board of the stock-listed firm Siltronic AG of Munich, Germany, and of the administrative board of Meyer Burger Technology AG of Gwatt, Switzerland and the COMET Holding AG of Flamatt, Switzerland.
SUSS MicroTec says that, during his career, Richter has gained international expertise in technology management topics, especially in the semiconductor industry. In all these years, he remained closely linked to SUSS MicroTec. Richter stands for "continuity and, at the same time, for innovative solutions," comments supervisory board chairman Dr Stefan Reineck.
