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IR restructures to commercialise GaN-on-silicon

The firm has appointed former VP and COO Mike Barrow to push gallium nitride technology for power device applications
International Rectifier Corporation has appointed Gary Tanner as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, effective January 2nd, 2013.

Tanner, 60, will report directly to Oleg Khaykin, President and Chief Executive Officer, and will be responsible for the continued implementation of the company’s operational transformation strategy.

Tanner will succeed Mike Barrow, 58, who will now lead the company’s efforts to commercialise its GaN on silicon technology.

“As we position IR for the next phase of growth, the execution of our operational transformation strategy and the successful launch of our GaN technology platform will be two of our major focus areas,” says Oleg Khaykin, International Rectifier’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Both Gary and Mike have outstanding track records in the semiconductor industry and I am confident in their leadership and management capabilities to drive two of our most critical initiatives.”

“I am excited about the opportunity to join International Rectifier and help build upon the strong foundation that is already in place,” adds Gary Tanner. “I look forward to working with IR’s talented operations team to continue implementing our operational transformation strategy. We believe that doing so will allow us to re-size our operations, reduce costs, effectively scale the business during an up-cycle and significantly reduce the downward margin pressure during a down cycle.”

Tanner brings over 35 years of semiconductor industry experience to IR and most recently served as Chief Executive Officer at Zarlink Semiconductor Inc., which was acquired by Microsemi Corporation in October, 2011.

Prior to his role as Chief Executive Officer. Tanner served as Chief Operating Officer where he was responsible for increasing Zarlink’s operational efficiency and streamlining operations. He joined Zarlink in 2007 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations via the acquisition of Legerity where he served as the Head of Operations.

Before Zarlink, Tanner worked for nine years at Intel Corporation, where he held various positions managing domestic and international manufacturing operations. Prior to Intel, Tanner held various management positions in fab operations at National Semiconductor, Texas Instruments and NCR. Tanner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Technical Management from Regis College.

“The company has made a significant investment in developing GaN technology over the past nine years. As we move from the research and development phase to production, we are putting one of our most senior and talented executives in charge of this strategic initiative to ensure the successful commercialization of this revolutionary new technology,” states Khaykin.

“Mike joined IR in 2008 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer and was the principal architect of IR’s operational transformation strategy. I thank Mike for his leadership and contribution to IR’s growth over the past four years and look forward to his continued leadership as the Executive Vice President of GaN Technologies and his success in commercialising the technology. In his new role Mike will be responsible for all aspects of GaN, including process and product development, product marketing, and manufacturing,” continues Khaykin.

“I look forward to leading this critical strategic initiative for IR,” adds Mike Barrow. “We have a highly talented GaN technology team, a large library of intellectual property, and have successfully validated our GaN technologies with Tier 1 customers. The next step is for us to fully commercialise this exciting new platform. IR is already a market leader in silicon power management technologies and it is my goal to extend this lead and open up new opportunities with our GaN technologies.”

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