2008-08-18 20:55:04 -
www.semisouth.com - SemiSouth Laboratories, Inc., a clean energy enabler specializing in silicon carbide (SiC) based power management, announced today the appointment of Kenney Roberts as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Roberts previously served as SemiSouth's Chief Operating Officer since joining the company in early 2008.
"Kenney brings a unique combination of start-up experience and Fortune 500 executive management
experience to SemiSouth," said Don Mundie, a SemiSouth board member. "Kenney has helped drive significant advances in SemiSouth's operational performance, and we're confident that under Kenney's leadership the company is going to continue to grow and reach higher levels of performance."
Jeff Casady, CTO and Founder of SemiSouth, said, "I believe there is no better person than Kenney to lead SemiSouth at this time. He possesses a wealth of knowledge with a strong mix of business, engineering and operating skills. Kenney's expertise of commercializing new products has been proven over a vast array of technologies. As SemiSouth penetrates the Solar, SMPS and HEV markets, Kenney's leadership will be invaluable."
Mr. Roberts has over 30 years of experience in the high-tech industry, spanning both large public-traded corporations as well as venture-backed start-ups. Mr. Roberts started his career at Mostek Corporation in 1974 commercializing next-generation dynamic random access memory chips (DRAMS). He joined Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in 1983 and led the technology transition from NMOS to CMOS. In 1988, he became the Director of Engineering for AMD's Embedded Processor Division and ramped numerous next-generation processors to high volume production. In 1993, he joined Crystal Semiconductor as their VP of Operations and quickly established a manufacturing engine that propelled Crystal to become the largest mix-signal producer in the world. He later assumed the Sr. VP of Worldwide Operations role for Crystal's parent company, Cirrus Logic, and led the operations effort in Cirrus becoming the fastest fabless semiconductor company to achieve $1B in revenue. Since his work at Cirrus Logic, Mr. Roberts has guided several venture-backed high-tech startup companies. Mr. Roberts was the President and CEO of Colorado MicroDisplay, the COO of Layer N Networks, and the President and CEO of TeraVicta Technologies. Mr. Roberts holds a BSEE from the University of Texas at Arlington.
SemiSouth Laboratories, Inc.
Michele Grissett, 662-324-7607
michele.grissett@semisouth.com 
