Game Change Agency is pleased to announce that GCA Member and Game Changer Daniel Armbrust has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Ayar Labs, Inc., a silicon photonics startup.
About Daniel Armbrust
Daniel Armbrust is a co-founder and initial CEO of Silicon Catalyst, the industry’s first incubator for semiconductor solutions startups. Silicon Catalyst, located in Silicon Valley, is addressing the challenges faced by early stage companies including obtaining funding, engaging with customers, and building prototypes. In its 3rd year of operations, Silicon Catalyst has admitted 14 companies from over 140 applications and has 20 industry partners.
Daniel is also currently working with the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs to define a strategic public-private partnership program to continue advances in computing and semiconductor technologies. He currently serves on the Boards of Silicon Catalyst and Ayar Labs, a silicon photonics startup.
He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of SEMATECH from 2009 to 2014, with the responsibility to lead the consortium’s advanced technology R&D and manufacturing collaboration programs. Armbrust previously held various technical, management and executive positions for over 25 years at IBM, culminating in his tenure as Vice President of 300mm semiconductor operations.
Armbrust earned a bachelor’s degree in ceramic science and engineering from Pennsylvania State University as well as a master’s of science degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
About Ayar Labs, Inc.
Ayar Labs (pronounced like “IR”), a 2015 San Francisco startup, sits at the intersection of electronics, optics, energy efficiency, and the internet. It is where more than a decade of academic research meets a multibillion-dollar market.
Ayar Labs has the potential to rewrite some decades-old rules of how computers are put together. The technology involved, called silicon photonics, is an active area of research at chipmakers like Intel and IBM, but so far they have not made commercially viable optical devices on-chip with processors. Ayar Labs is changing that with photonic components built directly into the chip that can send and receive light signals. The key to Ayar Labs’ product is that the manufacturing process uses standard chip-foundry techniques making it easier to slot into today’s computing infrastructure. Their game changing technology adds up to an immense opportunity.
Ayar Labs was Co-Founded by current CEO and GCA Game Changer Alex Wright-Gladstein.
For more information, visit www.ayarlabs.com