Nanometrics Founder Exits Board

Nanometrics Inc. of Milpitas, Calif., a supplier of process control metrology systems to the semiconductor industry, announced that company founder Vincent Coates has resigned as vice chairman of its board of directors. In 1995, SEMI recognized him with a lifetime achievement award for his work in scanning electron microscopy, and currently he holds more than 20 US patents. He developed the first NanoSpec as a general-purpose instrument targeted at biotechnology and industrial applications, deciding later to focus primarily on the semiconductor industry. Coates, who founded Nanometrics in 1975, will be replaced on the board by Norman Coates.