Voltaix Appoints Peter Smith as CEO

Voltaix has named Peter A. Smith its chief executive officer and a member of its board of directors. The company supplies materials for semiconductors and solar cells.

Smith is a 20-year industry veteran, having served at Motorola, Honeywell and, most recently, as vice president of corporate strategy for the Bussmann Div. of Cooper Industries in St. Louis. At Motorola, he focused on semiconductor and display manufacturing and later worked on behalf of one of its key suppliers, Three-Five Systems, where he oversaw manufacturing productivity in the Philippines and China.

Smith is an ideal fit to help Voltaix extend its market leadership in critical chemicals for semiconductor and thin-film solar applications, the company said.

“Peter is a top-notch strategist who has proven himself developing specialty materials at Honeywell, scaling the MEMS business at Dover and significantly enhancing performance at a Cooper Industries wireless unit,” said Voltaix director Reidar Langmo.

Smith succeeds Mark K. Fine, who has been the company’s interim CEO since January 2010 and will remain at Voltaix, succeeding John P. de Neufville as president.

de Neufville will continue as the company’s chief scientist, overseeing chemical research and end-use applications development.

Smith has a doctorate in materials science and engineering from Rutgers University and is associate editor for the Journal of the Society of Information Display.

For more information, visit: www.voltaix.com