Heliovolt
Dr. Ronald P. Gale

HelioVolt Corporation, Austin, TX November 2001 to present

Vice President, Business Development. Helped develop the business plan and business plan presentation, investigate potential alliances, and generated a proposal for government support. Member, Board of Directors.

RP Gale Consulting, Bedford, MA May 2000 to present

Consultant on management, start up issues, technology development, and product development. Clients are start ups or small businesses dealing with electronic materials, optoelectronics, and optics. Also serving on Board of Directors of one client company.

Kopin Corporation, Taunton, Massachusetts July 1985 to May 2000

Chief Technical Officer from July 1997 to May 2000. Responsible for technology transfer of display manufacturing of the microdisplay product to the manufacturing partner in Taiwan, interface to a domestic OEM partner, and development of future technology directions for R&D and products. Raised over $10M in external R&D revenue to fund some of the latter.

Vice President, Display Products from February 1997 to July 1997. Managed production and R&D of display products, and was General Manager of Kopin’s Westborough facility. Transitioned the first microdisplay, the CyberDisplay 320, to product status; this was the first successful display product for the company and is still the dominant product. Successfully set up production for the CyberDisplay 320, supporting product introduction, deliveries, and partnership arrangements both domestic and foreign.

Vice President, Research & Development from August 1992 to February 1997. Managed the R&D group developing display systems and advanced display and circuit processes. Responsible for developing the CyberDisplay 320. Developed the microdisplay liquid crystal assembly and module processes that have since been commercialized. Developed flexible thin-film circuit process. Designed and developed liquid-crystal display (LCD) projection systems. Managed design, optical, and mechanical subcontractors for the design and demonstration of large-screen LCD projection monitors, and compact data projectors.

Vice President, Contract R&D from August 1990 to July 1992. Responsible for company-wide R&D, with an annual budget of over $3M. Product areas supported with contracts included III/V photovoltaics, wafer sales, silicon sensors, optoelectronic devices, and intelligent processing.

Vice President, Photovoltaics from March 1986 to July 1990. Managed the photovoltaics product area, a profit/loss center. Responsible for R&D, manufacturing, and limited marketing of Kopin's photovoltaic products. Managed a group of 16 R&D and manufacturing personnel. Brought two products successfully through R&D and into pilot production. Brought in contract funding for both R&D and manufacturing R&D. Produced a profit in 1989 and 1990.

Founding Employee; July 1985 to April 1986. Helped design, procure, and set up a new facility. Contributed to clean room design, building layout, and equipment specifications. Negotiated with vendors and consultants. Designed and supervised the installation of semiconductor equipment and the facility safety systems.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA May 1978 to June 1985

Technical Staff Member. Researched the deposition of GaAs/AlGaAs by organometallic chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) with applications to photovoltaics, electronics, and lasers. Extensive characterization experience gained in electrical, electro-optic, and crystallographic techniques. Member and later chairman of the Lincoln Laboratory Safety Committee. Established chemical purchasing system and hazardous gas handling and use procedures at Lincoln Laboratory

Education

Ph.D. in 1978 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Materials Science and Engineering, Electronic Materials area. Minored in Management of Innovation at the Sloan School of Management. IBM Fellow.

M.Engr. in 1973 from Cornell University in Applied and Engineering Physics.

B.S. in 1972 from Cornell University in Applied and Engineering Physics, with honors.

Management training received in-house at Kopin via management consultant over a period of 9 years. Short courses have been completed in Statistical Process Control, LCD Projection Systems, and Modeling of CVD Processes.

Publications

Authored or co-authored over 50 publications and presentations, and over 20 patents granted or applied for. A list of publications is available upon request.

Affiliations

Current membership in Tau Beta Phi, Sigma Xi, and IEEE.