View PDFSAN JOSE, Calif., October 3, 2005 Novellus Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: NVLS), the productivity and technology leader in advanced deposition, surface preparation and chemical mechanical planarization processes for the global semiconductor industry, today announced the appointment of Dr. Fusen Chen as executive vice president and chief technology officer. Dr. Chen, 46, replaces Drs. Wilbert van den Hoek, who will now focus full time on his responsibilities for the company's new business development and new business ventures in his roles as president and CEO of the Novellus Development Corporation and executive vice president of Novellus Systems.
Dr. Chen joined Novellus in October 2004 as senior vice president of Asia-Pacific Operations. In his new role, he will continue to interface with customers in Asia.
Prior to joining Novellus, Dr. Chen spent 10 years at Applied Materials, most recently as the group vice president and general manager for the Copper Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) and Interconnect Product Business Group. Prior to joining Applied, he worked at LSI Logic and SGS-Thomson Microelectronics.
Dr. Chen received his Bachelor of Science degree in materials science and engineering from the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. He earned his doctorate in materials science and engineering from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He holds more than 60 U.S. patents and has authored over 50 technical publications.
"Dr. Chen combines broad experience in our industry with a proven track record in technology and systems development, and brings an in-depth knowledge of materials science to this new role," said Richard S. Hill, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Novellus. "I look forward to working with Fusen as we drive the company's technology strategy and direction to solve the evermore complex technical challenges faced by our customers."
"Safe Harbor" Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including the statement regarding Novellus' intention and ability to execute its technology strategy and solve technical challenges faced by its customers, as well as other matters discussed in this news release that are not purely historical data. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, technical and management difficulties that preclude Novellus from executing its technology strategy; inability to accurately anticipate or timely respond to technical challenges faced by customers; failure to innovate; competitors' introduction of technologically advanced products; as well as other risks indicated in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We assume no obligation to update this information. For more details, please refer to our SEC filings and amendments thereto, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and for the quarters ended July 2, 2005 and April 2, 2005 and our Current Reports on Form 8-K.
About Novellus:
Novellus Systems, Inc., an S&P 500 company, manufactures, markets and services advanced deposition, surface preparation and chemical mechanical planarization equipment for today's advanced integrated circuits. Our products are designed for high-volume production of advanced, leading-edge semiconductor devices at the lowest possible cost. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with subsidiaries throughout the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Israel, India, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, we are a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq stock exchange (Nasdaq: NVLS) and a component of the Nasdaq-100 Index®. Additional information about Novellus is available on our home page at www.novellus.com.