BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sass Somekh, PhD Co-Founder | Musea Ventures

Sass Somekh was responsible for leading the development and driving the business growth of several key products in the semiconductor-equipment industry. He is the retired President, and current Chair of the Technical Advisory Board of Novellus Systems. Prior to joining Novellus, he was an Executive Vice President and a board member at Applied Materials. During his 24-year tenure at Applied Materials he played a critical role in transforming it from a $50 million company to the $10 billion semiconductor-equipment industry leader it is today.

In 1993, Sass was recognized as a co-inventor of the Precision 5000 when it became the first semiconductor-manufacturing system to be placed in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution. It is on display in the Information Age exhibit at the National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C. In 1994, Sass received the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute’s SEMI Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his many contributions to the industry. In 2006, Sass was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame for his professional achievements and contribution to the Silicon Valley community. Sass is the Executive Chairman of Kateeva and is on the boards of HelioFocus and Ampulse.

Sass received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Caltech. He holds more than 50 U.S. patents.