Management
Anthony Atti, Ph.D, Co-Founder, President & CEO
Dr. Atti is an experienced clean energy investor and entrepreneur who has demonstrated expertise and leadership in venture financing, business development, start-up growth and operations, and negotiating joint venture relationships. As a former Director at MHI Energy Partners, a seed and early stage energy private equity fund, Dr. Atti managed deal flow networks, conducted due diligence, structured venture financing transactions, and provided direct portfolio company leadership as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Dr. Atti earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute at the University of Southern California under the direction of Dr. G.K. Surya Prakash and Dr. George A. Olah; the former a world-renowned fluorine chemist and the latter a winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Dr. Atti also holds an MBA from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry from Ithaca College.
Allen Gray, Ph.D, Vice President of Research & Development
Dr. Gray has over 20 years experience in III-V and II-VI compound semiconductor materials research and device physics. Prior to joining Phononic, he was a Distinguished Scientist at Semprius Inc, engaging in design and growth of high efficiency III-V multi-junction solar cells for concentrating photovoltaic applications and formerly a Senior Staff Scientist in the Research and Development Division at Emcore Photovoltaics. Entrepreneurial efforts include his role as founder and principal growth engineer at Zia Laser from 2001-2006; the world's first quantum dot based laser, LED and detector company. From 1996-2000, he was a senior engineer at Army Research Laboratory on sabbatical at University of New Mexico, working in the area of epitaxial growth and characterization of III-V based quantum well and quantum dot lasers and detectors. Dr. Gray holds a Ph.D. in Physics from American University in Washington D.C. and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Robert Therrien, Ph.D, Vice President Systems Engineering
Dr. Therrien has over 17 years of experience in compound semiconductor processing and device design. Prior to joining Phononic he spent 10 years at Nitronex Corporation as a device engineer and process integration manager where he was a key contributor in the design and development of the first GaN on Silicon HFET devices and processing. From 1998 to 2000, he performed research on the deposition and characterization of high k dielectrics for advanced CMOS devices at North Carolina State University Department of Physics. Bob holds a Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering from North Carolina State University and a BSEE from Western New England College.
Ravi Chilukuri, Ph.D, Director, Product Development
Dr. Chilukuri is an experienced product management professional with proven track record in technology development, product marketing and business growth. Prior to joining Phononic, Dr. Chilukuri was a Senior Director of Product Management at Amkor Technology, responsible for Wafer Level Packaging. He has successfully managed numerous customer engagements as well as technology development programs globally, growing ideas from path finding to high volume manufacturing in USA, Korea, Taiwan and China. He also has extensive experience in design, development, manufacturing and marketing of power devices, ICs and microelectronic packaging, through his work at Silicon Semiconductor, Unitive and ON Semiconductor. Dr. Chilukuri earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at North Carolina State University, developing novel high power SiC diodes and transistors at the Power Semiconductor Research Center. He also holds an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University, for his research on deposition techniques for III-V compounds, and a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.