The FlexTech Alliance (formerly the U.S. Display Consortium), a public/private partnership chartered with developing the electronic display and flexible, printed electronics supply chain, today announced that Thomas T. Edman of Applied Materials, Inc. has been elected chairman of the Governing Board. The alliance also reports that it has appointed industry experts Janice Mahon of Universal Display Corp., Keith Cook of Philips and Charles Weidner of Cytec Industries Inc., to its board. Edman, who currently serves as corporate vice president & general manager of corporate business development at Applied Materials, replaces Dr. Michael McCreary of E Ink, who served as FlexTech's chairman since 2007.
"The board is very excited about gaining Tom's leadership ability and utilizing his impressive business background," stated Dr. Malcolm Thompson, chairman emeritus of FlexTech and chairman & CEO of RPO, Inc. "Tom's ability to capitalize on business opportunities and his commitment to multiple markets - such as displays and photovoltaics - makes him the ideal person to chair our governing board. A board member since 2004, Tom is the first FlexTech chairman from a supply chain company, which enables him to provide unique insights into our membership dynamics."
"Mike McCreary deserves our industry's gratitude for his dedication to the display and the emerging flexible electronics industries," noted FlexTech President Michael Ciesinski. "Under his leadership, the organization's R&D scope was significantly broadened to include flexible and printed electronics." Ciesinski added, "In addition to Tom's appointment, I'm pleased to welcome Janice, Keith and Charlie to our board and look forward to their participation in accelerating our transition to new R&D thrusts."
In his role as FlexTech chairman, Edman is charged with overseeing FlexTech's decisions on policy, program content and disposition of funds available to the consortium for sponsoring technology-related R&D projects. During his term, he will work with the governing board and all of FlexTech's stakeholders to further the organization's development in a manner that increases the consortium's value.
"This is a unique opportunity for me to assist in enabling a newly emerging industry while simultaneously pushing the display industry forward," said Edman. "I believe that FlexTech has the potential to help the industry coalesce and provide leadership on R&D and public policy fronts. Our goal is to provide substantial value to member companies and our federal partners," he added.