Technology >> CEO Interviews >> June 21, 2004
GELU VOICU is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst
Semiconductor, Inc., a position held since October 2002. Mr. Voicu is
also a member of the company's Board of Directors. In 1972 Mr. Voicu
received an MS degree in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic
Institute, Bucharest, Romania, and began his career at the Research
Institute for Electronic Components in Bucharest. In addition to his
research work with the Institute for Electronic Components, he became an
associate professor with the Computer Science Department of the
Polytechnic Institute. Between 1985 and 1989 he fulfilled the
requirements for a PhD degree at the same Institute. By 1980 he was
promoted to leader of the CMOS Integrated Circuit division in the
Research Institute for Electronic Components. As the division head, Mr.
Voicu was heavily involved in planning and managing the production ramp
up of Romania's first CMOS integrated circuit manufacturing facility,
Microelectronica. He worked in various management positions at the
Microelectronica facility, reaching the position of Chief Operating
Officer before moving to the US in 1990. Mr. Voicu started his US career
with a short stint with SEEQ Technology, a leader in the field of non
volatile memory development. In early 1991 he joined Cypress
Semiconductor, Inc., in San Jose, California, working in the field of
Complex Programmable Logic Devices. In October 1993 he joined Catalyst
Semiconductor and managed the Flash memory product engineering team. By
1995 he was promoted to Flash product line director and in 1998 was
promoted to Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing. As Vice
President of Engineering and Manufacturing, Mr. Voicu had responsibility
for overseeing and coordinating activities including design,
product/test engineering, technology development, foundry coordination
and offshore manufacturing operations. During his leadership of the
design and manufacturing operations, Catalyst reshaped its operating
model, resulting in a significant increase in capacity and lower cost of
sales. In August 2002 Mr. Voicu was promoted to Executive Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer. In October 2002 he became President and
Chief Executive Officer as well as a member of the Catalyst Board of
Directors. Profile
Semiconductor?
Mr. Voicu: Catalyst Semiconductor is a fabless, worldwide operation
headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. We're
