Kieran Drain and Marc McConnaughey bring extensive experience in optoelectronics and display technology, manufacturing and markets
LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES – 03/09/2010 – Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies, today announced that Dr. Kieran Drain and Mr. Marc McConnaughey have joined as vice presidents of the company’s Lighting and Display Technology group. Dr. Drain will hold the position of vice president, Strategy and Technology, while Mr. McConnaughey will serve as the vice president of Strategic Development.
“Both Kieran and Marc come to Rambus with extensive experience in the industry that will prove invaluable to our future success,” said Jeff Parker, senior vice president of the Lighting and Display Technology group at Rambus. “Their contributions will further strengthen our leadership in the development of technology critical to the realization of advanced lighting and displays.”
Dr. Drain is an acknowledged industry expert in the area of advanced materials manufacturing. He holds a PhD in Polymer chemistry and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Prior to Rambus, Dr. Drain was the president and CEO of NanoGram Corporation, which develops and manufactures advanced materials and solutions for photovoltaic, optical and electronic applications. While serving at Nanogram Corporation, Dr. Drain pioneered the development of process technologies and production tools for light emitting diode (LED) phosphors and many silicon-based products. Earlier in his career as Division Head of Performance Polymers, Dr. Drain helped Avery Dennison Corporation expand its product line in specialty polymers for adhesives and digital printing and led development activities in bi-stable displays. In his new role as vice president of Strategy and Technology for Rambus’ Lighting and Display Technology group, Dr. Drain will be responsible for defining group product and technology strategy, leading the development of advanced technology and expanding manufacturing process capabilities for the company’s MicroLens™ technology.
Mr. McConnaughey is a display industry veteran with 29 years of global display electronics experience. A renowned expert in the visual display market, Mr. McConnaughey has an extensive background in building and managing teams to deliver computer and consumer display electronics to global markets. Prior to joining Rambus, Mr. McConnaughey was CEO of a joint venture to bring media connected display products, including HDTVs, to the market. In addition, Mr. McConnaughey was a founder of nLighten Technologies, a digital optics startup based in Shanghai, China that designs, manufactures and markets adaptive or digital optics platforms and products including surface computing-based large screen displays. Earlier, Mr. McConnaughey headed the Technology, Product and Sourcing Group at ViewSonic, where he was a key contributor in making ViewSonic a leading global provider in visual display products. As the vice president of Strategic Development at Rambus, Mr. McConnaughey will be responsible for the implementation of the company’s Lighting and Display Technology group’s strategy and products in the fast-growing LED-based Lighting and Display markets.
About Rambus Inc.
Rambus is one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies. Founded in 1990, the Company specializes in the invention and design of architectures focused on enhancing the end-user experience of computing, communications and consumer electronics applications. Rambus’ patented innovations and breakthrough technologies in the area of high-speed memory architectures and complementary technologies have helped industry-leading chip and system companies bring superior products to market. Rambus’ technology and renowned integration expertise solve some of the most complex chip and system-level interface challenges. Rambus licenses both its world-class patent portfolio as well as its family of leadership and industry-standard interface products. Headquartered in Los Altos, California, Rambus has regional offices in North Carolina, Ohio, India, Germany, Japan, and Taiwan. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.