Akoustis Names Kamran Cheema Chief Product Officer
Leverages 30 Years of Experience in Micro-Acoustic RF Filter Products, MEMs Technology and Device Engineering
- Mr. Cheema Will Accelerate Acoustic RF Filter Product Portfolio Expansion and XBAW® Technology Development
- Leverages 30 Years of Experience in Micro-Acoustic RF Filter Products, MEMs Technology and Device Engineering
Charlotte, N.C., July 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ : AKTS) (“Akoustis” or the “Company”), an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) of patented bulk acoustic wave (BAW) high-band RF filters for mobile and other wireless applications, announced today that Kamran Cheema has been appointed its new Chief Product Officer.
Mr. Cheema joined Akoustis in August 2021 as VP of Engineering, bringing a wealth of RF experience in product design, manufacturing, technology development, program management and quality management with over thirty years of experience in acoustic technology. He will be responsible for the device engineering and product design teams as well as the testing, characterization, and mechanical design of all Akoustis products for all end markets including 5G mobile, 5G infrastructure, Wi-Fi, and other markets.
Jeff Shealy, founder and CEO of Akoustis, stated, “Since joining Akoustis, Kamran has demonstrated exemplary leadership and significant expertise at every level throughout the Company. As Akoustis scales its manufacturing capability and enters multiple high-volume markets, we plan to leverage his industry experience, knowledge, and skillset to accelerate continuous product improvement and quality across the engineering organization.”
Before joining Akoustis, Mr. Cheema was the Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm RF360, where he was responsible for all aspects of micro-acoustic hardware solutions for the mobile phone market. Prior to Qualcomm, he was the Vice President of Engineering and Site Manager at TDK, where he reported directly to the CEO. At TDK, he led a team of professionals, including filter module and switch designers, SAW and BAW filter designers, and laminate and LTCC specialists. Earlier, Mr. Cheema worked at TriQuint Semiconductor, now part of Qorvo, as a Director of Engineering where he led the development of acoustic RF filter diplexers, the RF module team, GaAs pHEMT and SOI switch development. Mr. Cheema holds a MSEE from the University of Central Florida.
Kamran replaces Rohan Houlden who served as CPO since November 2018. Mr. Houlden moves to a strategic advisory role reporting to the CEO. Mr. Shealy added, “On behalf of the Board and management at Akoustis, I thank Rohan for his many contributions since joining in 2016. I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new strategic role.”
Akoustis is actively delivering volume production of its Wi-Fi 6 tandem filter solutions, shipping multiple 5G small cell XBAW® filter solutions, delivering initial designs of its new 5G mobile filter solutions to multiple customers and has entered the market with its new Wi-Fi 6E coexistence XBAW® filter solutions. To date, Akoustis has received more than 20 customer design wins for its patented XBAW® filter solutions.
About Akoustis Technologies, Inc.
Akoustis® (http://www.akoustis.com/) is a high-tech BAW RF filter solutions company that is pioneering next-generation materials science and MEMS wafer manufacturing to address the market requirements for improved RF filters - targeting higher bandwidth, higher operating frequencies and higher output power compared to incumbent polycrystalline BAW technology deployed today. The Company utilizes its proprietary and patented XBAW® manufacturing process to produce bulk acoustic wave RF filters for mobile and other wireless markets, which facilitate signal acquisition and accelerate band performance between the antenna and digital back end. Superior performance is driven by the significant advances of poly-crystal, high-purity and single-crystal piezoelectric materials and the resonator-filter process technology which enables optimal trade-offs between critical power, frequency and bandwidth performance specifications.
Akoustis plans to service the fast growing multi-billion-dollar RF filter market using its integrated device manufacturer (IDM) business model. The Company owns and operates a 120,000 sq. ft. ISO-9001:2015 registered commercial wafer-manufacturing facility located in Canandaigua, NY, which includes a class 100 / class 1000 cleanroom facility - tooled for 150-mm diameter wafers - for the design, development, fabrication and packaging of RF filters, MEMS and other semiconductor devices. Akoustis Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in the Piedmont technology corridor near Charlotte, North Carolina.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor” created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans or strategies for the future (including our possible future results of operations, business strategies, competitive position, potential growth opportunities, potential market opportunities and the effects of competition), the anticipated benefits of the acquisition of RFMi and supply agreement with Tai-Saw, including estimated synergies and other financial impacts, and the assumptions underlying such statements. 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Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated include, without limitation, risks relating to our ability to obtain adequate financing and sustain our status as a going concern; our limited operating history; our inability to generate revenues or achieve profitability; the results of our research and development activities; our inability to achieve acceptance of our products in the market; the possibility that the anticipated benefits from business acquisitions (including the acquisition of RFMi) cannot be realized in full or at all or may take longer to realize than expected; the possibility that costs or difficulties related to the integration of acquired businesses’ (including RFMi’s) operations will be greater than expected and the possibility of disruptions to our business during integration efforts and strain on management time and resources; the impact of a pandemic or epidemic or a natural disaster, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on our operations, financial condition and the worldwide economy, including its impact on our ability to access the capital markets; general economic conditions, including upturns and downturns in the industry; shortages in supplies needed to manufacture our products, or needed by our customers to manufacture devices incorporating our products; our limited number of patents; failure to obtain, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property rights; claims of infringement, misappropriation or misuse of third party intellectual property that, regardless of merit, could result in significant expense and loss of our intellectual property rights; our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel; our reliance on third parties to complete certain processes in connection with the manufacture of our products; product quality and defects; existing or increased competition; our ability to successfully manufacture, market and sell products based on our technologies; our ability to meet the required specifications of customers and achieve qualification of our products for commercial manufacturing in a timely manner; our ability to successfully scale our New York wafer fabrication facility and related operations while maintaining quality control and assurance and avoiding delays in output; the rate and degree of market acceptance of any of our products; our ability to achieve design wins from current and future customers; contracting with customers and other parties with greater bargaining power and agreeing to terms and conditions that may adversely affect our business; risks related to doing business in foreign countries, including China; any security breaches, cyber-attacks or other disruptions compromising our proprietary information and exposing us to liability; our failure to innovate or adapt to new or emerging technologies; our failure to comply with regulatory requirements; results of any arbitration or litigation that may arise; stock volatility and illiquidity; dilution caused by any future issuance of common stock or securities that are convertible into or exercisable for common stock; our failure to implement our business plans or strategies; and our ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in more detail in the Risk Factors and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Considering these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements regarding future events and circumstances discussed in this document may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements included in this document speak only as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly or privately any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, for any reason after the date of this document to conform these statements to new information, actual results or to changes in our expectations.
Contact: COMPANY: Tom Sepenzis Akoustis Technologies VP of Corporate Development & IR (980) 689-4961 [email protected] The Del Mar Consulting Group, Inc. Robert B. Prag, President (858) 794-9500 [email protected]
