Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business.
Overview of Our Business
Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (“Axcelis,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) designs, manufactures and services ion implantation and other processing equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. We believe that our Purion family of products offers the most innovative implanters available on the market today. We sell to leading semiconductor chip manufacturers worldwide. The ion implantation business represented 97.6% of our revenue in 2022, with the remaining 2.4% of revenue derived from aftermarket sales associated with other legacy processing systems. In addition to equipment, we provide extensive aftermarket lifecycle products and services, including used tools, spare parts, equipment upgrades, maintenance services and customer training.
Axcelis’ business commenced in 1978 and its current corporate entity was incorporated in Delaware in 1995. We are headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts and maintain an internet site at www.axcelis.com. On or through our website, investors may access, free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our website and the information contained therein or connected thereto shall not be deemed to be incorporated into this Form 10-K.
2022 was an exceptional year for Axcelis despite logistical challenges brought on by the geo-political environment and the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the strength of the overall electronics market and the continued growth of the Purion product family in 2022, we delivered record full year revenue, operating profit and gross margin since our first full year as a public company in 2001. Revenue for 2022 was $920.0 million, an increase of 38.9% from 2021 revenue of $662.4 million. Systems revenue for 2022 was $692.1 million, compared to $454.6 million in 2021. Operating profit was $401.8 million in 2022, compared to $127.3 million in 2021. Gross margin for the year was 43.7% compared to 43.2% in 2021. Net income for the year was $183.1 million, an increase of 85.6% following a 97.4% increase in revenue from the prior year.
The Company is in a strong competitive position as we participated in a period of extended industry growth in 2021 and 2022. A focused strategy on ion implant, combined with the hard work and dedication of our employees and the encouragement and support of our customers and suppliers, enabled us to achieve numerous critical milestones in our drive to market leadership. Axcelis had a number of important accomplishments in 2022:
● Axcelis’ revenue grew 39% year over year;
● Our full year revenue, gross margins and operating profit were all at record levels since our first full year as a public company in 2001;
● The market for mature semiconductor devices grew rapidly, producing greater than 80% of our systems shipments, and within that total, the electrification of the automotive market drove the power device market to contribute approximately 39% of our systems shipments;
● Our global footprint in growing markets continued to expand, including through multiple evaluation units at key customers in memory, mature process technologies and advanced logic, sales of our Purion product extensions into the Silicon Carbide market, follow-on orders for our Purion products in Japan, and device qualification for leading edge CMOS Image Sensor processes; and
● Rapid growth of our manufacturing capabilities through solid execution, strong supply chain partnerships and bringing online new capacity at both our Beverly, Massachusetts facility and Axcelis Asia Operations Center in South Korea.
We continue to work diligently to ensure that manufacturing and operating expense levels remain well aligned to business conditions. We believe that the most fundamental interest of our stockholders is consistent, profitable financial performance, which we expect to continue to deliver in 2023. Our performance is subject to risks and uncertainties discussed below under Item 1A, Risk Factors.
2
Industry Overview
Semiconductor chips, also known as integrated circuits, are used in a continuously evolving range of consumer and industrial products, including for example, personal computers, mobile devices, automobiles, sensors and controllers for the “internet of things” and data storage servers. Types of semiconductor chips include dynamic random-access memory (“DRAM”) and “Not AND” (“NAND”) Flash memory; logic devices to process information; and “system on chip” devices (which have both logic and memory features). The demand for chips continues to increase, as a result of the electrification of vehicles, the evolution of digital communications (including the introduction of 5G mobile networks and the growth in the Internet of Things), and the increasing complexity of device features. These chips are used in power management, data input, such as image sensors, which are often manufactured using mature processing technologies, as well as for memory to support the storage of data, internet streaming and “cloud computing” data analytics.
Most semiconductor chips are built on silicon wafers of either 200mm (8 inches) or 300mm (12 inches) in diameter. Each semiconductor chip is made up of millions of tiny transistors or “switches” to control the functions of the device. Transistors are created in the silicon wafer by introducing various precisely placed impurities into the silicon in specific patterns.
Semiconductor chip manufacturers own or manage wafer fabrication facilities (often referred to as “fabs”), which utilize many different types of equipment in the making of integrated circuits. Over 300 process steps utilizing over 50 different types of process tools are required to make a single device like a microprocessor. Semiconductor chip manufacturers seek device performance benefits through new products and technology enhancements and productivity improvements through increased throughput, equipment utilization and higher manufacturing yields. Capacity is added by increasing the amount of manufacturing equipment in existing fabrication facilities and by constructing new fabrication facilities.
We have different types of customers, which impacts the timing of purchases and technology requirements. Some customers are integrated electronics manufacturers, making semiconductor chips for their own devices. These same companies may also act as foundries, manufacturing semiconductor chips for other electronic manufacturers or chip design companies. Some customers only function as foundries. A few companies design and manufacture branded chips that are sold to device manufacturers. In addition, some customers have partnerships or joint ventures with two or more semiconductor chip manufacturers to share the technology development and capital investment. The timing of purchases by foundry customers will depend on their success in securing manufacturing contracts. Also, foundry customers will look for equipment that can deliver the broadest capabilities in order to be prepared to manufacture all chip types, while integrated electronics manufacturers may invest in processing equipment dedicated to a specific application they require for their products.
The semiconductor capital equipment industry has historically been cyclical as global chip production capacities successively exceed, then lag behind, global chip demand. When chip demand is high, and inventories are low, chip manufacturers add capacity through capital equipment purchases. Given the difficulties of forecasting and calibrating chip demand and production capacity, the industry periodically experiences excess chip inventories and softening chip prices. Device manufacturers react with muted capital spending, lowering the demand for capital equipment. Changes in consumer and business demand for products in which chips are used also affect the industry. A successful semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer must not only provide some of the most technically complex products manufactured in the world but also must manage its business to thrive during low points in the cycle.
3
Axcelis’ Strategy
Axcelis’ 2023 strategic goals are to:
● Exceed our $1.0 billion revenue model in 2023, positioning us to achieve our $1.3 billion revenue ion implant only model in future years by insuring high levels of customer satisfaction and quality
• Grow the Purion footprint with our existing customer base as well as at new accounts in targeted market segments and geographies
— Capitalize on strong spending in the mature process technology segment, especially by power device customers
— Capture additional high value memory business
— Continue to penetrate leading edge logic and foundry customers
• Drive Customer Solutions & Innovation (“CS&I”) revenues by delivering excellent customer satisfaction via innovative, high value products and services
• Continue to drive gross margin improvements through supply chain optimization, value engineering, lean manufacturing, quality improvements, product and service innovation and sales excellence
● Deliver attractive earnings per share and cash as defined in targeted business models
• Manage revenues and expenses in line with growth initiatives and industry trends
• Execute a capital strategy that allows for appropriate business investments while returning value to shareholders
● Expand beyond ion implant by launching identified corporate development growth initiatives
We continue to invest in research and development to ensure our products meet the needs of our customers. We take pride in our scientists and engineers who are adding to our portfolio of patents and unpatented proprietary technology to ensure that our investment in technology leadership translates into unique product advantages. We strive for operational excellence by focusing on ways to lower our product, manufacturing and design costs and to improve our delivery times to our customers. Global customer teams and a focused account management structure maintain and strengthen our customer relationships and increase customer satisfaction. Finally, we endeavor to maintain a strong cash balance to ensure sufficient capital to fund business growth.
Ion Implantation Systems
Ion implantation is a principal step in the transistor formation cycle of the semiconductor chip manufacturing process. Ion implantation is also used to change the material characteristics of the silicon for reasons other than electrical doping, a process known as “material modification.” An ion implanter is a large, technically advanced system that injects dopants such as arsenic, boron or phosphorus into a wafer. These dopants are ionized and therefore have an electrical charge state. This electric charge state allows the dopants to be accelerated, focused and filtered with electric and magnetic fields. Ion implanters use these fields to create a beam of ions with a precisely defined energy level (ranging between several hundred and eight million electron-volts) and with a precisely defined beam current level (ranging from microamps to milliamps). Certain areas of the silicon wafer are blocked off by a polymer material known as photoresist, which acts as a “stencil” to pattern devices so that the dopants will only enter the wafer where needed. Typical process flows require twenty implant steps, with the most advanced processes requiring substantially more steps. Each implant step is characterized by four key parameters: dopant type, dose (amount of dopant), energy (depth into the silicon) and tilt/twist (angle of wafer relative to the ion beam).
4
In order to efficiently cover the wide range of implant steps, three different broad categories of implanters have been developed, each targeted at a specific range of applications, primarily defined by dose and energy. The three traditional implanter categories are referred to as high current, high energy and medium current:
● High current implanters were the second type of implanter to emerge, having low energy capability and high dose range.
● High energy implanters emerged to address the need for deeper implants with a high energy range and low dose.
● Medium current implanters are the original model of ion implanter, with mid to low-range energy and dose capability.
The Purion Platform and Family of Ion Implanters
Axcelis offers a complete line of high energy, high current and medium current implanters for all application requirements. Our Purion flagship systems are all based on a common platform which enables a unique combination of implant purity, precision and productivity. Combining a state-of-the-art single wafer end station, with advanced spot beam architectures (that ensures all points across the wafer see the same beam condition at the same beam angle), Purion products enable exceptional process control to optimize device performance and yield, at high productivity.
● High Current Implant. Our Purion H, Purion Dragon and Purion H200 spot beam, high current systems cover all traditional high current requirements as well as those associated with emerging and future devices. Our Purion high current capabilities extend beyond traditional high current energy and dose ranges, in order to cover new device fabrication requirements as well as to maximize capital utilization and flexibility. In addition, Axcelis’ Purion systems provide advantages for material modification applications, including those requiring hot and cold implant capabilities.
● High Energy Implant. Our Purion XE and other Purion high energy systems combine Axcelis’ production-proven RF Linac high energy, spot beam technology with the Purion platform wafer handling system. Axcelis has been a market leader in high energy ion implanters for many years and continues to offer legacy high energy systems, as well as a range of new Purion systems which have differentiated capabilities for specialty applications.
● Medium Current Implant. Our Purion M Si and SiC medium current system offers higher productivity and lower electrical energy consumption compared to competitive offerings, in addition to other advantages. Our Purion M systems also offer differentiated capabilities for specialty applications.
In addition to the above categories, ion implanters may also be categorized by the types of applications for which they are designed. For example, the Axcelis Purion Power Series, which provides full recipe coverage for power device applications critical to mobile devices and electric vehicles, is comprised of a group of high current, medium current and high energy implanters that have been developed to optimize semiconductor devices created on Silicon Carbide wafers, which are advantageous for certain power devices.
We believe our ion implant products will continue to meet customer demand for advantages in productivity, process performance and technical extendibility.
Aftermarket Support and Services
Through our CS&I business, we offer our customers extensive aftermarket service and support throughout the lifecycle of the equipment we manufacture. We believe that approximately 3,100 of our products are in use in 28 countries worldwide. The service and support that we provide includes used tools, spare parts, equipment upgrades, and maintenance services. We offer varying levels of sales, service and application support out of our field offices. Revenue generated
5
through our CS&I business of $227.9 million, $207.8 million and $180.9 million represents 24.8%, 31.4% and 38.1% of total revenue in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
To support our aftermarket business, we have sales and marketing personnel, field service engineers, and spare parts and applications engineers, as well as employees located at our manufacturing facilities who work with our customers to provide customer training and documentation, and product, process and applications support.
Most of our customers maintain spare parts inventories for our machines. In addition to our web-based spare parts management and replenishment tracking program, we offer a number of Business-to-Business options to support our customers’ parts management requirements. Our Axcelis Managed Inventory service offering provides the customer with full spare parts support through a parts consignment arrangement in which Axcelis retains responsibility for the complete supply chain. These services provide ease of use alternatives that reduce order fulfillment costs and improve cycle time, resulting in an expanded customer base for this service offering.
Sales and Marketing
We primarily sell our equipment and services through our direct sales force. We conduct sales and marketing activities from our sales offices located in the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Singapore, Japan, Germany and Italy.
International revenue, including export sales from our U.S. manufacturing facilities to foreign customers and sales by foreign subsidiaries and branches, accounted for 84.4%, 92.6% and 89.3% of total revenue in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. In 2022, approximately 90.9% of our sales were denominated in U.S. dollars. See Note 17 to our Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Item 15 of this Form 10-K for a breakdown of our revenue and long-lived assets in the United States, Europe and Asia. See also Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” for information about risks attendant to our foreign operations.
Customers
In 2022, according to Gartner Inc., the top 20 semiconductor chip manufacturers accounted for approximately 89.0% of total semiconductor capital equipment spending, which decreased from 92.0% in 2021. These manufacturers are from the largest semiconductor chip manufacturing regions in the world: the United States, Asia Pacific (Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Japan and China) and Europe.
Information on net sales to unaffiliated customers is included in Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. For the year ended December 31, 2022, revenues from Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd. and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (“SMIC”) represented 10% or more of our consolidated revenues. The loss of either of these customers would have a material adverse effect on our business.
U.S. export controls impact our ability to sell to certain customers in China, a country that has represented a significant portion of our sales in recent years. Since the placement of SMIC on the U.S. Entity List in 2020, we are required to obtain export control licenses to ship to mature process SMIC fabs, which to date, we have been able to obtain. Another chipmaker, Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (“YMTC”), was placed on the Entity List in 2022, without a similar policy allowing licensed shipments. A new export controls regulatory framework was issued by the U.S. in October 2022 that limits all semiconductor equipment shipments to Chinese customers who are producing or developing logic, DRAM and NAND chips that meet specific advanced parameters. While these regulations have further excluded exports to certain Chinese customers, we currently are able to continue to ship to the majority of our Chinese customers. In general, however, sales to Chinese customers represent a higher risk than sales to customers in other international locations because of trade tensions between the U.S. government and the Chinese government, and other challenges reflecting China’s stage of development, including public health concerns and rapid growth.
Research and Development
Our industry continues to experience rapid technological change, requiring us to frequently introduce new products and enhancements. Our Beverly, Massachusetts Advanced Technology Center houses a process development
6
laboratory with a 13,500 square feet class 10/100/1000 clean room for product demonstrations and process development and a 17,500 square feet customer training center. The Advanced Technology Center provides infrastructure and process capabilities that allow customers to test their unique process steps on our systems under conditions that substantially replicate the customers’ production environments. This facility also provides significant capability for our research and development efforts.
We devote a significant portion of our personnel and financial resources to research and development programs and seek to maintain close relationships with our customers to remain responsive to their product needs. We have also sought to reduce the development cycle for new products through a collaborative process whereby our engineering, manufacturing and marketing personnel work closely together with one another and with our customers at an earlier stage in the process. We use 3D, computer-aided design, finite element analysis and other computer-based modeling methods to test new designs.
Our expenses for research and development were $78.4 million, $65.4 million and $61.8 million in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, or 8.5%, 9.9% and 13.0% of revenue, respectively.
Manufacturing
We manufacture products at our 417,000 square feet ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified plant in Beverly, Massachusetts as well as our 38,000 square feet Axcelis Asia Operations Center in South Korea. Our facilities employ best in class manufacturing techniques, including lean manufacturing, six sigma controls and advanced inventory management, purchasing and quality systems. In 2022, we signed an additional lease of property in Beverly, Massachusetts, on which a state-of-the-art logistics and flex manufacturing center with 98,000 square feet is being built to our specifications, referred to as the Axcelis Logistics Center.
Our clean manufacturing process uses class 1,000/10,000 space to facilitate most of our manufacturing requirements.
Our core competency in manufacturing and supply chain management is built around system assembly and testing, which remains an in-house capability due to the high degree of expertise and intellectual property associated with the process and design. Non-core work is sourced to global partners and includes items such as vacuum systems, wafer handling and commodity-level components. We continuously pursue outsourcing opportunities where the economics are justified, with a goal of enabling quality and margin improvement. Our supply chain team is globally focused and is located in Beverly, Korea and Singapore. Customized and commercially available software solutions drive our planning, purchasing and inventory tracking process.
The companies supplying Axcelis play a critical part in our success. We want to ensure these companies share our values and have adopted a Supplier Code of Conduct, which contains our expectation that our suppliers will comply with our Environmental Policy, our Corporate Social Responsibility Policy, and other industry standards and policies. Our Supplier Code of Conduct provides that if a supplier fails to comply with these policies, our business relationship with that company will be permanently ended, although a compliance remediation period of up to 90 days may be allowed. In 2022, Axcelis audited 54 suppliers for compliance with our Supplier Code of Conduct and other quality standards. The outcome of these and prior audits included (i) the issuance of a total of over 190 corrective actions to suppliers, (ii) requiring more than 30 of our suppliers to participate in quarterly reviews focused on improvement projects, and (iii) subjecting two suppliers to more comprehensive audits and action plans.
Our products are designed to be assembled and tested in a modular fashion, which facilitates our industry-recognized “ship-from-cell” process. Specially developed test stands, software and tooling provide the framework for this accelerated delivery process. Customers that choose the “ship-from-cell” process substantially improve their delivery times while receiving the same high level of quality provided by more traditional, longer cycle integration techniques. Product margins and inventory turns also improve as a result of shorter factory cycle times and increased labor productivity.
Installation of our equipment is provided by factory and field teams. The process includes assembling the equipment at our installation site, and after it has been connected, recalibrating it to factory specifications.
7
Competition
The semiconductor equipment industry is highly competitive and is characterized by a small number of participants ranging in size. Significant competitive factors in the semiconductor capital equipment market include price, cost of ownership, equipment performance, customer support, capabilities and breadth of product line.
In the area ion implantation, we mainly compete against Applied Materials, Inc. Axcelis and Applied Materials are the only ion implant manufacturers with a full range of implant products, as well as service and support infrastructures able to service our customers globally. Other non-U.S. players we compete with include Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ion Technology Co. Ltd. and Nissin Ion Equipment Co., Ltd in Japan, Advanced Ion Beam Technology, Inc. in Taiwan, as well as CETC Electronics Equipment Group Co., Ltd. in the People’s Republic of China. Non-U.S. suppliers may have an advantage over U.S. suppliers under recently established U.S. export controls regulation for shipments to China.
Intellectual Property
We rely on patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret protection in the United States and in other countries, as well as contractual restrictions, to protect our proprietary rights in our products and our business. As of December 31, 2022, we had 209 active patents issued in the United States and 467 active patents granted in other countries, as well as 213 patent applications (29 in the United States and 184 in other countries) on file with various patent agencies worldwide. Patents are generally in effect for up to 20 years from the filing of the application.
We intend to file additional patent applications and grow our intellectual property portfolio as appropriate. Although patents are important to our business, we do not believe that we are substantially dependent on any single patent or any group of patents.
We have trademarks, both registered and unregistered, that are maintained to provide customer recognition for our products in the marketplace. Trademark registrations generally remain in effect as long as the trademarks are in use. From time to time, we enter into license agreements with third parties under which we obtain or grant rights to patented or proprietary technology. We do not believe that any of our licenses are currently material to us.
Backlog
Systems backlog, including deferred systems revenue, was $1,124.2 million and $460.6 million as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We believe it is meaningful to investors to include deferred systems revenue as part of our backlog. Deferred systems revenue represents revenue that will be recognized in future periods based on prior shipments or customer prepayments. Our policy is to include in backlog only those system orders for which we have accepted purchase orders. All orders are subject to cancellations or rescheduling by customers with limited or no penalties.
Backlog does not include orders received and fulfilled within a quarter. Our backlog at the beginning of a quarter typically does not include all orders required to achieve our sales objectives for that quarter. Backlog is not necessarily an indicator of future business trends because orders for services or parts received during the quarter are generally performed or shipped within the same quarter.
Bookings in the quarter ended December 31, 2022 were $211.5 million compared to $194.0 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2021.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2022, we had 1,388 employees and 97 agency temporary staff worldwide. During 2022, our total employee and temporary staff headcount increased by approximately 24% to support our increased business during the year. While the majority of our headcount is based in the U.S. at our main manufacturing facility in Beverly, MA, our business requires our presence where our customers are located around the world, resulting in Axcelis employees working in 28 different countries. Of our total year end 2022 employees, 966 work in North America, 349 in Asia and 73 in Europe.
8
Our future success largely depends upon our continued ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees. We provide competitive compensation and benefits programs. In addition to salaries, all Axcelis employees are eligible for cash incentive programs with annual payouts tied to annual financial metrics, as described in our proxy statements, with two exceptions: (i) certain sales staff receive commission and other sales compensation, and (ii) in order to provide greater certainty of compensation to lower level U.S. employees, we pay quarterly bonuses to those employees in amounts communicated at the start of the year. Beyond these basic forms of cash compensation, we offer recognition bonuses, equity awards, an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, a 401(k) plan with a competitive employer match, healthcare and insurance benefits, health savings and flexible spending accounts, paid time off, family leave, family care resources, flexible work schedules, employee assistance programs, and tuition assistance. These programs all contribute to both attracting and retaining a highly skilled employee base, including those with critical leadership and industry skills and experience.
During 2022, our voluntary turnover rate for employees was 13.1%, or 11.4% without retirements, well below the worldwide technology industry (all reported) voluntary turnover average of 18.4% reported in the Aon 2022 Salary Increase and Turnover Study -- December 2022.
We also recognize that training is an important aspect of both employee retention and talent development. Axcelis conducts an annual talent review process and establishes individualized development programs agreed upon by employees and their managers. Human Resources provides training on personal development planning and leadership skills. All Axcelis employees have access to LinkedIn Learning to pursue independent training on business subjects. Our manufacturing staff each receives 35 hours of training upon commencement of employment, and our field service and other technical employees receive training on various ion implanter systems to develop product support, applications and service skills on all of our products. Finally, all staff are required to complete monthly, annual or biennial training on cybersecurity, various health and safety topics, and legal matters, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, export controls compliance, ethical business practices, and confidentiality. At a minimum, all Axcelis employees are required to complete at least 15 hours of training per year, and they can access additional voluntary training at the Company’s expense.
The success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people. Accordingly, we are committed to the health, safety and wellness of our employees. We provide our employees and their families with access to health and wellness insurance and programs that offer choice where possible so they can customize their benefits to meet their needs and the needs of their families. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented significant changes that we determined were in the best interest of our employees, as well as the communities in which we operate, and which comply with government regulations. This included having those employees that could productively work from home continue to do so, while implementing additional safety measures for employees continuing critical on-site work. While all employees may now return to work in the Beverly facility, we are maintaining certain restrictions related to the manufacturing areas of the building to ensure that those members of our workforce are not unnecessarily exposed to other workers.
Axcelis is dedicated to building a diverse workforce, fostering a culture built on the principle of inclusion, and maintaining a workplace free from discrimination. We strongly believe that a diversity of experience, perspectives and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and better products for our customers. Axcelis’ commitment to diversity extends to our Board of Directors, our leadership team and all teams and functions across our global locations.
We encourage you to review the “Focus on Diversity” report (located in the “Investors” and “About Us” sections of our Axcelis.com website) for more detailed information regarding diversity and inclusion at Axcelis. Nothing on our website, including our Focus on Diversity Report or sections thereof, shall be deemed incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.
Environmental
We are subject to environmental laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate that regulate, among other things: air emissions; water discharges; and the generation, use, storage, transportation, handling and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes produced by our manufacturing, research and development and sales activities. As with other companies engaged in like businesses, the nature of our operations exposes us to the risk of environmental liabilities, claims, penalties and orders.
9
We are proud of our commitment to improving our environment. We believe that our operations are in compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations and that there are no pending environmental matters that would have a material impact on our business. We are ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified at our Beverly, MA facility.
We are also proud that our Power Series ion implantation systems have become enabling technology for the production of power management devices, which are critical to the electrification of vehicles, an important component of our society’s actions to address climate change.
In 2022, Axcelis became a founding member of the Semiconductor Climate Consortium (“SCC”) of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (“SEMI”), our industry organization serving the manufacturing supply chain for the micro- and nano-electronics industries. In doing so, we expect to bolster our own sustainability work with the power of the semiconductor ecosystem. By collaborating with SCC member companies' joint knowledge and innovative technologies, Axcelis hopes to promote progressive action towards climate change.
Information about our Executive Officers
Mary G. Puma, 65, has been our President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2002, having served as Chairman from 2005 to 2015. From May 2000 until January 2002, Ms. Puma was our President and Chief Operating Officer. In 1998, she became General Manager and Vice President of the Implant Systems Division of Eaton Corporation, a global diversified industrial manufacturer. In May 1996, she joined Eaton as General Manager of the Commercial Controls Division. Prior to joining Eaton, Ms. Puma spent 15 years in various marketing and general management positions for General Electric Company. Ms. Puma is also a director of Nordson Corporation, a manufacturer of precision dispensing equipment for industrial liquid and powder coatings, adhesives, and sealants, and serves as a director and, since early 2023, as Chairperson of the Board of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.
Kevin J. Brewer, 64, became our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in September 2013, having served as interim Chief Financial Officer beginning in June 2013. Mr. Brewer also manages our Global Operations. Mr. Brewer had previously been our Executive Vice President, Global Operations since 2008 and our Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Operations since May 2005, prior to which he had been Vice President of Manufacturing Operations since October 2002 and Director of Operations from 1999 to 2002. Prior to joining Axcelis in 1999, Mr. Brewer was Director of Operations, Business Jets at Raytheon Aircraft Company, a leading manufacturer of business and special mission aircraft owned by Raytheon Company, a manufacturer of defense, government and commercial electronics, as well as aircraft. Prior to that, Mr. Brewer held various management positions in operations and strategic planning in Raytheon Company’s Electronic Systems and Missile Systems groups.
Russell J. Low, Ph.D. , 52, is our Executive Vice President, Global Customer and Engineering Operations, a position he assumed in January 2021, having served as Executive Vice President, Engineering since joining Axcelis in October 2016. Dr. Low joined Axcelis in October 2016 as Executive Vice President, Engineering. Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Low held the position of Vice President of Engineering, MOCVD Business Unit at Veeco Instruments since 2013, prior to which he was Veeco’s Senior Director of Engineering, Molecular Beam Epitaxy Business Unit beginning in 2012. From 2003 to 2012, Dr. Low held a number of positions at Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, most recently as Director of Technology. Prior to that, Dr. Low held engineering positions in the thermal processing and ion implant divisions of Applied Materials, Inc. from 1997 to 2003.
Greg Redinbo, Ph.D., 58, is our Executive Vice President, Marketing and Applications, a position he assumed in September 2022. Dr. Redinbo joined Axcelis in 2021 as Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Business Development. Dr. Redinbo has over 25 years of experience in the semiconductor capital equipment industry. Prior to joining Axcelis, Dr. Redinbo held the position of Vice President, Global Strategic Accounts at ASML. Dr. Redinbo’s past positions also include Global Vice President of Sales, Service and Applications at FEI, Director of Sales, U.S. and Europe, and Director of Product Marketing, High Current Products at Varian Semiconductor and Product Management in the Thermal Processing Division at Applied Materials.
Lynnette C. Fallon, 63, is our Executive Vice President, Human Resources/Legal and General Counsel, a position she has held since May 2005. Prior to that, Ms. Fallon was Senior Vice President HR/Legal and General Counsel since 2002, and Senior Vice President and General Counsel since 2001. Ms. Fallon has also been our corporate Secretary since 2001. Before joining Axcelis in 2001, Ms. Fallon had been a partner in the Boston law firm of Palmer & Dodge LLP since 1992, where she was head of the Business Law Department from 1997 to 2001. Ms. Fallon is also a member of the Board
10
of Directors of ClearPoint Neuro, Inc., a global therapy-enabling platform company providing stereotactic navigation and delivery to the brain.
Douglas A. Lawson, 62, has been our Executive Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Strategy since November 2013, having joined Axcelis as Vice President Business Development in 2010, and holding the position of Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives beginning in 2011. Mr. Lawson also manages our Information Technology function. Prior to joining the Company in 2010, he held the position of General Manager of Luminus Devices from 2009 to 2010. He has over 30 years of experience in the technology industry and has held numerous executive and technical positions at BTU International, PRI Automation, Digital Equipment and Intel.
11