Printed solar, lighting and electronics developer
Plextronics is growing and hiring as it prepares to scale up its manufacturing and engineering operations for OLED components.
The company recently announced two major hires. Former BayerMaterial Science CAO Robert Kumpf joined the Plextronics team this week as COO. Dr. Kumpf's 24-year career in the Polymer, Polyerethane and Plastics Divisions of BMS will be instrumental to the company going forward, says Andy Hannah, President and CEO.
William Snyder joined Plextronics as CFO and Vice President of Corporate Services in the fall of 2011. Snyder was formerly the director of sales for MEDRAD’s radiology business in the U.S.
"Plextronics has a very bright future," says Dr. Kumpf. "This signals an absolute commitment and investment to innovation (and Pittsburgh). Material science is very important to this region, there can't be a better place to have a material science company.
"My personal believe is we are going to be seeing a renaissance in manufacturing in the U.S. We need manufacturing and Plextronics is part of that broader story," Kumpf adds.
Plextronics celebrates 10 years since its founding in 2002 as an R&D spinoff of Carnegie Mellon. In anticipation of the coming year, the company will rebrand itself with the launch of a new website and logo to attract attention to the product and the marketplace, says Shellyn Shoenthal, spokesperson.
In addition, Plextronics is hiring for
seven positions in a mix of areas: lab technicians, applications engineers and an administrative assistant .
The company has been focusing the last few years on its demonstration of the application of light emitting diodes (OLED) and organic solar technology. The next step will be the manufacturing of OLED components for consumer electronics, one of the hottest technologies emerging on the market.
Several significant partnerships will be announced in the next year. "You're going to be hearing a lot more news," says Kumpf. "Stay tuned."
Writer: Debra Smit
Source: Bob Kumpf and Shellyn Shoenthal, Plextronics