Intersil Establishes Technical Fellows Program; Names First Six Intersil Fellows; Intersil Fellows Program Part of Company's Technical Excellence Initiative

Business Wire, Feb 5, 2004

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2004

Intersil Corporation (Nasdaq:ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog solutions, announced today the establishment of an Intersil Fellows Program. This program is designed to further foster technical excellence throughout the company by formally recognizing the company's top technical contributors and establishing them as role models, mentors and leaders of the wider Intersil technical community.

Intersil has selected the charter six members to this high technical honor through a careful evaluation and vetting process. The company selected individuals who have contributed to technical excellence, taken leadership roles in the technical community and achieved individual accomplishments important to the company's technical success. Also considered was each person's contribution to patent development; their technical publishing and speaking accomplishments; and their involvement in industry organizations, consortia and technical conferences.

The charter Intersil Fellows are: Sandy Fairgrieve, Barry Harvey, Jack Linn, Larry Pearce, Joe Pierret and Nick Van Vonno. Each of these appointments carries with it the Intersil Fellow title, a new distinction for Intersil that is the company's highest technical position.

"Intersil high performance analog leadership in several growing market segments is testament to the very excellent technical team we've assembled," said Rich Beyer, president and CEO of Intersil. "These six employees are well recognized within and outside our company as seasoned, well-respected technical knowledge leaders. It's our intention through this new Fellows program to formally recognize their accomplishments by granting them this important distinction and new title. With their continued involvement as mentors, role models and group leaders of our highly competent technical team, I'm confident that we'll expand Intersil leadership in bringing truly distinctive and very competitive high performance analog products to market."

About the New Intersil Fellows:

Sandy Fairgrieve heads up the design activities for Optical Storage in Intersil's Elantec Products Group. Fairgrieve is a critical player in positioning Intersil as a leader in the Optical Storage segment in both CD-RW and DVD and has been directly involved in the design of many world-class, first-to-market products, including leading edge laser diode drivers for CD-RW and DVD-R. Customers and peers have tremendous respect for his innovative abilities and entrepreneurial drive. He has 26 years experience in the semiconductor industry.

Barry Harvey heads up the design activities for amplifiers and DSL in Intersil's Elantec Product Group. He is well known in the industry for his creative solutions that have changed or influenced the design and architecture of amplifiers. Harvey is also proficient in analog and digital circuits, CMOS technology, bipolar process technology, bipolar transistor analysis, and optimization and modeling. He has 15 patents (with three more pending), has published 30 papers and has been a speaker at major industry symposiums and conferences. Harvey has 30 years experience in the semiconductor industry.

Dr. Jack Linn heads up the Analytical Services Laboratory in Palm Bay for Intersil's Operations and Technology group. Linn is a recognized subject matter expert in all areas of wafer processing; this extensive technical knowledge gives him expert status in analyzing and recommending solutions on process issues that affect line yields, probe yields and reliability. He has 31 patents (plus seven pending) on technical issues such as bonded wafer technology, wafer cleaning, thin film processing, etch, PECVD deposition and selective EPI. He has also published over 50 technical papers and made presentations at major industry symposiums during his 19 years in the semiconductor industry.

Dr. Larry Pearce is the systems architect for Intersil's Desktop Product Line and has been instrumental in driving the development of the digital multiphase architecture, where Intersil is recognized as the technology leader. Pearce is known for his in-depth technology, device physics, and system knowledge and is a recognized expert in power DMOS devices and architectures. He is an active member of the Center for Power Electronics (CPES) consortium at Virginia Tech and also drives the research on integrated MOSFET/Driver technology at the University of Florida. He holds 24 patents (plus five pending) and has published numerous papers covering a variety of topics. He has 25 years experience in the semiconductor industry.

Joe Pierret heads up the design activities for video products in Intersil's Elantec Products Group. He developed some of Intersil's highest performance devices, including line drivers for DSL, display buffers, laser diode drivers, video products and operational amplifiers. Devices designed by Pierret have been incorporated into many different applications and products. Pierret serves as a mentor for less experienced engineers, instilling a strong work ethic seasoned with solid business sense. Pierret has 20 years experience in the semiconductor industry.