Semiconductor executive becomes President & COO of solar thermal firm

Concentrated solar thermal specialist Ausra, Inc has a new President & COO. Dr. Thomas Caulfield, formerly Executive Vice President of Sales for semiconductor equipment supplier Novellus Systems has joined the company to accelerate the company's transition from a power plant developer to a global solar steam systems provider. Dr. Caulfield was selected after an extensive, nationwide search of senior executives with strong technical and OEM backgrounds.

"Tom's skills and experience will strengthen and complement our power industry expertise. He brings to Ausra the technology, product development and manufacturing expertise to diversify our capabilities and to complete our evolution from a power plant developer to a concentrated solar steam systems provider. Tom is the right person, at the right time, to accelerate deployment of our technology, lower costs and support Ausra's global business development pipeline," said Ausra's Chairman and CEO Dr. Robert E. Fishman.

"I've been following the cleantech sector for some time" said Dr. Caulfield. "Similar to the high tech boom, the concentrated solar thermal power industry is poised for explosive growth, which is why I'm here. Ausra has the right technology, the right management team and the right business strategy to succeed. My job is to help harness and enhance Ausra's capabilities to best match customer demand - reliably and cost-effectively."

Dr. Caulfield prior to his term at Novellus served in executive management positions at IBM for more than 10 years. Dr. Caulfield also held a senior position at Phillips Laboratory.