Advent Solar has added financial veteran Dick Trueblood and manufacturing expert Bernard Wilimitis to its executive management team. Trueblood joins the company as its CFO,
responsible for financial management, taxation, and global
business structuring in support of international growth. Wilimitis
was promoted to VP of manufacturing and operations, where he oversees all manufacturing and operations.
“Dick and Bernard bring a new
dimension of expertise in financial, manufacturing, and engineering to our
management team,” said Peter
Green, president/CEO of the Albuquerque, NM-based solar cell and module manufacturer. “The addition of these two seasoned professionals will
contribute greatly to Advent Solar’s future success. We’re excited to have them
on board as we continue to grow the company following our launch of the solar
industry’s first comprehensive cell-to-module architecture–Advent
Solar Ventura Technology.”
Before joining Advent,
Trueblood was a partner at Tatum LLC, conducting international due
diligence for potential acquisitions. Before that, he was CFO
of Troon Golf, where he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s domestic and
international financial operations. Trueblood also served as CFO of Heritage Property Investment Trust. He holds a bachelor’s of science and arts degree from
Bentley College, Waltham, MA.
Wilimitis takes over as Advent’s VP of manufacturing and operations, after serving as the company’s
director of manufacturing for two years. Before joining the firm, he held
manufacturing and engineering leadership roles with Intel, including managing
the company’s internal laser lithography factory business unit, where he improved its
capability and performance to surpass world-class levels. He also headed the turnaround
of multiple manufacturing process areas and oversaw the manufacturing transfer
of the P803 process into Intel’s largest factory. Wilimitis has a BS in industrial technology from Purdue University and is bronze-level trained in
lean manufacturing methods.
Advent recently announced agreements with several European partners to deploy more than 250 MW of its Ventura cell-to-module photovoltaic architecture, which features emitter-wrap-through back-contact cells (originally developed at Sandia National Labs), monolithic module assembly, thin wafers, and advanced bonding techniques.
— Tom Cheyney