Gongda Yao, CEO at Chinese polysilicon manufacturer Daqo New Energy, has won the 2011 Ernst & Young China Entrepreneur of The Year award in the Emerging Entrepreneur category.
“I am very honoured to be granted this award which is not only a reward to my personal achievement, but also, more importantly a recognition to the company’s success,” Yao said. “We will continue leverage our advantages on efficient operation, optimized technology and integrated industry chain to deliver PV products with higher efficiency and lower cost. I believe with all the innovation and endeavour from partners in solar PV industry, it won’t take long to achieve grid parity.”
Daqo New Energy was established with Yao at the helm in 2008 and since then has established itself as one of the largest polysilicon manufacturers in China. It has three production bases, in Chongqing, Jiangsu and Xinjiang Provinces, and is already expanding overseas, with subsidiaries in the US and Canada and a global client base. This expansion plan shows no sign of slowing down, and the recently announced phase II project in Xinjiang and the hydrochlorination project in Wanzhou is set to take annual capacity to 12,000MT by the end of 2012.
Prior to founding Daqo, Yao, who has a doctorate in materials science and engineering from the State University of New York, served as vice resident at Applied Materials, Novellus Systems and Ciwest Semiconductor. Yao holds multiple US patents and has authored or co-authored more than 40 technical articles and papers.
