Management Team

The Atomate Team is dedicated to adding significant value to research and commercialization efforts in the emerging nanotechnology industry. Our own experiences in university, government, and corporate laboratory and production environments drive us to deliver solutions that best meet the unique goals and constraints of the nanotechnology community.

Brian Lim, Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Brian Lim serves Atomate as its President, Chairman, and CEO. Since founding Atomate in 2003 Brian has led the company to profitability and sales of products on 6 continents. Brian has recruited a robust team of scientists, engineers, technicians, and business professionals who are making a significant and positive impact on the commercialization of nanotechnology.

Prior to founding Atomate, Brian was the Vice President of Business Development, Marketing, Sales, and Product Management at NanoDevices (acquired by Veeco Instruments). This company was the first to market with the EasyTube® system, now sold by FirstNano-CVD Equipment Corporation, a system designed specifically for carbon nanotube research. NanoDevices also developed innovative products used in imaging nanostructures with the atomic force microscope. Brian has also served as the Vice President of Engineering and Product Development at Alpha Virtual/ Perceptronics, later acquired by Veridicom International; Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Broadware, later acquired by Cisco; Director of Product Marketing of StarOffice, later acquired by Sun Microsystems; and Product Manager at Sun Microsystems. Brian also worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for 8 years, where he managed the development of mission-critical devices for Earth-orbiting science instruments and spacecraft missions to Mars and to Saturn.

Brian earned an M.S. degree in Management and Engineering from the MIT Sloan School of Management and School of Engineering and a B.S.M.E. degree, also from MIT.

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Virginia Ford, General Manager

Ms. Virginia (Ginny) Ford leads the Tools Business Unit of Atomate and serves as the Vice President of Engineering. Ginny has 3 decades of experience in technical management at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and at Texas Instruments.

In prior positions, Ginny has earned the level of Principal Engineer and has served as the Deputy Instrument Manager of a $73 million NASA project, System Manager of a $44 million NASA project, Principal Investigator on new technology development projects, and Group Supervisor of the Instrument Engineering Group at JPL. Ginny has worked on very high profile projects, including the Mars Exploration Rover and Terrestrial Planet Finder.

Ginny earned a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida and a B.S. degree in Physical Sciences from Harvard University.

Ginny has authored 12 technical publications and she has received numerous awards for technical and management achievements.

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Dr. Brian Hunt, Vice President of Advanced Research

Dr. Brian Hunt is responsible for leading Atomate's R&D in electronic devices based on carbon nanotubes (CNT) and other nanoscale materials, and for assisting Atomate customers with process development. He has over 25 years of experience in design, fabrication, and testing of submicron and nanoscale electronic devices and sensors, including pioneering research in several fields.

Prior to joining Atomate, Brian held various technical leadership and management positions at  the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where he initiated a nanotechnology electronic devices effort. Most recently at JPL, Brian was the Principal Engineer responsible for coordinating projects aimed at development of CNT transistors, CNT mechanical resonators, CNT diodes, CNT electron emitters, and nanowire-based sensors. Before working at JPL, Brian worked as a Fellow Scientist at the Westinghouse Science and Technology Center (now Northrop Grumman) on high performance integrated circuit (IC) development for radar applications. Prior to Westinghouse, Brian studied novel heterostructures produced by silicon molecular beam epitaxy, including epitaxial silicide metal base transistors at the General Electric Corporate R&D Center.

Brian earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University in Applied Physics under Professor Robert Buhrman, and a B.S. degree in Solid State Physics at John Carroll University. At Cornell University, Brian was among the first users of the National Submicron Facility (now the Cornell Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility), where he developed novel electron beam lithography techniques for fabrication of three terminal superconducting devices.

Brian has been distinguished with appointment as a Principal Engineer at JPL and as a Fellow Scientist at Westinghouse/ Northrop Grumman. Brian’s work has also been recognized with a NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Award and a Lew Allen Award for Excellence. Brian has authored over 100 technical papers and holds 11 patents.

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Jim Hartman, Vice President of Process Engineering

Mr. Jim Hartman is responsible for process optimization and scaling for production of carbon nanotube and nanowire-based electronics at wafer levels.

Jim has 25 years of experience in development of semiconductor devices from R&D to full scale production, with responsibilities for process transfer, process integration, and supplier qualifications. He has implemented rigorous process control and defect reduction plans to improve yields for high volume production in large and small semiconductor companies. Prior to joining Atomate, Jim was the Director of Process Integration and Yield Enhancement at International Rectifier. He has also served as the Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at Optical Micro-Machines and as the Vice President of Manufacturing at LinFinity Microelectronics, later acquired by Microsemi Corporation. Jim has also worked at Lam Research Corporation and at Unisys Corporation, where he developed processes for CVD-based product lines.

Jim earned his M.S. and B.S. degrees in Chemistry from San Diego State University.

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Jon Lai, Vice President of Product Management

Mr. Jon Lai leads the product marketing team that develops specifications for process tools and services in the nanotechnology field. Jon has identified a number of unique opportunities and has designed solutions that improve control and synthesis of nanostructures for both research and production applications. Prior to this position at Atomate, Jon served as the Vice President of Product Development and as the Vice President of Engineering. In these roles, Jon established the platform for the current Atomate product lines.

Prior to Atomate, Jon was the principal Development Engineer and Product Manager of the EasyTube® System at NanoDevices (now owned by FirstNano-CVD Equipment Corporation). His pioneering efforts created an entirely new segment of the CVD system industry for the safe and efficient growth of carbon nanotubes and nanowires. He has built upon that foundation at Atomate, keeping Atomate at the forefront of manufacturers of CVD systems for nanostructure synthesis.

Jon earned his M.S. degree in Materials Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his B.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT.

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Lam Vuong, Vice President of Quality Assurance

Mr. Lam Vuong, VP of Quality Assurance, takes great pride in thoroughly examining every product that we ship to our customers. He is committed to excellence and consistently delivering a satisfying customer experience.

Prior to Atomate, Lam worked with Brian Lim and Jon Lai at NanoDevices (acquired by Veeco Instruments) that was the first to market with the EasyTube® (now sold by FirstNano, a Division of CVD Equipment Corporation), a system specifically designed for carbon nanotube research. Lam was responsible for manufacturing and quality control for the EasyTube® systems. Lam also worked at Digital Instruments, a division of Veeco Instruments, where his meticulous, craftsman skills were necessary for manufacturing and testing the precision components of their most complicated atomic force microscopes. Prior to Veeco, Lam worked as a Group Manager at Iris ARC and in the manufacturing group of the Aerospace Applications Group at Applied Magnetics.

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