# Ashok Sinha

> Ashok K. Sinha is the founder and former chairman and CEO of Sunpreme. A materials scientist educated at IISc and Oxford, he worked at Bell Laboratories and Applied Materials before pursuing solar manufacturing. His memoir, First Class First, covers five decades in the semiconductor business.

- **Role:** Materials scientist, semiconductor executive, solar entrepreneur and memoir author
- **Organizations:** Sunpreme, Applied Materials, AT&T Bell Laboratories, SEMATECH, California Institute of Technology, IISc Alumni Association of North America
- **Education:** B.E., Metallurgy, Indian Institute of Science, D.Phil., Materials Science, University of Oxford, Research fellowship, materials science (not a degree), California Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** IEEE Fellow for contributions to semiconductor-device interconnect technology., 1985 Callinan Award recipient., IISc Distinguished Alumni Award, 2005.

## Career timeline

- **1962** — Arrived at the Indian Institute of Science.
- **1963** — Received an Oxford D.Phil. bursary acceptance telegram in December.
- **1966** — Completed his D.Phil. at Oxford.
- **1968-1970** — Research fellowship at Caltech, as listed on LinkedIn.
- **Date unspecified** — Worked for 20 years at AT&T Bell Laboratories, including leadership of VLSI process technology and fabrication departments.
- **1985** — Received the Electrochemical Society division Callinan Award.
- **2005** — Received the IISc Distinguished Alumni Award.
- **2006** — Retired from Applied Materials as senior vice president after a 15-year tenure.
- **By 2011** — Founded and led Sunpreme; IFC disclosed a proposed investment and manufacturing expansion.
- **2016** — Sunpreme announced a roughly $5 million DOE award for copper metallization technology.
- **2018** — Presented a 24%-efficiency hybrid cell at WCPEC-7.
- **2025** — First Class First book release included in a November 15 IISc alumni event.

## Achievements

- IEEE Fellow for contributions to semiconductor-device interconnect technology.
- 1985 Callinan Award recipient.
- IISc Distinguished Alumni Award, 2005.
- Sunpreme biography credited him with more than 80 issued US patents as of 2020.
- Named inventor on US7956283B2, granted June 7, 2011.
- Led Applied Materials’ Silicon Business sector; a company biography described it as a $6 billion business.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — IISc AANA published a report of its November 15, 2025 celebration, including Sinha’s First Class First book release and identifying him as former chairman and CEO of Sunpreme.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashok-sinha-a2188611

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ashok-sinha
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23