applied-materials
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James Xiao and the machinery behind the machines
After 19 years at Applied Materials, James Xiao took charge of UCT, a supplier to the equipment makers he knew from the inside. His next chapter runs through factory floors, customer relationships and a plan called UCT 3.0.
Ashok Sinha and the education of a solar cell
Before founding Sunpreme, Ashok Sinha spent decades learning how to make silicon behave. His career connects an Oxford telegram, the machinery behind computer chips, and a solar cell with work for both sides.
Gary Dickerson and the distance between an idea and a chip
After decades inside the machinery of chipmaking, Gary Dickerson is betting on a shorter route from discovery to production. His $5 billion EPIC Center puts that conviction under one roof.
Michael McNeilly and the business of making things possible
A chemist from Montana saw a business in the machinery behind the microchip. Applied Materials began with a family loan; the harder task was persuading an industry to buy its tools from someone else.
Vikram Pavate
Vikram Pavate is the CEO and co-founder of Tacta Systems, a Palo Alto robotics company building 'Dextrous Intelligence' - a fusion of AI, software and tactile hardware meant to give robots human-like touch, spatial awareness and manipulation skills. A hard-tech operator with roughly three decades in advanced materials and hardware, he trained as a ceramic and materials engineer, earned an MBA from Wharton, and holds dozens of patents. Before Tacta he co-founded and ran the sensing and location startup Locix, and led business development at LuxVue Technology, the micro-LED display pioneer acquired by Apple in 2014. In June 2025 Tacta emerged from stealth with $75 million in funding to bring physical dexterity to machines.