JULY 16, 2009--Aptina Imaging's board of directors has appointed David Orton as CEO and a member of the board of directors as of Aug. 5, 2009. Orton succeeds Nicholas Brathwaite, who has been the CEO since April 2008 and who will assume the position of chairman. Aptina is now independent and privately held following the sale by Micron Technology of a majority interest to Riverwood Capital and TPG Capital on July 10, 2009. Micron has retained a 35% minority interest in Aptina.
"Hiring a person of David's caliber with his experience leading a multibillion-dollar semiconductor company is a reflection of the expectation the investors and board have for realizing Aptina's huge potential," says Brathwaite.
"Joining Aptina is a tremendous business opportunity on many levels. This is a world-class organization with enormous potential--leading technology, quality products, and a clear focus on serving its customers," says Orton regarding his decision to join Aptina. "I look forward to working with the Aptina team as we strive to deliver distinguished products to our customers and realize the full potential of this great company," he adds.
Orton most recently served as CEO at venture-backed startup DSM Solutions. Prior to that, he was executive vice president of Visual and Media Businesses for AMD following the company's acquisition of ATI Technologies, a global fabless semiconductor company. Before the acquisition, Orton served as the president and CEO of ATI from 2000 to 2006. Under Orton's leadership, ATI went from a single product line to four major product lines, growing the company's revenue from $1 billion in 2000 to $2.4 billion in 2005. He was also president and CEO at the high-performance 3-D graphics company ArtX, which was acquired by ATI in 2000.
His experience also includes senior management roles at SGI, as well as graphics and semiconductor work for General Electric and Bell Laboratories. He holds several patents in graphics and computer architecture.
Orton earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and economics at Wake Forest University and a master of science degree in electrical engineering from Duke University.
-- Posted by Vision Systems Design, www.vision-systems.com
