Brad Mattson

Brad Mattson (born October 29, 1954) is an American engineer and entrepreneur. He started two publicly traded semiconductor companies, Novellus Systems and Mattson Technology, and has also worked in the solar power industry. He currently serves as Chairman of Husk Power and is a board director at Siva Power, a thin film solar cell company based in Silicon Valley, and is involved with several other private companies and non-profits. Mattson holds 12 patents.

Early life and education

Mattson was born in Norwood, Massachusetts on October 29, 1954, and grew up in California. He graduated from San Jose State University with a BSc in aeronautical engineering. Mattson also holds an MBA in Finance from Santa Clara University.

Semiconductor career

Applied materials

After graduating San Jose State University, Mattson took a job with Applied Materials as a field service engineer. Mattson repositioned his career into product management and marketing, eventually becoming a product manager and then director of marketing for Applied Materials' etch division.

Mattson left Applied after about five years to become VP for the plasma systems group of Laboratory for Electronics (LFE) in Massachusetts.

Mattson incorporated Novellus in 1984. In the early 1980s the semiconductor industry was in a downturn and there were many layoffs, so Mattson had difficulty raising outside funding, instead funding it with his own money. Mattson Technology became a publicly traded company in 1994.

While at the company, Mattson was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award of Northern California in the "High Technology-Electronics" category.

Renewable energy career Mattson working with Husk Power Systems installing solar panels in off-grid locations in India.

According to Mattson, the September 11 attacks strongly influenced his thinking about whether or not his work was actually helping people and making the world a better place, or if he was only working with already "really successful countries and successful companies" despite his wanting "to see technology benefit humanity in a more direct way." That same year, Mattson served as a judge for The Tech Awards's Environment category and the theme of "technology benefiting humanity".

In 2009 Mattson became a partner at VantagePoint Capital Partners, a venture capital firm that focuses on renewable energy and cleantech.

In 2011 Mattson became CEO of Siva Power, but what was then Solexant, a solar startup developing cadmium telluride solar panels. Mattson halted the company's plans to build a factory in Oregon, and instead ramped-up R&D to develop copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar technology. After two years Mattson unveiled the new company as Siva Power in 2013. In 2017, Bruce Sohn, the former President of First Solar became CEO of Siva Power, with Mattson serving as Executive Chairman of the Board.

In 2014, Mattson self published a book, The Solar Phoenix: How America Can Rise from the Ashes of Solyndra to World Leadership in Solar 2.0, in which he explains why he believes solar is fundamental to the world's energy future and the industry's place in the United States.

Public speaking and mentoring Mattson speaks and presents at organizations devoted to energy and humanitarianism, such as Intersolar, Greentech Media Solar Summits, the Rotary Club, IEEE, U. S. Department of Energy conferences, and the Commonwealth Club of California, where he spoke alongside Jigar Shah. Mattson has also given guest lectures at Santa Clara University and UC Berkeley on sustainability, business, and engineering.

A graduate of Santa Clara University, Mattson served as a member on the Board of Regents and also served as an Advisory Board Member for the university's Center for Science, Technology, and Society (CSTS). Mattson has also worked with the CSTS Global Social Benefit Incubator. Most of the companies Mattson advised were involved in renewable energy, such as Husk Power Systems, blueEnergy, and ToughStuff. Mattson has served as Chairman of the Board of Husk Power since 2013.

Patents

Plasma Contamination Removal Process, United States 5,198,634 Inductive Plasma Reactor, United States 5,811,022 System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,002,109 System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,043,460 System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,046,439 Method & Apparatus for Thermal Processing, United States 6,133,550 Inductive Plasma Reactor, United States 6,143,129 System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,172,337 Apparatus & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,342,691 Method & Apparatus for Thermal Processing, United States 6,355,909 Method & Apparatus for Thermal Processing, United States 6,399,921 System & Method for Thermal Processing, United States 6,403,925