Qcept Technologies Establishes Korea Subsidiary and Names Semiconductor Industry Veteran Richard Hong President of Asia-Pacific

ATLANTA, June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Qcept Technologies Inc. today announced that it has established a subsidiary in Korea, called Qcept Technologies Korea.  Located in Hwaseong, Qcept Technologies Korea strengthens the company's ability to provide local applications and field service support for its growing installed base of ChemetriQ^® non-visual defect (NVD) inspection systems.  Qcept also announced today that it has appointed semiconductor industry veteran, Richard Hong, as president, Asia-Pacific.  Hong, who previously served as president of KLA-Tencor Korea, will be responsible for driving Qcept's sales and strategic partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region.

"As adoption for our ChemetriQ wafer inspection technology continues to grow, it's increasingly critical for Qcept to be where our customers are in order to provide the comprehensive and timely support they need," stated Bret Bergman, CEO of Qcept Technologies.  "Qcept is strongly committed to our customers in Asia, having previously set up a spare parts depot in Korea and now establishing our first subsidiary here.  We chose Hwaseong as the site for our subsidiary due to its close proximity to one of our leading customers.  We're also extremely pleased to have Richard Hong on board heading our Asia-Pacific sales efforts.  I can think of no one more qualified to drive Qcept's business growth in this region."

"Qcept has a great technology that can help leading IC manufacturers maximize their yields and bring their next-generation processes into production more quickly," stated Hong.  "I believe my previous experience in semiconductor process control on both the fab and equipment sides can be a benefit to the company, and I look forward to growing our existing customer relationships while expanding our business to more customers throughout Korea, Taiwan and China."

Hong has more than 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry.  He began his career at Samsung Electronics as a photolithography process engineer and was promoted several times, eventually becoming manager of process engineering, SSI, America.  He then joined KLA-Tencor, where he served in a number of positions, including senior director of strategic marketing, Viper Division and senior director of sales, Wafer Inspection Group.  He was later appointed vice president and general manager of KLA-Tencor's Samsung Business Unit-Korea, and became president of KLA-Tencor Korea in 2004.  

In 2008, Hong received the prestigious Bob Graham Award from Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) in recognition of his pioneering work in introducing wafer inspection inline monitoring to semiconductor fabrication.  Hong received his master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Yonsei (Seoul, South Korea), an executive MBA from the Hass School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, and an MBA in marketing from Golden Gate University (San Francisco, Calif.).

Address and contact information for Qcept Technologies Korea:

31-6 Seokwoo-dong #417
Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do
Korea 445-170
Tel:  +82 (10) 4768-0552 (Korea) or +1-408-712-0233 (US)
E-mail:  [email protected]

Address and contact information for COA International (Korea sales representative for Qcept):

A-2902, Doosan We've Pavilion, 7 Jeongja-dong
Bundang-Gu, Seongnam-City, Gyeongggi-Do
Korea 463-843
Tel:  +82 (70) 7753-8305
Fax: +82 (31) 716-8305

About Qcept Technologies Inc.:

Qcept Technologies delivers wafer inspection solutions for non-visual defect (NVD) detection in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.  Qcept's ChemetriQ^® platform is being adopted in critical processes for inline, non-contact, full-wafer detection of such NVDs as sub-monolayer organic and metallic residues, process-induced charging, and other undesired surface non-uniformities that cannot be detected by conventional optical inspection equipment.  More information can be found at www.qceptech.com.

ChemetriQ is a registered trademark of Qcept Technologies Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

MEDIA CONTACT
David Moreno
Vice President
MCA Public Relations
Tel:  +1-650-968-8900 ext. 125
E-mail:  [email protected]

SOURCE Qcept Technologies Inc.