GlobalFoundries names new officers

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

GlobalFoundries, the computer chip company building a $4.6 billion factory in Luther Forest, announced a new chief financial officer and other senior corporate appointments Wednesday and said development of its plant here is on schedule.

The personnel changes won’t have a direct impact on development of Fab 8 in Malta, a site with more than 1,000 employees that is on track to have 1,500 workers by late next year.

The plant has been installing manufacturing tools since last summer and expects to start test production later this month.

“By the end of the year we should have some of the silicone going through the process,” company spokesman Travis Bullard said.

Test production and refining of manufacturing processes will take most of 2012, according to the company, with commercial production starting around the end of the year.

Effective Tuesday, the company appointed Daniel Durn as CFO, replacing Robert Krakauer, who has left the company.

The company also named Gregg Bartlett as chief technology officer and KC Ang as head of customer engineering and quality.

Ang, who is based in Singapore, is also the senior vice president overseeing development of Fab 8 and will continue to have that responsibility, the company said.

All three will report directly to Ajit Manocha, CEO of the Sunnyvale, Calif.-headquartered company.

GlobalFoundries was formed in 2009 when Advanced Micro Devices spun off its manufacturing facilities, with investment from the government of Abu Dhabi. The company later acquired Chartered Semiconductor of Singapore, an established foundry with about 150 customers.

As a foundry company, GlobalFoundries makes computer chips for multiple customers. Most foundries are located in Asia; Fab 8 would be the largest foundry plant in the United States.