Leadership

Dr. Randhir Thakur is executive vice president and general manager of the Silicon Systems Group at Applied Materials, Inc., which comprises the company’s entire portfolio of semiconductor manufacturing systems. In this role, Dr. Thakur is responsible for strengthening the company’s leadership in its core wafer fabrication equipment markets.

He previously was senior vice president and general manager of the Display and SunFab Solar Group from December 2008 to September 2009, where he led the business offering manufacturing systems for flat panel displays, and the company’s thin film solar products for producing large size solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. He previously was general manager of Strategic Operations from May 2008 to December 2008.

Dr. Thakur rejoined Applied Materials in May 2008 from SanDisk Corporation, the world’s largest supplier of innovative flash memory data storage products, where he served as executive vice president of Technology and Fab Operations and was responsible for the company’s NAND flash memory roadmap, design, development, and fab operations. He also served as head of SanDisk’s worldwide operations, responsible for the company’s NAND flash and back end manufacturing footprint, end-to-end supply chain management, corporate quality, corporate procurement, assembly and packaging, product and test engineering, planning and sales operations and cost reduction activities.

From 2000 to 2005, he held a variety of executive roles within various semiconductor product groups at Applied Materials, including group vice president and general manager for Front End Products.

Prior to joining Applied Materials in 2000, Dr. Thakur served as chief technology officer and general manager at Steag Electronic Systems, and vice president of Research Development and Technology at AG Associates, and held various technical leadership positions at Micron Technology.

Dr. Thakur holds more than 300 patents and has published more than 200 papers. In 2013 he was named an IEEE Fellow for his groundbreaking leadership in development and implementation of single-wafer technology in semiconductor manufacturing. He also serves on the board of directors for Marvell Technology Group Ltd.

Dr. Thakur received a bachelor of science degree with honors in electronics and telecommunications engineering from the Regional Engineering College, Kurukshetra, India; a master of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada; and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Oklahoma.

Bob Halliday was named senior vice president and chief financial officer of Applied Materials, Inc. in February 2013.  He previously was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates prior to Applied’s acquisition of the company in November 2011.  During his tenure, Varian achieved record financial and stock performance and he was named a top CFO by Institutional Investor magazine.

Since the acquisition of Varian, Mr. Halliday served as general manager of the implant business unit within Applied’s Silicon Systems Group.  He previously worked at Ionics, Inc., a manufacturer of water treatment capital equipment, where he served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

Mr. Halliday earned master of business administration and bachelor of science degrees from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and has been a Certified Public Accountant.

Mr. Larkins was named senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Applied Materials, Inc. in November 2012. He is responsible for all legal affairs, worldwide intellectual property and global security, and brings to Applied a wealth of experience in mergers and acquisitions, global commercial transactions and operations, corporate finance, securities, and corporate governance.

Prior to joining Applied, Mr. Larkins served as vice president, corporate secretary and deputy general counsel of Honeywell International Inc., a diversified global technology and manufacturing leader, from September 2002 to November 2012. His areas of responsibility included corporate governance, public reporting, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, real estate and procurement. He joined Honeywell (formerly AlliedSignal) in 1997 and served in various positions, including vice president and general counsel of its Automation and Control Solutions business segment.

Prior to joining Honeywell, Mr. Larkins served as senior vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel of L.A. Gear from 1994 to 1997. Before that, he was in private practice (mergers and acquisitions, securities and general corporate) in Los Angeles for seven years, most recently at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

Mr. Larkins received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his J.D. from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Omkaram (Om) Nalamasu is group vice president and chief technology officer (CTO) for Applied Materials, Inc.  As CTO, Dr. Nalamasu provides critical insight to maintain Applied’s technology leadership in the industries it serves and spearheads the company’s growth into new markets. A world-renowned expert in materials science and technology, he brings extensive experience and passion in driving innovation to Applied – recognized by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Technology Review as one of the world's most innovative companies. 

From 2006 to 2011, Dr. Nalamasu served as corporate vice president and deputy CTO, with responsibility for the Advanced Technologies Group.  In this role he fuelled Applied’s innovation and growth efforts through the incubation of longer term research and product development investments, funding of global academia and consortia, venture capital investments for start-ups, as well as through value-added partnerships with customers, supply chain partners and government funding agencies.

From 2002 to 2006, Dr. Nalamasu was vice president of research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) where he served as a New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) distinguished professor of materials science and engineering, as well as professor of chemistry. Prior to RPI, he held key research and development leadership positions at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Bell Laboratories/Lucent Technologies, and Agere Systems, Inc., and served as director of Bell Laboratories' Nanofabrication Research Laboratory, MEMS and Waveguides Research, and Condensed Matter Physics organizations.

Dr. Nalamasu has received numerous awards including the 2006 Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce’s “Tech-Valley’s Hot 10 Personalities”, 2005 Pride of India Gold Award from the Non-Resident India (NRI) Institute, 2004 ACS Roy W. Tess Award; 2000 ACS Team Innovation Award; 1998 Japan Photopolymer Science and Technology Award; two R&D 100 Awards; and 1997 Bell Labs President’s Gold Medal. He has published more than 180 papers, review articles, and book chapters, edited two books and holds more than 35 patents.

His primary research interests are in the areas of nanomanufacturing, nanopatterning, electronic and photonic materials, and lithography, with special emphasis on applying patterning and materials know-how for device fabrication for electronics, photonics and energy applications. He has made seminal contributions to the fields of optical lithography and polymeric materials science and technology.

Dr. Nalamasu is a member of the board of directors of Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and The Tech Museum, and serves on the National Academies Panel on Materials Science and Engineering.  He also serves on several technical advisory boards and university advisory committees. He received his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.