Semiconductor Engineering was created by chip architects, engineers, journalists, end users, industry organizations and standards bodies to provide deep insights into the increasingly complex task of designing, testing, verifying, integrating and manufacturing semiconductors, as well as insights into the market dynamics that make it all possible. The goal of this site is to provide useful, independently developed content through targeted monthly newsletters, weekly updates, timely news alerts, videos, independent research, and a portal that serves as a forum for exchanging ideas and answering questions. While this site is supported by sponsors, all content developed by our writers adheres to the highest journalistic standards for editorial integrity and unbiased reporting. All stories are professionally written and edited by independent journalists and engineers with deep industry knowledge and experience, and all vendor involvement is limited to providing expertise rather than promoting their products. Sperling Media Group LLC was formed in 2008 to provide a free flow of unbiased information about technology and business issues in narrow but technologically challenging markets. At a time when complexity is at its peak and real insight is essential, the number of independent sources for that information is shrinking.

Note: Semiconductor Engineering content is copyrighted.

Editorial Staff



        • Ed Sperling, Editor in Chief

          Ed Sperling is the editor in chief of Semiconductor Engineering. He is a technology industry veteran and frequent moderator and speaker in Silicon Valley. Sperling is a former contributing editor at Forbes, where he wrote nearly 200 articles about business and technology issues affecting IT and CIOs. He was previously editor in chief of Electronic News and Electronic Business, and before that he held top editorial positions at Ziff-Davis and CMP Publications. Prior to that he was a daily newspaper investigative reporter covering crime and corruption.


        • Ann Mutschler, Executive Editor/EDA

          Ann Mutschler is executive editor for EDA at Semiconductor Engineering. She has been an editor and journalist since 1992, focused on technology, and the semiconductor industry. Her previous experience includes a long stint as a Senior Editor at Reed Business Information for publications including EDN, Electronic News and Electronic Business.


        • Laura Peters, Executive Editor/Manufacturing & Test

          Laura Peters is a writer and technology editor for Semiconductor Engineering. She investigates enabling processes, materials and testing methods for today’s fab facilities. Peters is a former editor in chief of Semiconductor International magazine and has worked in semiconductors since 1988. She has co-written books on cost-effective IC manufacturing and has consulted with global leaders on fab site selection and market dynamics. She holds a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois.


        • Brian Bailey, Technology Editor/EDA

          Brian Bailey is an electrical and electronic engineer, who spent the first part of his career working on commercial RTL simulation, hardware accelerators, multi-level mixed signal simulation and hardware-software co-verification. He holds four patents, has been active in a number of standards groups, written numerous papers, and served as a regular blogger, writer and voice of reason on numerous publications in the electronics industry.


        • Greg Haley, Technology Editor/Manufacturing & Test

          Gregory Haley began writing about semiconductor manufacturing and photolithography in the early 90s working with Canon U.S.A. Semiconductor, Motorola, and AMD. As a Technology Editor for Semiconductor Engineering, he focuses on Test, Metrology, and Analysis, as well as Manufacturing, Packaging, and Materials. He holds a B.A. in Writing from San Jose State University and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Writing from the University of New Mexico.


        • Karen Heyman, Technology Editor

          Karen Heyman, a former science writer for the Salk Institute, has written for a range of science and technology publications, including The Scientist and Science magazine. She is a recipient of a science journalism fellowship from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole and a Career Development grant from the National Association of Science Writers.


        • Adam Kovac, Technology Editor

          Adam Kovac is a journalist based in New York City. He has previously worked as a science and technology reporter at The Messenger. His work has appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, Esquire, USA Today, The Daily Beast and CNN.


        • Bryon Moyer, Technology Editor

          Bryon Moyer has been involved in the electronics industry for 40 years. The first couple decades were as an engineer and marketer at all levels of management, working for MMI, AMD, Cypress, Altera, Actel, Teja Technologies, and Vector Fabrics. His industry focus was on PLDs/FPGAs, EDA, multicore processing, networking, and software analysis. He was an editor and freelance writer for 12 years, writing for EE Journal and Semiconductor Engineering; he was also an analyst with the Microprocessor Report (now owned by TechInsights). His editorial coverage and analyst role added AI, security, processors of all sorts, MEMS and sensors, IoT, automotive, and semiconductor processing to his portfolio. He has a BSEE from UC Berkeley and an MSEE from Santa Clara University. Away from work, Bryon enjoys music, photography, travel, cooking, hiking, and languages.


        • Katherine Derbyshire, Technical Editor

          Katherine Derbyshire has a BS in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MS in materials from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has published research on diamond thin films, high temperature superconductors, and archaeological bronzes. She has been involved with the semiconductor manufacturing industry since 1994, when she joined Solid State Technology as Senior Technical Editor. She won two American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) awards before departing as Chief Technical Editor in 1998. Next, she joined Semiconductor Online, where she quadrupled traffic and established the site as a leading information provider for the industry. After leaving Semiconductor Online in 2001, she founded Thin Film Manufacturing, a consultancy focused on technology analysis and strategic planning.


        • Jesse Allen, Senior Editor

          Jesse Allen began writing and editing with the launch of Semiconductor Engineering in October 2013. She oversaw the launch of the site’s Knowledge Center, and serves as the knowledge center administrator.


        • Anne Meixner, Technical Editor

          Anne Meixner is an industry expert in semiconductor testing, from factory to design-for-test methods. She has deep expertise in analog and mixed signal test, and spent more than 21 years at Intel, where she focused on new test technologies to reduce manufacturing costs while maintaining or improving test coverage. She holds a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, an MSEE in electrical engineering from New York University’s Polytechnic School of Engineering, and a BSEE in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland. She also is a part-time ski instructor in her spare time.


        • Liz Allan, Associate Editor

          Liz Allan has written on a wide range of subjects, including finance, public-sector pensions, healthcare, and the arts. She holds an MFA in creative writing and a graduate diploma in journalism from Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.

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          Linda Christensen, Vice President of Finance & Operations

          Linda Christensen has nearly three decades of business experience in a variety of operational, strategic planning and finance positions at Fortune 500 companies, including PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), Hewlett-Packard, Tandem Computers, VeriSign, and most recently as director at Merck.