Billy Elliott

PRODUCT ENGINEERING and CHARACTERIZATION SR MANAGERInnovative and accomplished leader, with extensive expertise in RF Engineering and Testing, Engineering Management, Project Management, and Yield Improvement. Skilled at recruiting, hiring, and training of technical professionals. Past experience base also includes RF design engineering and RF testing. Proficient at improving processes to maximize the contributions of each individual and of the team. Focused on the bottom line financial impact of engineering decisions.

CORE COMPETENCIES / KEYWORDSEngineer BSEE RF Design Test

High Volume Six Sigma Yield Improvement Greenbelt Quality

Recruiting Hiring Leadership Mentoring Power Amplifier

Product Engineering JMP Excel FET GaAs / GaN

Project Management Budget Schedule Microsoft Office Process

Spectrum Analyzer Telecom Semiconductor Network Analyzer Wafer probe

Financial P&L Planning Device Verification Failure Analysis

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCEQORVO, Greensboro, NC (2015 – Present)Qorvo is merged company between RFMD, Inc. and Triquint Semiconductor

Sr. Manager, IDP Connectivity Characterization and Software AutomationResponsible for Engineering Verification (Characterization) and Software Automation for the newly formed Connectivity Business Unit

RFMD, Inc., Greensboro, NC (June 2000 – Dec 2014)

Sr. Manager, MPG Wireless Connectivity, Product Engineering, Device Verification, and Software Automation (since 2005): Responsible for Product Engineering, Device Verification (Characterization), and Test Automation Software for the startup Wireless Connectivity Business Unit. Product Engineering:

Leads yield improvement efforts across the manufacturing process of assigned products and provide yield plans to meet company yield targets

Provides thorough data analysis on each key design revision during product development and identifies key parameters for improvement

Performs Design of Experiments to save on build costs and help reduce design iterations to meet customer specifications

Ensures data accuracy through correlation between test platforms and maintains product history and documentation

Develops test plans for prototype and production electrical testing of wafers and/or packaged devices. Supports Design engineering and QA on product qualifications, failure analysis, customer returns and

second source vendor approval Serves as the central technical resource with design, process, manufacturing, test, quality and marketing

as the product(s) move to completion and distribution Lead the Customer 8D (8 Disciplines of problem solving) /RDA (Request for Device Analysis) Process,

working with all relevant groups to meet customer related needs Model the costing of the entire product manufacturing flow and work with the various teams on planning,

implementing cost reductions and quality improvement activities on these products Interpret fab, probe, final test and failure analysis data to improve yield and quality issues

Communicate with the various internal and external customers in regard to quality and any product related issues

Knowledge of data and statistical analysis Proficiency using statistical analysis software (e.g., JMP) Proficiency using SQL databased application development Solid analytical and problem-solving skills Excellent interpersonal and communication skills Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously Self-starter and team player Partner with Research and Development Engineers to ensure the reliability of new wafer fabrication

techniques and processes, new silicon devices and new packaging platforms Partner with Failure Analysis Engineers to understand the physics of failures on IC products

Device Verification: Development of verification plans that identify and prioritize verification requirements based on

architecture, design and marketing documents Development, documentation and presentation in reviews of verification strategy, schedule, detailed test

plans and results Design and implementation of stimulus, checking and functional-coverage components of test benches to

verify the requirements Application of formal methodologies and techniques to verify requirements that are a good fit for these

approaches Direct interface with Design, Management, Verification and other teams to resolve issues and achieve

verification closure Lead the planning, evaluation and deployment of new methodologies and flows used by the Verification

and Design teams to continuously improve project results

Design Lab and Software Automation: Lead team of Software Engineers to develop and maintain bench automation software for a variety of

wireless communication applications Planned software platform which includes automation of all design/applications engineering and device

verification modules. Includes automated data collection, data analysis, and reporting tools Automation software deployed to more than 50 benches in multi-city locations Lead efforts to standardize bench equipment (including signal generators, signal analyzers, power

meters, power supplies)

3 Promotions within Product Engineering (2006 – 2013): Joined RFMD as an individual contributor, Product Engineer. Awarded 3 successive progressions & promotions (from Sr. Engineer, to Group Leader and finally to Senior Manager of Product Engineering) within 8 years. Hired and trained a winning team staffed with 9-12 Engineers/Technicians in Greensboro, plus dotted-line support from 5 more Engineers in Beijing China. Proactively directed changes to test plans (including breaking out alternate-spec parts), PCM blocking, wafer probe, and used other techniques to reduce costs while improving product quality and maintaining continuity of supply.

My PE team used data-driven analysis to drive production test yields to >95%, Created a yield rollup methodology to enable normalizing overall product yields for product mix, with direct interaction with the Design Engineers highlighting out-of-expected yield conditions proactively. Drove continuous improvement to the yield reporting tool set, for example implemented “failure signatures” to augment the industry standard “failure Pareto”.

Promoted my vision of the PE’s having a greater contribution to the entire design process, a step beyond their historical role. Elevated PE corporate visibility. Championed corporate adoption of PE related “design for yield” activities, including “target spec analysis” and “capability analysis” after each design iteration, gage study, etc. Provided DOE training so that PE’s could do bond wire optimizations, multi-dimensional PCM analysis, etc.

Through training and mentoring, developed a leadership pipeline which built stronger group leaders and allowed successful hiring of junior level Engineers for more recent openings.

TDP Electronics, Swanannoa NC (1996 – 2000)Design and manufacturing division of Radio Shack, Tandy Distributor Products designed and manufactured television and cable amplifiers, antenna designs, and custom power supply products.

Sr. Design Engineer: Designed television and cable amplifier products, power supply products, antenna designs for consumer use. Lead design group to design and manufacture over 30 commercial products sold in Radio Shack stores.

Entry Electronics / SDX Electronics, Asheville, NC (1994 – 1996)Entry Electronics designed optical and magnetic card access systems used in hotels and other businesses. SDX was parent company that provided full electronic manufacturing and design engineering support.

Design Engineer: Provided technical leadership for next generation magnetic card entry systems used in hotel security. Interfaced directly with software designers and manufacturing engineers, Lead technical teams for installation, training, and technical support for installation of systems. Wrote the technical design specifications for entire system.

EducationBachelor of Science Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC, 1993

Master of Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC, 1999

Certifications and TrainingEmployee Management Series Part 1 Situational Leadership, RFMD, Inc. 2014

Employee Management Series Part 2 Leading Change; Splash Performance, RFMD, Inc. 2014

Passing-the-Baton Leadership Training Courses. RFMD, Inc. 2012

Finance and Accounting for non-finance managers; UNCG 2011

Effective Technical and Marketing Presentations; RFMD, Inc. 2009