Akoustis™ Announces the Appointment of Jerry D. Neal and Dr. Arthur E. Geiss as Co-Chairmen of the Board

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RF Micro Devices Co-Founder, Jerry D. Neal, and Former RF Micro Devices VP of Operations, Dr. Arthur E. Geiss, elevated from Independent Directors to Co-Chairmen

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: AKTS) (“Akoustis” or the “Company”), a manufacturer of innovative Bulk ONE™ single crystal piezoelectric RF bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters for mobile wireless, announced today the appointment of independent directors Jerry Neal and Dr. Arthur Geiss as Co-Chairmen of the Board. Former Chairman Jeff Shealy remains CEO of Akoustis and will continue to serve on the Board of Directors of the Company.

Commenting on the announcement, Jeff Shealy, CEO of Akoustis, stated, “We are honored to have Jerry and Art appointed to the role of Co-Chairman of our Board. As our organization advances, it is logical for our Board leadership to evolve. We believe the segregation of the roles of Chairman and CEO is clearly in the best interest of our shareholders. Both Jerry and Art are highly respected in the RF and wireless communications industry. I congratulate them both and look forward to continuing to serve in my current role as CEO.”

Mr. Neal had a distinguished 35-year career in the RF and wireless communications industry. An entrepreneur at heart, he was the Co-Founder and former Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Strategic Development for RF Micro Devices, now Qorvo, Inc. Mr. Neal established the image of RF Micro Devices in the marketplace and was primarily responsible for many of the key relationships enabling the company to surpass $1B in annual revenue. These relationships include Northrop Grumman, Nokia, IBM and Jazz Semiconductor. Mr. Neal retired from RF Micro Devices in 2012 and has since been pursuing entrepreneurial enterprises. Before co-founding RF Micro Devices in 1991, he spent 10 years in various marketing and management positions at Analog Devices, Inc. Mr. Neal has served on the boards of numerous semiconductor companies and non-profit boards. A generous philanthropist, his primary endowment is for research in the Infectious Disease Department at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Mr. Neal has served as a member of the Akoustis board since May 2015.

Dr. Geiss served as VP of Wafer Fab Operations at RF Micro Devices, now Qorvo, Inc. He was responsible for the start-up and operations of Gallium Arsenide epitaxial-growth and wafer fabrication, which supported the commercial ramp of power amplifiers into Nokia mobile phones. Prior to RF Micro Devices, Dr. Geiss held management positions with Alpha Industries, Inc. (purchased by Skyworks Solutions, Inc.) and ITT's Gallium Arsenide Technology Center (purchased by Cobham plc). He is currently the Manager of AEG Consulting, LLC, which offers guidance concerning manufacturing, operations, and process development to technology companies. He earned a B.S. degree at Lafayette College and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Brown University, all in physics. Dr. Geiss has served as a member of the Akoustis board since May 2015.

Mr. Neal commented, “I am excited to join Arthur as Co-Chairman of the Akoustis Board. The RF acoustic wave filter performance is now a key differentiator in the RF Front End of the smartphone. I believe the Akoustis team is on a path to soon becoming a significant, and potentially disruptive, player in the fast growing billion dollar high-band RF BAW filter industry.”

Dr. Geiss remarked, “Akoustis offers a unique materials and device approach to addressing band convergence and coexistence in today’s mobile smartphones. We expect to use the company’s patented, single crystal piezoelectric materials to produce high-band RF filter solutions targeting performance specifications higher than solutions in the market today. I look forward to working with Jerry, Jeff and the entire Akoustis management team.”

About Akoustis

Akoustis™ (http://www.akoustis.com) is high-tech RF filter solutions company that manufactures its unique, patent-pending Bulk ONE™ technology to produce single-crystal bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters for the mobile-wireless industry, which facilitate signal acquisition and accelerate band performance between the antenna and the back end of mobile devices. Akoustis’ “fabless” business model is capital efficient, leveraging existing manufacturing infrastructure in the semiconductor industry. Akoustis™ is located in the Piedmont technology corridor between Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including “anticipates,” “believes,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “should,” “will,” “would” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated include, without limitation,

  • risks relating to the results of our research and development activities, including uncertainties relating to semiconductor process manufacturing;
  • the early stage of our Bulk ONE™ technology presently under development;
  • our need for substantial additional funds in order to continue our operations and the uncertainty of whether we will be able to obtain the funding we need;
  • our ability to retain or hire key scientific, engineering or management personnel; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights that are valuable to our business, including patent and other intellectual property rights;
  • our dependence on third-party manufacturers, suppliers, research organizations, testing laboratories and other potential collaborators;
  • our ability to successfully market and sell our technologies;
  • the size and growth of the potential markets for any of our technologies, and the rate and degree of market acceptance of any of our technologies;
  • competition in our industry; and
  • regulatory developments in the U.S. and foreign countries.

In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements regarding future events and circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements included in this presentation speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly or privately any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this presentation to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

THESE MATERIALS DO NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL, OR THE SOLICITATION OF ANY OFFER TO BUY, ANY SECURITIES OF AKOUSTIS, INC., OR OF ANY OTHER ENTITY WHATSOEVER. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY BY ANY PARTY SHOULD BE IGNORED.

The Del Mar Consulting Group, Inc.
Robert B. Prag, 858-794-9500
President
bprag@delmarconsulting.com
or
Alex Partners, LLC
Scott Wilfong, 425-242-0891
President
scott@alexpartnersllc.com

Source: Akoustis Technologies, Inc.

Released March 14, 2016