John Schmitz

About John Schmitz

Schmitz holds a master’s degree in chemistry from Radboud University of Nijmegen, Netherlands, and a PhD in physical chemistry from Radboud University Nijmegen. His PhD thesis was on a thermodynamic topic, From that research work he continued to be intrigued by the concept of entropy and its role in many processes that determine our daily life and our future. This interest resulted in a book on the Second Law of thermodynamics, written for the general audience (see more details below).

He joined Philips Research Labs in 1984, where he worked on interconnect systems for advanced integrated circuits. From 1989 till 1992, Schmitz served as a director of process development at Genus Inc, a small start-up active in the field of semiconductor process equipment, in Silicon Valley, CA.

Next he worked for two years as a group leader in the joint STMicroelectronics-Philips development center in Crolles, France to develop planarization techniques and dielectric materials. Schmitz served as a co-founder and VP and General Manager of MOS4YOU in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. MOS4YOU was Philips Semiconductors’ advanced development and manufacturing unit for embedded non-volatile memories and other integrated circuits made in advanced CMOS technologies.

From April 2002 to December 2005, he served as a VP and COO for manufacturing technology of SEMATECH, the international semiconductor development consortium. There he launched the Advanced Technology Development Facility (ADTF) for-profit subsidiary as well as the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative (ISMI) subsidiary (now the Manufacturing Technology Center). From September 2005 to April 2011, he was a VP of process technology research, overseeing research activities in integrated ciruits and process and device technologies for Philips and later NXP Semiconductors and oversaw new fields for the company in bio-electronics, sensors and smart LED conditioning electronics.

Currently he is a Senior VP and General Manager of Intellectual Property and Licensing, overseeing all IP-rights-related matters for NXP Semiconductors.

He has authored more than 50 papers in various scientific journals and conferences, served on numerous advisory board and has written books on IC technology, titled “Chemical Vapor Deposition of Tungsten and Tungsten Silicides for VLSI/ULSI Applications,” and on thermodynamics titled “The Second Law of Life, Energy, Technology, and the Future of Earth As We Know It”.