John Brewer

John is CEO and President of thin film integrated circuit technology startup Amorphyx, based in Corvallis, Oregon USA spun out from the Oregon State University and the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute.   At Amorphyx,   John leads the commercialization of a new family of quantum tunneling and semiconductor thin film electronic devices that promise to dramatically lower manufacturing cost, improve image quality and reduce power consumption of rigid and flexible small-to-large are displays for consumer electronics while improving performance and suitability of thin film electronics to the new generation of flexible electronics circuits.   The company is engaged with Tier 1 display manufacturers for improving premium-grade displays for AMOLED and microLED smartphones and UHD TVs.

John is also CEO of Amorphyx’s China joint venture 杭州阿墨非结晶科技有限公司 (Hangzhou Amorphous Technology Co., Ltd.), based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.   The joint venture’s primary function is providing in-region technical support for Chinese display manufacturers.

Before Amorphyx, John spent 30 years in wireless systems and wireless semiconductors for consumer electronics markets extending across the disciplines of engineering, product and strategic marketing, and executive management.   He spent 20 years working on products and semiconductor technologies improving the performance and manufacture of RF power amplifiers and front ends for cellular, WiFi and GPS in mobile devices and network infrastructure.   John’s engineering and marketing efforts contributed to the birth and growth of the WiFi (IEEE 802.11) and digital cellular (GSM and 3G) technologies and markets, introducing key semiconductor technologies such as gallium nitride, indium phosphide and silicon germanium to the RF IC industry.

John completed six years as Vice President, Corporate and Business Development and Vice President, Marketing with SiGe Semiconductor in June 2011, where he helped lead the company’s turn-around into an IPO filing on the NASDAQ and sale to Skyworks Solutions.   Prior to joining SiGe Semiconductor, he was an executive in multiple startups and consulted with leading private equity groups including Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake on wireless and semiconductor mergers and acquisitions, and with Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.   He spent the first 10 years of his engineering career contributing to the next generation of electronic surveillance solutions for the domestic and international military and intelligence communities.

He has led or participated in the raising of over $150M in venture capital from Tier 1 funds in Silicon Valley and across the US.   He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Amorphyx, Liquid Wire, and MagWire.

John holds the bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Santa Clara University, and did graduate work in electrical engineering at Santa Clara University and business administration at Portland State University.   He has authored or co-authored numerous trade journal articles on technologies for wireless in consumer electronics, including the invited feature article on the future of wireless communications for the 50th anniversary edition of Microwave Journal.   John has been a guest lecturer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on high-tech entrepreneurism as well as at George Gilder’s “Telecosm” conferences on the future of wireless communications technologies, and has been the invited chair for industry conferences on cellular network and mobile phone technologies.