AMS’s core team is made up of chemical engineers with master’s degrees in business. AMS personnel have spent decades developing solutions for low cost high purity silicon materials.
Dave Keck
President
Dave, the founder of AMS, brings 35 years of experience in silicon and specialty gas production, technology and business development. Dave’s plethora of experience is derived from positions he has held at REC Silicon and GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT). At REC Silicon Dave held engineering, plant manager, and sales VP positions. Dave founded the polysilicon division of GTAT that grew to over $500 MM/year in revenue. Dave later became the CEO of GTAT.
Dave’s technical experience includes start-up, commissioning, operation and optimization of trichlorosilane/silane plants and the design and operation of TCS/silane based polysilicon CVD reactors. He is the named inventor of key patented technologies at REC Silicon.
Dave holds a B.S. Chemical Engineering and MBA from the University of Washington.
Lee Fromson
CFO
Lee Fromson has a strong history driving transformation for enterprises poised at a significant strategic or market cross-road. Most notable are his achievements building some of the most visible national brands in outdoor retailing and in outdoor products manufacturing such as Simms Fishing Products, REI, Goal Zero and Cascade Designs.
Lee has scaled early-stage enterprises from $1 million to $100 million in revenue; he has also moved mature businesses from $1 billion to beyond $2 billion. This distinguished professional history is complemented by the work Lee has done as a Board Member of some of the U.S.’s most prominent environmental, conservation and outdoor access organizations, such as the National Forest Foundation (NFF), Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), The Mountaineers and Eagle Mount- Bozeman.
Lee holds a B.S. in Business from Miami University and an MBA from the University of Idaho.
Chad Fero
General Manager
Chad has 25 years of experience in high purity silicon materials’ production, technology, and business development. Chad developed this expertise through positions previously held at REC Silicon, GTAT and working for Advanced Polysilicon Solutions; the company he started which is now merged with AMS.
Chad’s technical expertise includes start-up, commissioning, operation, and optimization of large scale chorosilane/silane plants. Chad was a key designer in five generations of polysilicon CVD reactors and contributor to key patented technologies owned by AMS: Patents.
Chad’s commercial responsibilities have included the sales and marketing of silicon related equipment and technology reaching over $300 million per year in revenue.
Chad earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University and MBA from the University of Montana.
Min-kyu (Francois) Lim
President of AMS Korea
Francois has spent 40 years in the semiconductor, polysilicon, and silicon gas industries. He has held executive management positions at Samsung Corporation, OCI, and SK Materials.
Prior to joining AMS, Francois was President and CEO of SK Materials Co LTD. During his four-year tenure, the market cap of SK Materials grew from $250 million to $1.7 billion and sales grew by 300%.
Before SK Materials, Francois was a Sr. VP at OCI Company. OCI went from being the first polysilicon manufacturer in Korea to the world’s number two producer.
Francois spent twenty-seven years working for Samsung Corporation in various positions including President of Samsung France and Executive VP of the Samsung Petrochemical Division.
Francois supports AMS from Seoul and has a Master’s Degree in Economics from Paris University.
Owen Metcalf
Market Development Director
Owen has over 25 years of experience in the high purity silicon value chain including manufacturing, technology, sales and marketing. He worked for 20 years at REC Silicon holding positions of production engineering though director of market development.
Owen’s commercial position is enabled by technical expertise in engineering design, start-up, commissioning, and optimization of silicon gas manufacturing, storage and filling systems.
Owen’s commercial responsibilities have included management of a $200 MM/year silicon gas business line as well as global systems engineering, product management, new product development, and director of applications and electronic grade polysilicon sales.
Owen holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University and an EMBA from Washington State University.
Dan DesRosier
Project Director
Dan has more than 20 years of process engineering and project leadership experience in the silicon materials industry. Dan developed this expertise through positions previously held at GT Advanced Technologies, where he progressed from Field Service/Project Manager to Director of Corporate Engineering over 15 years, and at FMC, where his career began as a Technical Engineer and Production Supervisor.
Dan's technical expertise includes the design and development of GT's silicon carbide product line, a milestone that contributed to the company's acquisition, as well as the management of large-scale international polysilicon projects across China, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Dan's project leadership responsibilities at AMS include overseeing the execution of silicon-based projects for domestic and international customers as Project Director since 2022.
Dan earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University.
Casey Wornath
Equipment Engineering Director
Casey has 20 years of experience in silicon product and processing equipment at REC Silicon and GT Advanced Technologies.
Casey’s responsibilities have included electrical/control system design, software development, commissioning and start-up of various equipment types. Casey was a contributor to patented technologies owned by AMS: Patents.
Casey holds a B.S. in General Engineering from Montana Tech.
Patents
Systems and methods of producing trichlorosilane
Hydrochlorination heater and related methods therefor
Systems and methods of heating a hydrochlorination feed stream
Improved radiation shielding for a CVD reactor
Apparatus and methods for conversion of silicon tetrachloride to trichlorosilane
Heater and related methods therefor
Purification of trichlorosilane
Reverse circulation fluidized bed reactor for granular polysilicon production
Cold filament ignition system
Cold filament ignition system and method of silicon rods
Chuck and bridge connection points for tube filaments in a chemical vapor deposition reactor
Increased polysilicon deposition in a CVD reactor
Method of making large surface area filaments for the production of polysilicon in a CVD reactor
Reactor filament assembly with enhanced misalignment tolerance
CVD reactor
Large surface area silicon filament, and method for producing polosilicon
Patent Pending
Method and system for selective recovering of monochlorosilane and dichlorosilane in a polysilicon production process
Radiation shielding for a CVD reactor