For more information, contact:

Jim Donaldson
Advanced Energy Industries, Inc
970.407.6374
Marna Shillman
Advanced Energy Industries, Inc.
970.407.6280
marna.shillman@aei.com  


AE Senior Scientist Dr. William D. Sproul receives American Vacuum Society’s Prestigious John A. Thornton Memorial Award

Marks second industry accolade presented this year to Dr. Sproul for his significant contributions to sputtering technology

FORT COLLINS, Colo., Nov. 11, 2003—Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: AEIS) today announced that one of its senior scientists, William D. Sproul, Ph.D., has been honored by the AVS Science and Technology Society for his seminal contributions to the science and technology of sputtering. Dr. Sproul received the 2003 John A. Thornton Memorial Award & Lecture at an awards ceremony on Nov. 5, during the AVS’s 50th International Symposium held last week at the Baltimore Convention Center.

The award recognizes Dr. Sproul’s pioneering work and development in sputtering technology—specifically in the areas of closed-loop control for reactive sputtering; reactive sputter deposition of hard coatings, such as titanium nitride; multicathode unbalanced magnetron sputtering systems; superhard multilayer coatings; use of pulsed-DC power; and combined pulsed-DC power and reactive gas partial pressure control for the deposition of insulating films.

 

This biennial award—established as a memorial to John A. Thornton’s sole contributions to the theory and practice of magnetron sputtering—recognizes scientists’ outstanding research, technological innovation or pioneering contribution to the science or technology of thin films, plasma processing or related fields.

 

Dr. Sproul stated, “I am deeply honored to be the recipient of this year’s John A. Thornton Memorial Award and Lecture. What makes this recognition even more meaningful to me is that I had the unique privilege of working with Dr. Thornton more than 16 years ago. He was very inspiring and a remarkable mentor from whom I learned a tremendous amount about sputtering technology, which I’ve applied throughout my career.”

 

Sproul, who also received the 2003 SVC Mentor Award in June, joined Advanced Energy in 2002 as a senior scientist, specializing in emerging process power technology for reactive sputtering applications. Prior to joining AE, Sproul served as co-founder and president of Reactive Sputtering, Inc. He also served as general manager for magnetic products at Sputtered Films, Inc.; manager of the vapor deposition coatings group at the Basic Industrial Research Laboratory at Northwestern University; senior research engineer at Borg-Warner Corp.; and research engineer at American Can Corp.

 

About Advanced Energy
Advanced Energy is a global leader in the development and support of critical technologies for high-technology manufacturing processes used in the production of semiconductors, flat panel displays, data storage products, compact discs, digital video discs, architectural glass, and other advanced product applications.

 

Leveraging a diverse product portfolio and process expertise, AE creates solutions that improve productivity and lower cost of ownership for its customers. This portfolio includes a comprehensive line of technology solutions in power, flow and thermal management, and plasma and ion beam sources for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and end-users around the world.

 

AE operates in regional centers in North America, Asia and Europe, and offers global sales and support through direct offices, representatives and distributors. Founded in 1981, AE is a publicly held company traded on Nasdaq National Market under the symbol AEIS. For more information, please visit our corporate Website: www.advanced-energy.com