ESDA Spotlight

The ESD Association spotlight for July/August is on Nathaniel Peachey of RF Micro Devices.

Nathaniel (Nate) Peachey is an Engineering Manager for RF Micro Devices. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska in 1994 and continued with a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1994-96.

Nate joined Atmel Corporation in Colorado Springs in 1996, where he held various positions, including Process Engineer, Technology Development Engineer, Device Engineer, and Circuit Design Engineer. In 2003, Nate began focusing exclusively on ESD protection and I/O design issues.

In 2005, Nate accepted the position of Engineering Manager for the newly formed ESD design group at RF Micro Devices. He is responsible for the development of ESD protection for all of the technologies that RFMD designs, including both silicon and GaAs. Besides on-chip protection, Nate led the development and improvement of the RF antenna ESD protection.

Nate has been an ESD Association Member since 2003. He has volunteered as a work group member for all of the device and system standards work groups. He is Chairperson for the new HMM standard currently nearing release (Draft ESD DSPSP5.6-2009). Nate is also a member of TAS, and the Standards Committee (STDCOM), served as a monitor for tutorials given at the 2008 Symposium, he is Chairman for Workshop Session C4: HMM at the upcoming Symposium, and is Presenter for Tutorial C: ESD Protection and I/O Design at this year’s Symposium.

Nate feels volunteering for the various responsibilities with the ESDA has been rewarding in several ways. “First, these interactions have given me insight into numerous ESD issues that I would not have had without the ESDA connection. These have helped RFMD address ESD issues for their own products and to develop a leadership position in ESD protection for some of these products. Second, these opportunities have added significantly to my own professional growth. Without the interaction and education that these volunteer opportunities have given me, I clearly would not have the grasp of ESD and related issues that I have currently. Finally, it has enabled me to network with others who are leaders in the industry. These networks are valuable not only from a professional growth perspective but also provide a network of friends…and everyone needs friends.”

Nate and his wife, Sheri, who is a Licensed Professional Counselor…(which he says she's needed to survive almost 27 years of marriage to him), have 4 children (Rochelle – married, Yolanda – married, Kenny and Ryan who are still at home) and two grandchildren (Micah and Kyler).

He enjoys many hobbies including fly fishing, hiking, hunting, horseback riding, woodworking, and gardening.

Having a North Carolina Residential Contractors License, Nate managed his own small residential construction business when times were better. Currently, he says this consists of market analysis and watching for silver linings in clouds.

Nate is also involved with a business group that works to bring social business and economic development to emerging economies. The most recent project is connecting with potential business leaders in Nicaragua and helping them develop socially conscious economic growth opportunities within their own country.