Certified Professionals

Works in Micron as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff (SMTS) under Micron Global Quality. The owner of ESD Standards and Program currently chairs the ESD Steering of Micron. He has led Micron into becoming a certified ANSI/ESD S2020 company on all of its entire global Backend Manufacturing sites and develops ESD control program for sensitive memory products.
He has worked with several MNCs and OSATs as Failure Analysis and Reliability manager with the side role as the ESD Champion working on diagnostics , audit and problem solving in ESD for the last 31 years.

Brad Klepsa, Advanced Telemetry Systems, has quality management and engineering experience in the automotive, medical, communications, and software industries along with governmental agencies. He has applied quality methodologies, and implemented ISO 9001 and QS-9000 quality management systems in the areas of electronics, software, plastics, and machining for the past 16 years. Brad is trained as a lead auditor in QS-9000 and ISO 9001 and is an ASO Senior Member holding Certified Quality Manager, CQA, and CQE certifications.

Brad holds a BS degree in Electronics Engineering Technology and minors in Computer Science and Automotive Engineering Technology. Brad is one of the quality management trainers for South Central College in Faribault, MN.

Brad coaches/supervises community education football, baseball, basketball, and billiards.

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/81a56c9f89de48598acdd1f0d9351e23

Brandon Hoang is currently a Quality Engineer at Tesla, Inc. where he assists in development and deployment of Tesla’s ESD Program throughout the company. Along with continuous improvement of the ESD Program at Tesla, he in involved with leading ESD assessments of current and future production lines as well as assisting with root cause analysis of potential ESD issues. He primarily oversees the various factories located within Northern California.

Prior to joining Tesla, Brandon amassed experience working in various industries such as medical and aerospace defense. He graduated from San Jose State University’s College of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology with a concentration in Manufacturing Systems. He also obtained a minor in Business Management.

Brian Hale is the owner of Grounded ESD, providing ESD control program development, facility assessments, training, installations, and compliance services aligned with ANSI/ESD S20.20 and TR53. With extensive field experience across aerospace, medical device, and high-reliability electronics manufacturing, he focuses on turning compliance into measurable process reliability and ROI. Brian is an EOS/ESD Association Certified ESD Process Assessment Engineer (PAE), Certified Professional ESD Program Manager (#166), iNARTE ESD Certified (ESD-00681-NT), and TR53 Certified.

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/e86c65761f1741d4b07c838733ae4192

Brian is the Group Leader for the Process Engineering Team within the Space and Intelligence Systems Segment at Harris Corporation.  He has led several teams including New Product Introduction, Development Manufacturing and Full Rate Production Programs.  His experience covers DoD programs as well as Commercial Electronics.   He received his BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Florida.  

When not working Brian enjoys spending time with his wife and two young daughters.

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/24a2aa1dabb34781956a543ca05fa4ca

Chuck is a Production Supervisor for NRD, LLC.  He has also worked in both the Engineering and Quality Control Departments of NRD and is a member of NRD’s ISO Management Team. Chuck has helped in the design and development of several of NRD’s ionizers. Chuck has been employed by NRD since 1990.

 Outside of work, Chuck enjoys spending time with his family camping, hiking and kayaking. He has also been involved as a leader in the Royal Rangers for 14 years.

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/907c1ea821c04418a059f1ebd0312804

Tay (also known as CS) has been with the Canmax Group, China’s leading manufacturer and provider of ESD control and critical environment (CE) solutions, since 2001. He began his CE career in 1995 in Malaysia, setting up and operating an ISO Class 4 cleanroom laundry, and later led the setup of two cleanroom facilities in China, serving major global players in the HDD, semiconductor, FPD, and EMS industries.

Having developed an appreciation of the value of learning from professionals in the industry, Tay actively participates in ESDA and IEST symposia and activities across Asia and the U.S. He earned the ESDA Professional Program Manager certification in 2013 and currently serves on the ESDA Board of Directors and its Technical and Advisory Support Committee.

Tay is also a voting member of IEST working groups responsible for cleanroom industry standards on garments, wipers, gloves, and documentation.

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/88561ef4ddf94d41bfe51eaafe6635b4

Chonlada Chalarat is an ESD Control Senior Engineer at Seagate Technology, Nakorn Ratchasima, Thailand. Chonlada has been employed at Seagate since 2011 as an ESD Control Engineer.

Chonlada graduated with a bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering (2009) from Mahidol University, Thailand, then with a master degree in Engineering Management (Industrial Engineering) (2016) from Kasetsart University, Thailand.

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/4e14ceed60b242c1b4e86f20ea9d4bbe

Chris has a Bachelor of Science degree in Technology Management from the State University of New York (SUNY), Empire State Campus.  Currently he is an active member of the Trek, Inc. sales team, where he provides technical and application assistance to customers.  Since 1993, Chris has been affiliated with various sectors of the semiconductor / thin films industry, such as ENI Power Systems and Balzers, Inc.  Chris also served in the USAF as an Avionics Technician, repairing RF communication and navigation equipment. 

In addition to his membership with the Electrostatic Discharge Association, he is presently a member of the American Vacuum Society and the Electrostatics Society of America.  He presently holds an FCC General Radio Telephone license. 

Chris shares his love for the outdoors with his wife Deanne.  Chris' hobbies include auto sports (NHRA drag racing), sport shooting, hunting and fishing, and auto restoration.

Christopher Almeras is a Principle Multi-Disciplined Engineer for Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems. He is currently a multi-site ESD coordinator and member of their ESD Corporate Council. Chris earned his Program Manager’s certification in 2009 while working for Denso Manufacturing Tennessee and is an active member on the standards committees. Chris is a graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology. He completed his Masters of Industrial Engineering from Oklahoma State University in 2016.  Outside of work, Chris enjoys spending his time with his wife Melanie and their three children Trace, Tristan, and Reagan. He is also an avid fan of sports and westerns, and can usually be found in his chair watching one or the other.

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/ad9ced3ecc7947cfa9e522d422899b11

Christopher Long is a senior engineer in the IBM Research Division, with over 26 years experience in semiconductor manufacturing. He currently has been involved in development of magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM) products. Previous to this assignment, he had responsibility in the area of contamination and ESD control program strategy at IBM 200 & 300mm semiconductor manufacturing facilities. Mr. Long has published numerous papers on semiconductor manufacturing defect reduction and yield modeling, and has served as U.S. chair of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) Yield Enhancement technology working group, responsible for development of the Yield Enhancement chapters of the 2001 and 2003 ITRS. Mr. Long received a B.S. in Physics from Beloit College, Beloit, WI (1980), and an M.S. in Engineering from the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College (1990), Hanover, NH. cwlong@us.ibm.com

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/1670f85675bd4b42b51c0c99cfbddcd4

Christopher Smith works in ESD control and general quality auditing at Kimball Electronics Jasper. He was born in Indiana and grew up with a love of technology that led him to a career in manufacturing. He spends most of his spare time building and modifying his own PC at home, as well as finding new ways to entertain his cat. He’d like to travel to Ireland someday, time permitting. He has a bachelor’s from Ball State University in Telecommunications with an emphasis on Screenwriting and Video Editing, and has used this knowledge to assist with many corporate videography projects in addition to in-house training programs. He hopes to utilize those skills to create new educational ESD tools to help control static in the workplace. He has successfully co-led KEJ’s transition to ANSI S20.20 certification 5 years in a row.

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/c7d29d3e482d4631adedef2a6ed14e4b

Chuck is an ESD Engineer at Micron Technology Inc. and ESD Coordinator for Micron’s Boise Idaho Facility. He is a founding member of Micron’s Corporate ESD steering team which maintains Micron’s ESD Specifications. Chuck is the aco-chair for SEMI ESD. He is also a member of several ESDA working groups.

Interests outside of work include, hunting, fishing, hiking, Scottish Highland Games, and veteran outreach activities.

Credential ID: https://esdcertification.esda.org/en/c/90b4213cb17642b9bd33452a384f1a3e

Credential ID: 2d23083a54bb4817883f8a7ee3efabe1

Colin Banks is a Quality Engineer at Kyocera International Inc. for their Assembly Technology Division. He specializes in the wirebonding process, but is also involved in various flip chip products. His duties include failure / root cause analysis and corrective actions as well as process improvement using lean / six sigma methodology.

Academically, Colin has earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from San Diego State University and a Lean Six Sigma Certificate from San Diego City College.

Outside of work Colin enjoys building and racing cars, as well as analog photography.