Alex Lidow, Ph.D.

CEO and Co-founder

Alex joined International Rectifier (NYSE:IRF) as an R&D engineer and is the co-inventor of the HEXFET power MOSFET, a power transistor that displaced the bipolar transistor and launched modern power conversion. Over the 30 years Dr. Lidow was at IRF, his responsibilities grew from engineer to head of R&D, head of manufacturing, head of sales and marketing, and finally CEO for 12 years. In addition to holding many power MOSFET and GaN FET patents, Alex has authored numerous publications; most recently he co-authored the first textbook on GaN transistors, GaN Transistors for Efficient Power Conversion. In 2004 he was elected to the Engineering Hall of Fame, and in 2005 IRF, under his leadership, International Rectifier was named one of the best managed companies in America by Forbes magazine. Dr. Lidow earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology and a doctorate in Applied Physics from Stanford University. Since 1998 Alex has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology. Alex Lidow - A Lifetime in Power Management

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Jianjun “Joe” Cao, Ph.D.

Partner and Co-founder

Joe is the co-leader for device and process development at EPC. He has 18 years experience in GaN and silicon power device technologies. He has more than 30 patents in the areas of GaN device and process, and silicon power MOSFET. Prior to EPC, Joe was a faculty member at Tsinghua University, and later held various positions in R&D at International Rectifier. Joe received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

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Robert Beach, Ph.D.

Partner and Co-founder

Bob received his Ph.D. in Physics from the California Institute of Technology. He has worked in the gallium nitride arena since 1995 when he began his studies of GaN-based rectifiers and thyristors in graduate school. Having founded a number of companies, his focus has been on bringing the many advantages of GaN to the marketplace.

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Bel Lazar

Chief Operating Officer

Bel Lazar brings 30+ years of experience in the semiconductor, aerospace, and defense technology fields. In addition to his role as CEO of EPC Space, Bel currently serves as COO of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation. Prior to joining EPC, Bel was President & Chief Executive Officer at API Technologies Corp, now Spectrum Control. Prior to Spectrum Control, Bel was Senior Vice President of Operations, Corporate, at Microsemi Corporation, now Microchip Technology. Prior to Microchip, Bel spent 22 years at International Rectifier, now Infineon Technologies AG, where he was the Vice President and General Manager of High Reliability business unit. Bel has completed 17 M&A transactions throughout his career.

Bel graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Engineering, majoring in Electrical Engineering, from California State University, Northridge and is a member of national engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi. Bel also holds an M.S. degree in Computer Engineering, with focus on artificial intelligence, from the University of Southern California, a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern University School of Law.

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Massimo Marabotti

Chief Financial Officer

Massimo received his Master in Economics and Business from the University of Turin, prior to EPC he held different finance positions at International Rectifier Corporation.

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Yanping Ma, Ph.D.

Vice President, Quality

Yanping received her doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to joining EPC, Dr. Ma held various engineering positions at International Rectifier Corporation.

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Marco Palma

Director, Motor Drives Systems and Applications

Marco has over 25 years of expertise in motor control power electronics—from switches to algorithms. He pioneered industry firsts at International Rectifier and Infineon, including ultra-compact, fully integrated motor drive modules and sensor-less FOC controllers. Author of multiple articles and patents, Marco holds an MSEE from Politecnico di Torino and an MBA from Bocconi Milano.

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Nick Cataldo

Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing

Nick has over 35 years of marketing and sales operation experience within the semiconductor industry. Prior to joining EPC, Nick was Vice President of global sales at United Silicon Carbide. He has also held senior sales and marketing leadership positions at International Rectifier and Semtech. Nick received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic University. He has extensive experience in leading edge power semiconductors.

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Steve Colino

Vice President, Strategic Technical Sales

Steve’s career revolved around developing business and defining product for discrete power transistor technological leaders by defining and selling value of advanced technology. Ciclon Semiconductor was a pioneer in power vertical LDMOS that was purchased by Texas Instruments, Vishay-Siliconix was a pioneer in trench MOSFETs, and International Rectifier was the pioneer in power MOSFETs. Steve received his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and his MBA from Adelphi University. He has 31 years of experience designing and selling analog and power products and systems.

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Alana Nakata

Vice President, Product Engineering

Alana has spent the majority of her 30-year career in process/ manufacturing development and product engineering of power devices. Prior to EPC, Alana held multiple positions at International Rectifier which included R&D wafer fab management, work in multiple power process platforms including radiation hard MOSFETs, high voltage power ICs and automotive smart power platform development. Alana received her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry/Materials Science and Engineering from UCLA and Master of Science degree in Technology Management from Northrup University.

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