SANTA CLARA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/13/12 -- To support the growing adoption of diamond in electronics, sp3 Diamond Technologies, Inc. (sp3), a leading supplier of diamond products, deposition equipment and services, today announced the appointment of Mario M. Pelella, Ph.D., as vice president of engineering. In this role, he will lead the Technology and Process Solutions group, with responsibility for the development and technical success of all of sp3's semiconductor and MEMS-related diamond products and solutions. At the same time, the company announced that co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) Jerry Zimmer has been named CTO Emeritus and will remain actively engaged with sp3.

"Diamond is truly entering the mainstream as a material that can solve a number of current bottlenecks in semiconductor and MEMS manufacturing, thereby improving device performance," said Dwain Aidala, president and CEO of sp3 Diamond Technologies. "In light of the rapidly increasing adoption of diamond, Mario's experience and ability to drive innovative technology solutions will strengthen sp3's ability to effectively address market requirements. His extensive experience in the semiconductor industry makes him an ideal fit for our organization."

Dr. Pelella brings a strong background in solid-state device physics, design and modeling, and characterization to sp3's multi-faceted engineering department. He is skilled in the fundamentals and of bulk-Si and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) MOS transistor and passive device technologies, high-voltage LDMOS design, bipolar device design, ESD protection and arcing and charging related yield issues.

Most recently, Dr. Pelella served as the director of technology solutions at SVTC Technologies where he was responsible for developing SVTC's technology roadmap for the semiconductor, aerospace and defense, MEMS, life science, photonic and energy industries. Prior to that, he held positions with tau-Metrix, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and IBM.

Dr. Pelella earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida and BSEE and MSEE degrees from Clarkson University. He holds over 50 US patents and 15 worldwide patents and is the author of more than 60 publications, including three that earned Best Paper awards.

sp3 Diamond Technologies, Inc.

sp3 Diamond Technologies is a global leader in polycrystalline CVD diamond products and services. The company's fundamental understanding of the unique properties of diamond allows it to bring to market a wide variety of CVD diamond technologies for an increasing number of applications. sp3 is also the leading manufacturer of hot filament CVD diamond reactors. Committed to expanding the commercial reach of CVD diamond, sp3 provides innovative, cost-effective CVD diamond products, solutions and services to its customers.

For more information about the company, please visit www.sp3diamondtech.com.