SmartKem Further Expands Team in Europe with Addition of Three New Recruits

SmartKem Further Expands Team in Europe with Addition of Three New Recruits

COO and two scientists to join the Manchester team to support SmartKem’s growth plans.

(17 September 2012) - SmartKem Limited, the developer of high performance, organic semiconductor materials for flexible electronics, today announced the appointment of three new team members in Europe. Dr. Hugh Williamson will be welcomed as Chief Operating Officer, whilst Dr. Muhammad Raza and Dr. Keith Lumbard will join as scientists at SmartKem’s dedicated chemistry synthesis labs in Manchester. The last 12 months has seen SmartKem appoint staff in strategic locations across Asia and Europe to further strengthen its technical and commercial activities.

As SmartKem’s third senior appointment in the past six months, following the appointment of Bill Freer as Chairman in March and Gary Tam as Business Development Director in June, Dr. Williamson possesses over 30 years’ experience in the chemicals industry which will be shared in his position as Chief Operating Officer.  Previous roles have seen Dr. Williamson excel in the delivery and introduction of new chemical products at international level. Having spent a number of years as a senior scientist at Kodak, Dr. Williamson’s global experience and proven ability to lead R&D and operations teams will be essential in supporting SmartKem’s commercialisation strategy and the development of future technology. Possessing over 40 years’ combined experience as synthetic chemists, Dr. Lumbard and Dr. Raza will be responsible for the development of next generation organic semiconductor molecules with enhanced performance to complement SmartKem’s already market-leading materials.

“Our latest recruits are another step forward in our vision to become the leading provider of high-mobility organic semiconductor materials and solutions for flexible display backplanes and organic circuits,’’ comments Steve Kelly, CEO at SmartKem. “Hugh was a natural appointment for us as Chief Operating Officer with his strong record of scaling novel organic synthesis methods into commercial processes. This further supports our strategy to maintain strong vertical integration in organic electronics - from molecule design to market application. The appointments of Keith and Muhammad as additional synthetic chemists demonstrate our commitment to develop ultra-high mobility organic semiconductors to meet future-market needs and to extend our leadership in the field. We are delighted to welcome them to the team.”

These new appointments promise to add strength, experience and expertise to the company in order to further develop its presence in the rapidly growing flexible electronics industry. Together, the new members of the team will further support SmartKem’s mission of becoming the leading provider of, ‘p’ type organic semiconductor materials and solutions for ultra-thin and flexible electronics.

For more information on SmartKem and its innovative materials, please call 01745 535190, email enquiries@smartkem.com or visit www.smartkem.com

-ENDS-

About SmartKem

SmartKem is a high tech enterprise developing an exciting new technology platform focusing on high performance organic semiconductor materials that can be ‘printed’ onto lightweight low cost polymer films to deliver flexible circuits. SmartKem’s main objective is to respond to the demand for low cost, low energy, lightweight, rugged electronics. The SmartKem team has proven expertise and experience in the fields of organic semiconductors, specialist ink-technology and printable transistors and was a recent winner of the inaugural Oxford Venturefest gold award for ‘British Technology Innovation of the Year’.