Silvaco Founder & CEO Ivan Pesic Loses Battle With Cancer
Ivan Pesic, founder, President and CEO of Silvaco, has passed away at the age of 61.
Following a vigorous battle with cancer using every available treatment, Pesic sadly succumbed to the disease in October.
He leaves behind his wife Kathy, daughter Yelena and son Iliya who now assumes the role of Chairman of the Board of Silvaco. Ivan Pesic's longtime associate and Chief Operating Officer, David Halliday, has been appointed CEO.
Iliya Pesic obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Santa Clara University. He then continued his education at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan where he obtained a Master of Science degree in Electronic Engineering.
Pesic was under the guidance of Fujio Masuoka, the inventor of Flash memory.
Prior to his appointment as Chairman of Silvaco, he worked for many years in the TCAD, semiconductor, in the MEMS and biomedical industry, most recently as a senior process engineer of a fabrication facility.
New CEO, Halliday has a Masters in Computer Science specialising in management and design of large software projects.
He has been with Silvaco for over 20 years during which he was responsible for all aspects of software development, standardisation, quality, and release cycle management within Silvaco. He has long been a hands-on Chief Operating Officer, and for many months has been working closely with Pesic to transition into the CEO role.
Silvaco has employees in six countries and is a player in the EDA industry, and a force in the lucrative TCAD market in which its process and design simulation software. The company intends is to carry out and complete Pesic's vision of becoming a dominant player in the broad EDA market.
"Silicon Valley and the EDA industry have lost a great leader with the passing of Ivan Pesic," says David Halliday. "Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his family during this difficult time. Ivan's energy, leadership and relentless pursuit of excellence are unparalleled and will leave a lasting impression on electronic engineering."
Silvaco is a provider of TCAD, circuit simulation, and IC CAD software tools. The company's tools are used by fabs for developing semiconductor processes, and design houses for developing analogue, mixed-signal, and RF integrated circuits. The company provides a complete PDK-based design flow with interfaces to third-party design platforms.
