David Balkin has joined the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano) as its new managing director. As a member of the NDnano executive committee, he will oversee the financial, strategic planning, public relations and day-to-day activities of the center.
He replaces Robert Dunn, who has served as managing director of both NDnano and the Center for Low Energy Systems Technology (LEAST), but is now decreasing his role and dedicating his time to the administrative and financial management of LEAST.
Balkin’s professional experience includes 26 years with IBM, where he held a variety of engineering, management and executive management positions. He brings engineering expertise in first- and second-level packaging process development, as well as X86 microprocessor development and applications. In addition to starting IBM’s 200-mm OEM semiconductor foundry business, Balkin has held a variety of executive positions within IBM Microelectronics that includes serving as director of the worldwide Field Applications Engineering organization; director of the custom logic business line, responsible for a $500 million profit and loss; and director of IBM’s more than 900-person ASICs and EDA development organization. Most recently, he served as president, chief operating officer and chairman of the board for Genea Energy Partners Inc., a building energy management company based out of southern California, and the president and chief operating officer of Secure Financial Services Inc., a leading financial analytics service provider based out of Colchester, Vt.
Balkin received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in metallurgical engineering, and his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering, all from Notre Dame. His research interests were in the processing of amorphous thin film diffusion barriers and the effects of rare earth substitutions on the processing and properties of YBa2Cu3O7-x based superconductors.
Originally published by at news.nd.edu on April 03, 2014.