About Us

Larry Blackledge

Chairman of the Board

Larry Blackledge has more than 30 years of semiconductor industry experience including most recently as CEO of Active-Semi International, a programmable analog power and motor drive IC semiconductor company purchased by Qorvo in May 2019. Prior to that he spent 22 years at Texas Instruments (TI) most recently as General Manager and Vice President of a $400M mixed-signal IC business. Larry has spent over a decade in Asia as CEO of Active-Semi International as well as managing TI’s businesses. He has guided numerous successful merger and acquisition events. Since 2007, Larry is also a Business Management Advisor to numerous US & Asian technology companies including The Longreach Group, a private equity firm in Asia. Larry holds an MBA in Marketing & Management from Amber University (Abilene Christian), and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Engineering from Southern Illinois University. He has also studied Japanese language at the Japan Language Institute in Tokyo.

John Olson

Board Member

John Olson has more than 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry with a background in executive business management and semiconductor quality/reliability.  John Olson has been the President of Microtech Laboratories for over 20 years, which provides comprehensive failure analysis services and reverse engineering services to the semiconductor industry. He sold Microtech Laboratories in July 2023 to Serma Technologies, a leading provider of materials and failure analysis services in Europe.  Prior to starting Microtech Laboratories he worked at Texas Instruments where he held several positions managing the yield improvement activities for the mixed signal business unit, worked in strategic marketing/pricing and his last position was managing the (VOIP) voice over IP handset business unit. 

John holds a Bachelor of Sceince degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Oklahoma and holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.  Prior to graduation he also served 7 years in the U.S. Army Reserves working in surgery in a field evacuation hospital and served in Operation Desert Storm under the 18th Airborne Corps.

Mark Hamlyn

CEO

Mark has over 18 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, with a focus on the aerospace and defense market for more than 17 years.  As a founding member of Apogee Semiconductor in 2017, he worked as Chief Technology Officer, responsible for shaping the company’s product strategy, recruiting key talent, and capital fundraising, before becoming CEO in 2024. He previously worked at Texas Instruments (TI), where he was responsible for architecting and designing products for the aerospace, medical, and industrial markets. Mark held leadership positions in IC design in addition to positions in product and test engineering. Working closely with systems engineering and customer facing teams, Mark played a key role in helping define TI’s early space power strategy as well as TI’s first flagship power product for the space market. Mark served 5 years in the U.S. Navy’s Trident Submarine Program and holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree (Magna Cum Laude) in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University.

Anton Quiroz

CRO

Anton has over 18 years of experience in the semiconductor industry and over a decade in the aerospace and defense industry. He was the CEO of Apogee Semiconductor since its founding until 2024 and has held various management positions at Cobham Advanced Electronics Solutions (CAES now Frontgrade) and at Texas Instruments.

As the Director of Systems and Development Engineering at CAES, he managed the single board computer product line and was instrumental in crafting and executing new product development strategies.

Among the various roles he held at Texas Instruments (TI) was the Marketing and Business Development Manager for the High Reliability product line, where he was responsible for managing the product development and marketing strategy. He also has extensive experience managing worldwide accounts, recruiting and managing top talent, and managing products throughout their lifecycle. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.

David Grant

CTO

David has 39 years of professional electronic engineering experience, with the last 28 years being in the semiconductor industry, including digital and analog R&D and testing. Before joining Apogee, he worked at TI where he designed and led designs for LDOs, PCMCIA switches, POL buck controllers, integrated FET buck converters, integrated IF transceivers and a re-configurable, mixed signal power control IC platform. He was also an active participant in the development of BCD silicon processes at TI for feature sizes from 2um through 130nm. He is one of the co-inventors of the foundational isolated drain LDMOS structure used extensively in integrated FET switching converters. At FINsix, David recruited and managed the IC designed department, while also performing the role of technical lead on the custom ASICs required by the company. He also acted as the main contact with silicon foundries and packaging companies. At AS, he is the architect of the Jensen IC. David has 32 issued US patents and a legacy of dozens of successful products.

Kyle Schulmeyer

VP of Engineering

Kyle joined Apogee Semiconductor as a Principal Analog Designer in 2019 and has over 20 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Kyle was previously a Senior Analog Designer at Texas Instruments where he spent 12 years designing automotive and consumer load switches for power distribution. Kyle also has experience designing electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, mixed signal, and power semiconductors circuits. Before joining Texas Instruments, Kyle worked for 5 years at Motorola and Freescale Semiconductor designing I/Os, Linear Regulators, Crystal Oscillators, PLLs, and ESD protection for automotive and consumer SoC devices. Kyle has 6 granted patents, holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University and has authored numerous patents related to power/load switches.

Todd McMullin

VP of Quality

Todd started consulting with Apogee Semiconductor in 2019 and joined the team in January 2023. He has over 35 years of experience in the semiconductor industry of which more than 25 years were dedicated to product quality assurance, reliability, and failure analysis of semiconductor components, boards, and systems used in the commercial, industrial, automotive, medical, aerospace, and defense industries. Todd has held leadership roles at IBM, Texas Instruments, Cirrus Logic, AMD, Cobham, Honeywell, and Global Plasma Solutions. During his leadership tenures, he has been accountable for supplier and manufacturing quality assurance, product reliability, failure analysis, data assurance, product development engineering, and operational excellence. Todd holds the following degrees: MS degree in System Security and Assurance, MBA, BS in Technical Management with a major in Electrical Engineering and Informational Systems, and AS in Electrical Engineering Technology. Todd is currently a Doctoral candidate in a Strategic Leadership degree program. He is a certified SCRUM Master, SCRUM Product Owner, and Change Manager. Todd is also a veteran of the United States Air Force.