Hesse Mechatronics Inc. (formerly Hesse & Knipps), the Americas subsidiary of Hesse GmbH, leading manufacturer of high-speed fine pitch wedge bonders and fully automatic heavy wire bonders for the backend semiconductor industry, has appointed Michael McKeown as senior business development manager.

McKeown will be in charge of strengthening Hesse Mechatronics’ position in the power electronics market. His broad knowledge and technical experiences will inform clients to the power and technical superiority of the 935, 939 and 931L fully automatic heavy wire bonders. McKeown will also focus on promoting thin wire bonder sales.

McKeown carries almost three decades of experience in the automotive and power electronics industry. Before joining Hesse Mechatronics, he oversaw sales territories in U.S. and Canada at Materion Technical Materials, where he managed market research and was involved with aluminum clad copper inlay for wire bondable leadframes. Prior to Materion, McKeown was the eastern regional sales manager for Orthodyne Electronics, which manufactures ultrasonic wire bonders for the semiconductor and microelectronic industries.

“His extensive knowledge of customers’ heavy wire applications and process challenges will be a perfect fit for the needs of our customer base and the capabilities of our heavy wire product line,” noted Joseph S. Bubel, president of Hesse Mechatronics, Inc.

McKeown is the author of more than a dozen technical papers and journal articles. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. at Leeds Metropolitan University.