SouthWest NanoTechnologies Elects Dr. W.R. Bottoms to its Board of Directors

SouthWest NanoTechnologies, Inc. (SWeNT) announced that venture capitalist, entrepreneur and technologist Dr. W.R. (Bill) Bottoms has been appointed to its Board of Directors.

Dr. Bottoms is a semiconductor industry business and technology expert. He is currently chairman and CEO as well as the founder of Third Millennium Test Solutions, Inc.(3MTS), which provides software, equipment and services to verify electronic systems and components.

“I am extremely pleased to welcome Bill Bottoms to the SWeNT Board of Directors,” said board chairman Jim Ashman. “Bill brings a unique breadth and depth of experience in creating and growing high technology companies. We expect he will have a significant impact on SWeNT’s technical and commercial strategies and accelerate its success.”

“Dr. Bottoms will be a valuable asset to SWeNT both in terms of our strategic planning and the development of our core technologies,” stated Dave Arthur, SWeNT’s CEO. “He has been successful as a venture capitalist, business executive and innovator. He is also recognized as a semiconductor industry expert. It is very significant for SWeNT that he has agreed to join our board.”

Prior to founding 3MTS in 1999, Dr. Bottoms was chairman and CEO of Credence Systems Corp. Before that, he worked with Apax Partners, an international venture capital management firm as senior vice president and general partner.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Bottoms served in various senior management positions at Varian Inc., including five years as the president of the company’s semiconductor equipment group. Dr. Bottoms also served on the faculty in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University.

Dr. Bottoms has been appointed to numerous industry, government and non-profit boards and committees. He is chairman of the Technical Working Group for Packaging. This initiative is in support of international electronics manufacturing. He also chairs the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors Technical Working Group which focuses on assembly and packaging. He also serves on the subcommittee for the technical advisory committee of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Export Control Commission focused on semiconductor equipment and materials. In 2010, he joined the board of directors for Alchimer S.A., provider of nanometric deposition technology for semiconductor interconnects and 3D TSVs.

“SWeNT’s capability to deliver high quality, large scale CNT products in a variety of forms, offers the Company the opportunity to deliver disruptive technologies in the fields of printed electronics and composites” Dr. Bottoms said. “I am delighted to join the Board and work with the rest of the team to support the success of SWeNT. The opportunities available to the Company are very exciting and I value the chance to be a part of it.”

Dr. Bottoms is a member of the board of trustees of Tulane University. He earned his Ph.D. in solid state physics from Tulane University and received his B.S. in physics from Huntington College in Montgomery, AL.