Dr. Charlie Gay Elected to National Academy of Engineering

Applied Materials, Inc. announced that Dr. Charlie Gay, president of Applied’s Solar division, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for his seminal leadership contributions to the development of the global solar PV industry.

Founded in 1964, the NAE provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education and is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.

“We’re delighted to welcome Charlie as a member of the NAE,” said NAE president Charles M. Vest. “His achievements embody our mission to provide leadership and expertise for projects focused on relationships between engineering, technology and quality of life.”

“Charlie’s life-long passion for solar energy has greatly contributed to the industrialization of solar PV and we congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition,” said Mike Splinter, Applied Materials’ chairman and CEO. “Charlie has been instrumental in driving the industry roadmap to bring down the cost of this technology and making solar a more significant contributor to the global energy mix.”

An industry veteran with more than 35 years of solar experience, Dr. Gay’s contributions across solar energy technology, manufacturing and deployment have helped the global solar PV market become a $50 billion industry and enabled the cost of solar to come down by a factor of 50 since 1978. More than 85% of all solar panels manufactured in the last three decades have been made using the groundbreaking metallization and packaging technology solutions developed by Dr. Gay and his teams over the duration of his career.

“It is an honor to join the ranks of NAE’s prestigious members, whose innovations in engineering continue to improve our world,” said Dr. Gay. “Over the past several decades, we’ve seen significant technological advancements and cost reductions in solar energy, many in the last few years alone as we enter the zone of inflection where solar energy is now cost competitive with residential power. There has never been a more exciting time to influence the world’s long-term energy supply.”

As founder of the Greenstar Foundation, Dr. Gay has worked continuously to apply solar technology to improve people’s lives by delivering solar power to villages in developing countries. The Greenstar model has received recognition from international awards programs as diverse as the World Bank, the Stockholm Challenge, the Davos Conference and the Tech Awards. More recently, Dr. Gay was chairman of a project to electrify all the homes and schools in the rural Shaanxi Province of China.