Pivotal Systems is a Silicon Valley company that provides products that improve the manufacturability of semiconductor devices by providing Process Matching solutions that remove chamber micro-variations. Pivotal products enable productivity and yield gains by ensuring repeatable and predictable process results wafer to wafer and chamber to chamber.

Pivotal's roots originated in the early advanced process control (APC) years as Symphony Systems (founded 1998), which was acquired in 2001 by Advanced Energy, a leading RF supplier to the semiconductor industry. Pivotal was formed in 2003 by acquiring the IP and assets of the Data Management Business Unit from Advanced Energy and has used this technology as the foundation for the multiple applications that are now being offered. The current technology is a result of $25M invested in R&D over the past 8 years. Today, Pivotal has sales representation and support personnel worldwide.

Over the years, Pivotal's team has developed deep relationships with key strategic and reference customers in the US, Europe, and Asia. It currently has activities at half of the top ten leading semiconductor companies.

Pivotal Systems has built a solid reputation within the semiconductor industry, based on its innovative problem-solving applications and its reliable and robust product track record.

Management Team

John Hoffman, CEO

John Hoffman has over 25 years of Global High Technology management experience primarily in the semiconductor capital equipment and information technology markets.

Prior to joining Pivotal Systems, John was a Senior VP with Spencer Trask Ventures, a New York based venture capital firm. While at Spencer Trask, John was primarily involved in the solar and integrated circuit efforts of the firm. Prior to Spencer Trask, John was the Chief Executive Officer of RagingWire Enterprise Solutions, an Inc 500 fastest growing private company. John reorganized the company and enabled it's record growth in revenue and profitability during his tenure. Prior to RagingWire, John worked in various general manager roles at Applied Materials for 18 years. This included Chief Information Officer, Etch Product Business Group President, Process Control and Diagnostics General Manager and General Manager of the Customer Service Division.

John has a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an Executive MBA ( AEA) from Stanford University. He currently serves on several Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards .

Joseph Monkowski, President and CTO

Joseph Monkowski has extensive experience in the semiconductor industry focused on solving process problems similar to those being addressed by Pivotal.

Prior to joining Pivotal, Monkowski was the SVP of Business Development for Advanced Energy Industries, where he led the company's M&A strategy to expand its product portfolio and position the company as a market leader in the semiconductor subsystems space. Previously, he held senior executive positions at Pacific Scientific, Photon Dynamics and Lam Research, where he served as EVP and CTO. During his career, Monkowski led efforts to design and build multiple leading CVD and plasma etch systems. He holds seven patents.

Joseph Monkowski has a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Materials Science, all from Penn State University. He also served as a Professor of Electrical Engineering for six years at Penn State University.

Sherk Chung, Vice President of Engineering

Sherk Chung was most recently co-founder and VP of Engineering of Enuvis Inc., an innovative provider of high-sensitivity GPS systems designed for the wireless telecom market. Prior to Enuvis, Chung was the CTO for Fandango where he managed the implementation and deployment of Fandango.com. Previously he worked at Sapient as a Director, managing product lifecycle stages of 24/7 mission-critical systems for companies such as Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo, McKesson and Hallmark. Prior to Sapient, Chung worked at COMSAT Corporation developing DSP modules for use on communication satellites.

Sherk Chung holds both a B.S. and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.

John Field, Vice President of Sales

John Field brings 20-plus years of experience to Pivotal. Most recently, Mr. Field was the Director of Marketing for Advanced Energy's Data Management Business Unit. Prior to AE, he was co-founder Symphony Systems. Prior to Symphony/AE, he was VP of Marketing and OEM Sales at Asyst Technologies. During the 10 years prior to Asyst, Field held assignments that included Director of Marketing for Applied Material's Dielectric Etch Product Group, Director of Business Development for Lam Research's Oxide Business Unit.

John Field has a Chemical Engineering technical education from San Jose State University, earning a Dow Chemical Scholarship and graduating with honors.

Mukund Venkatesh, Vice President of Marketing

Prior to joining Pivotal, Mukund Venkatesh was a senior Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company where he led several sales and marketing growth efforts in a variety of industries. Prior to McKinsey, Venkatesh worked at Lawrence Livermore National Labs, developing fiber-optic diagnostic equipment for plasma systems.

Mukund Venkatesh holds a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from l'École des Ingénieurs.

Board Members

John Hoffman
CEO, Pivotal Systems

Joseph Monkowski
President and CTO, Pivotal Systems

Arati Prabhakar
General Partner, U.S. Venture Partners

Bob Conn
Managing Director, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital

Anthony Chang
Managing Director, TL Ventures

Bruce C. Rhine
Chairman of the Board, Nanometrics, Inc.




Pivotal Systems, 4637 Chabot Drive, Pleasanton, CA 94588 info@pivotalsys.com