Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Expert in Product Development leading to the commercialization of electronic and mechanical devices
for RF Power Equipment, Data Storage, and Medical.
System Architect with a broad technical background enabling the effective management of cross-
functional groups including hardware, software, mechanical design, quality, reliability and operations.
Practitioner of LEAN, Agile and Six Sigma (DFSS) methodologies.
Proven track record in the design and production of high volume plastic and metal parts (i.e., > 1
million units per month).
Experienced working with stringent quality policies: Semiconductor Industry’s “Copy Exact” and
FDA GMP.
Working knowledge of the system compliance requirements FCC, UL, IEC, CSA and CE.
Expert in product Verification and Validation.
Managing engineering groups located in multiple physical sites including international locations.
Selected Accomplishments
Developed Product to Secure Market Share. AEI began to lag behind in the market. Seized opportunity to fill
critical gap, developing 60 MHz, 5kW generator in tight timeline. Additionally, provided engineering prototypes to
key customers. Maintained critical customer relationships and retained market share with $10M in new revenue.
Maintained Profitability by Revamping Team: Quantum relied on IP for 40% of its profits, but patent disclosure
rate was low. Recruited new talented, motivated engineers, rebuilding team and setting ambitious goals. Expanded
the annual patent disclosures from 3 to 30, increasing royalty income $30M.
Drove Product Improvements, Procuring Contract. High annual return rates left AEI with costly warranties and
low customer satisfaction. Formed dedicated team, improving 400 kHz, 2kW RF generator on time and within
budget. Reduced return rate from >15% to 5%, winning $10M contract.
Captured New Market. AEI sought new market opportunities. Recruited critical talent to develop new VHF
generator platform. Set aggressive goals for modular architecture, low material cost and high reliability. Tested and
delivered new product, increasing annual revenue $25M. Use full concurrent development using LEAN
Methodologies.
Met Compliance and Reduced Warranty Costs. Existing non-leaded solder techniques on AEI generator did not
meet RoHS compliance. Developed innovative plastic clamp technique to attach power FETs, meeting compliance
and reducing warranty costs 20%.
Daniel (Leif) Skaar (303-818-0286)
Professional Experience
Developed and delivered to the market an improved 400 kHz, 2kW RF generator on time and won a
new major customer adding several million dollars in sales annually.
Beat Corporate goal of 5% Annual Failure Rate with the improved new design (verified at <4%).
Developed an improved 60 MHz, 5 kW generator hitting all schedule milestones and cost targets.
Developed a new VHF generator platform (27-100 MHz) with very aggressive goals for a modular
architecture, low material cost, high reliability (<2%AFR), Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and
aggressive schedule. Met key goals for the project completing Design Validation Testing on schedule.
Won a new major customer with a 40 MHz, 7 kW version of this new generator.
Product designs included RF Power Amplifiers, Switching Power Supplies and Digital Controls as
well as mechanical and thermal architectures with Roger’s 3210 PCBAs and BeO for Hybrids.
Successfully managed the mechanical engineering and design department in parallel with the VHF
project.
Developed an innovative way of attaching power FET’s to meet RoHS requirements with a novel
plastic clamp. This prevented AE from having to develop a new RoHs soldering method for power
FETs and facilitated easy field replace of the part. This was a major win for DFM. Patent disclosure
was submitted.
Lead the development of several IP concepts, which allowed Exabyte to continue licensing its
technology to key suppliers.
Patents issued.
Rebuilt digital ASIC, firmware, mechanical, and support engineer groups, as well as agency
compliance, with staff of 52 people.
Co-developed low cost plastic drive design with offshore supplier.
Introduced 18 new products and helped drive sales growth from $55 million to $95 million annually.
Reduced material and labor costs of manufacturing by 37%.
Early adopter of Six Sigma methodologies and improved defect occurrence to < 300 parts per million
reducing warranty cost and improved customer satisfaction.
Developed molds and tooling for mass production of >1 million units per month.
Daniel (Leif) Skaar (303-818-0286)
B.S. Electrical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.
Senior Member of the IEEE
Member of IEEE Broadcast Technology and Microwave Theory Societies.
User of Agilent ADS and Genesys design tools for linear, transient, and harmonic design analysis.
Delivered 18 Semi-Custom and Full-Custom ASICS
Background in Material Sputtering with DC and RF Magnetron Technologies
Working knowledge of Solid State Ruby and YAG Q switched Lasers as well as CW CO2 Lasers.
Patents
Hobbies
Certified sport and technical SCUBA diving instructor (SSI DCSI #10994 and SDI/TDI #10765)
Certified Advanced Gas Blender (#204109) for Nitrox, TriMix gases,
Underwater photographer (www.seascapephoto.com)..
Amateur Radio Operator, K0DXA