Management Team

Nicholas van Bavel, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Cicada Semiconductor

Mr. van Bavel has 17 years of design, management, and extensive startup experience. He has been responsible for recruiting all of the key personnel to the company, identifying, developing and negotiating all contracts and joint developments, operations, and financing as well as technical contributions in analog design and DSP algorithms. Prior to Cicada Semiconductor, Mr. van Bavel was CEO and founder of Oasis Design, a DSP/mixed-signal design company. He also worked at Motorola as a Senior Staff Scientist and Crystal Semiconductor as a Design Manager. Mr. van Bavel is author/co-author on 8 patents and 8 technical papers.

David J. McLean, President and COO

Mr. McLean brings over 20 years of semiconductor and networking experience to Cicada from both start-up and established growth companies. Most recently, he served as President, CEO, and Director of Applied WDM Inc., a manufacturer of components for high-speed metro area networks. Prior to that he was Vice President of Engineering at Pliant Systems, a supplier of next generation networking equipment. Dave began his semiconductor career at IBM Corporation where he spent 14 years in a variety of management roles in marketing, business development, engineering, and operations.

Shawn McCaslin, Vice President of Engineering, DSP Products

Mr. McCaslin has over 19 years of design and technical management experience. Mr. McCaslin has worked in design and technical management positions at Schlumberger, Motorola, and Crystal Semiconductor. An early leader at Cicada, Shawn managed the company’s key development of advanced DSP technology, is credited with hiring the DSP & digital circuit design teams into the Company, and delivered highly profitable contract design services to the Company’s early customer base. A highly accomplished, veteran DSP architect, Mr. McCaslin has authored/co-authored 10 patents and 20 technical papers. Mr. McCaslin holds a BSEE from the University of Texas and an MSEE from Rice University.

John Paulos, Vice President of Engineering, Mixed Signal Products

Dr. Paulos is one of Austin’s best-known and most successful mixed-signal technologists and business leaders. He joined the Crystal Semiconductor Division of Cirrus logic in 1993, after several years at North Carolina State University. While a fully tenured professor at NCSU, he developed and taught several courses in advanced circuit design, and conducted research in analog circuits and device modeling. John quickly rose to senior management level positions at Crystal, including Vice President and Co-General Manager of Audio Products. Dr. Paulos graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a BSEE, MSEE, and PhD, and holds 3 U.S. patents, with 6 patents pending. He has authored 26 journal publications.

Eric Smith, Vice President of Operations

Mr. Smith has over 18 years of technical management experience in the areas of systems design, product and test engineering, and operations. Most recently Mr. Smith was Founder and President of Scientific Operating Systems, a developer of wireless sensors and networks. Prior to SOS, Mr. Smith spent 10 years at Benchmarq Microelectronics where he held various management positions including Director of Operations. His other prior experience includes various technical and management positions at Dallas Semiconductor and Mostek Corporation. Mr. Smith holds a BSEE from Louisiana State University and has authored 1 U.S patent.

John Hollister, Vice President of Finance

Mr. Hollister has 10 years of experience in corporate finance and accounting. Mr. Hollister most recently was a Senior Manager in the Corporate Treasury group at Cirrus Logic, Inc. where he was responsible for strategic analysis and M&A. After starting his career in public accounting with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr. Hollister has also held key financial management positions with publicly traded companies in the geophysical industry. Mr. Hollister brings extensive experience in the areas of corporate finance, SEC reporting and accounting to the Cicada team. Mr. Hollister holds a Masters degree in Accounting from the University of Texas and is a licensed CPA.

Directors

Mike Callahan, Director

Mr. Callahan founded Crystal Semiconductor in 1984, and was Executive Vice President of Engineering until 1995. He created the strategy for the company, defined the first products, negotiated with venture capitalists to secure financing, and wrote the original business plan. Crystal has developed leadership positions in a number of mixed-signal technologies and market segments, with particular expertise in CMOS analog mixed with digital circuits. Crystal was acquired by Cirrus Logic in 1991, as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Mr. Callahan has over 33 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, including 11 years at Texas Instruments and Mostek Corporation. He has also founded Texas Micro Engineering and Third Coast Engineering. Mr. Callahan has authored 28 foreign and 14 U.S. patents, with 4 patents pending.

Al Schuele, Director

Mr. Schuele is a partner with Sevin Rosen Funds. Prior to joining Sevin Rosen, he spent 16 of his total 32 years of experience at Sevin Rosen-backed companies Cypress Semiconductor, Crystal Semiconductor and Benchmarq Microelectronics, where he became President and COO of Unitrode Corp. after their merger with Benchmarq. Mr. Schuele worked at Crystal Semiconductor in Austin for nearly 12 years, initially as VP of Sales, then later as General Manager of the Industrial Products Division (IPD). Sales for IPD grew from zero to $150 million during his tenure as VP of Sales. His other prior experience includes various sales and marketing management positions at Cypress Semiconductor, Mostek Corporation, and Motorola Semiconductor.