Management

Michael Holt, the Chief Executive Officer and a Board Member of Philips Lumileds Lighting Company, U.S. LLC, has led the company's growth since its inception November 1, 1999.

Holt began his career in the Optoelectronics Division at Hewlett-Packard. Holt went on to various sales and sales management positions for the Components Group until 1992 when he became the business development manager for the RF/MW Communications Components Group. In 1994 Holt was appointed manager of the Isolation Components Business Unit and then managed WW Order Management Operations for the Components and Automotive Business Units. In 1999, shortly before the founding of Lumileds, Michael Holt was appointed as the General Manager, Optoelectronics Division, Hewlett-Packard/Agilent.

Craford began his professional career as a research physicist at Monsanto Chemical Company. He advanced to the level of Technical Director of the Electronics Division, before joining the Hewlett-Packard Company in 1979. He is currently the Solid State Lighting Fellow at Philips Lumileds Lighting Company.

Craford’s research has been mainly focused on the development of visible LED’s using a variety of compound semiconductor materials. He first became known for the development of nitrogen-doped GaAsP technology in the early 1970’s, which became and remains one of the dominant commercial LED technologies. At Hewlett-Packard, Craford’s group pioneered the development of AlInGaP LEDs, and has developed AlGaAs and InGaN products.

Craford is a fellow of the IEEE and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has also received the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Award, the Holonyak Award of the Optical Society of America, the Welker Award of the International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors, the Material Research Society Medal, an IEEE Third Millenium Medal, the Electronics Division Award of the Electrochemical Society, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois College of Engineering.

In 2002, Craford received the National Medal of Technology from the President of the United States in recognition of Craford's contributions to LED technology.

Frank Steranka received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois and immediately joined Hewlett-Packard’s Optoelectronics Division (OED) where he worked on the development of high-brightness visible LEDs using the AlGaAs and AlInGaP materials systems-- including the development of transparent substrate (TS) AlInGaP devices. In 1997 he was appointed the Worldwide Manufacturing Manager for OED and worked from 1998 to 1999 as the manager of the Solid State Lighting Business Unit. He joined Lumileds Lighting in 1999 as the Executive Vice President of Research and Development and now serves as the Corporate Technology Officer.

Matthijs Glastra began his career in Philips Medical Systems Division as the International Product Manager for Computed Tomography (CT) medical equipment in the Netherlands. He quickly progressed through positions at Philips’ Corporate Strategy & Planning Headquarters and then as the Senior Director & General Manager for set-top box chips in what is now NXP, based in Silicon Valley. in 2003, Matthijs started in the Lighting division as the Senior Director of Marketing & Sales for Special Lighting and then returned to the Netherlands to lead Philips’ LCD Backlighting business. In 2007 he joined Philips Lumileds as the company’s Executive Vice President of Worldwide Operations.

Matthijs holds degrees in Applied Physics and Electronics at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and Grande Ecole Supérieure de Physiques et Chimie Industrielles in Paris, France, and a MBA at INSEAD, the leading European Business School.

Steve Barlow has over 20 years of sales and business development experience in the semiconductor industry. He has held senior sales management positions in high technology product areas including RF and microwave communications, fiber optics, high speed communication ICs and ASICs. His global sales and marketing experience includes development and deployment of innovative distribution and sales representative models. Steve joined Philips Lumileds in 2003 as Vice President of Business Development and established the company’s digital imaging business which included pioneering "functional flash" capability, now a standard in today's mobile camera phones.  In 2006 he became Executive Vice President of Sales and has led the company’s expansion in lighting markets around the world. Today he is responsible for all sales and marketing activities globally as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Steve holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from San Jose State University and received his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Santa Clara University.