Tiptek Appoints Dr. Pamela Pena Martin to Advance Nanoprobing Research and Development

December 9, 2024 - Today, Tiptek LLC, announces the appointment of Dr. Pamela Pena Martin as Associate Director of Technology Development. Dr. Pena Martin joins the organization with extensive experience in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), materials science, and grant proposal development and management.

Prior to joining Tiptek, Dr. Pena Martin was a research program manager for the NSF-funded Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where she developed and managed a large education and outreach portfolio.

She received her B.S. in Physics from Youngstown State University where she began her research journey under the mentorship of Prof. Tom Oder. She earned her Ph.D.in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying epitaxial growth of solar absorber materials with Prof. Angus Rockett, a project that also included surface study by STM with Prof. Joseph Lyding. She then continued as an Intelligence Community Postdoctoral fellow, where she used STM for lithographic placement of acceptor dopants on silicon, once again working with Prof. Lyding at UIUC.

“We are excited to have Pam join the Tiptek team,” says Tiptek CEO Dr. Scott Lockledge.  “She brings her wealth of talent to Tiptek’s efforts in developing advanced science-based innovations to Tiptek’s semiconductor customers.”

Dr. Pena Martin will play a key role in Tiptek’s ongoing projects, including research and development of ultrasharp nanoprobes for semiconductor diagnostics, supported by the NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. These efforts aim to enable more effective probing of smaller, more complex electrical devices that drive advancements in AI, quantum computing, and next-generation microelectronics.

Dr. Pena Martin’s appointment reaffirms Tiptek's commitment to creating cutting edge nanoprobing solutions for problems faced by the semiconductor failure analysis community. She will be based at Tiptek’s research and development facilities in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.