Daniel (Leif) Skaar

Denver, CO ● (303) 818-0286 ● skaar.leif@gmail.com ● www.linkedin.com/in/lskaar

Director of Research and Development

Accomplished Director of R&D and Engineering with proven track record for building and leading teams of
more than 100 people and achieving business results; adept at effectively managing annual multi-million dollar
budgets to balance costs, quality, and time-to-market; offer demonstrated expertise in new product
development and bringing product concepts to operation and successful commercialization; possess in-depth
understanding of the innovation process and experience with internal and outsourced development projects;
highly effective leader, communicator, and project manager (PLC expert).

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

Advanced Energy Industries, Fort Collins, CO 2008 – 2013

Sr. Engineering Manager
AEI is a provider of high power energy generation products to the semiconductor, flat panel display, and solar
panel industries. I was responsible for managing cross-functional engineering teams of 20 - 30 people
developing RF generators and matching networks in the 2 kW to 50 kW power range.

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.

Media Dimensions, Inc. Denver, CO 2007 – Present

President/ Consultant
Providing consulting services to companies in Boulder and Longmont, Colorado, on Program Management
and LEAN methodologies. Also lead periodic design reviews on RF and impedance matching into linear and
no linear loads.
Earlier provided technical market analysis to Japanese Multinational Corporations for new product content and
technical direction regarding data storage trends.

Quantum Corporation, Boulder, CO 2001 – 2007

Director of Engineering
Technical Manager of the Media Product Development Group, responsible for the design of magnetic media
for data storage products (SDLT and LTO) along with the key equipment and tooling which was licensed to
offshore suppliers to produce 1 million data cartridges a month supporting a $400 Million per year business.

Delivered six generations of technology products on time and within budget.

Key player in negotiating license agreements with key suppliers.
Managed development offices in Boulder, CO., Shrewsbury, MA, and Tokyo, Japan.
Developed 2nd generation Optical Servo Writer using Q switched, Class 4, YAG laser.
Improved MTBF of key production equipment from failing once per week to once every 43 weeks.
Increased number of intellectual property related disclosures and patent applications from 0 to 20 per
year over 4 years to maintain royalty income.
Daniel (Leif) Skaar (303-818-0286)

Exabyte, Boulder CO 1998 – 2001

Director of Engineering & Storage Media Business
Exabyte is a developer of tape backup and automation products. Managed an engineering group which
included product development and certification labs for a line of products resulting in $70 Million in annual
sales. Later part of my tenure at Exabyte included P&L responsibilities for media products.

Lead the development of several IP concepts, which allowed Exabyte to continue licensing its
technology to key suppliers.
Patents issued.

Pacesetter / Telectronics, Englewood, CO 1995 – 1998

Vice President of Engineering
Executive leader of a team of 130 people: software, mechanical, electrical, program management, and pilot
line to develop life critical Class II and Class III medical device including the Bradycardia and Tachycardia
pacemakers with a budget of $15 M/year. Products also included pacemaker leads, introducers and pacemaker
programmers. Managed all Development Engineering and GMP compliant Pilot Line Operations.

Introduced 3 new generations of pacemakers using “Meta-ventilation” technology.

Functioned as a key player in solving Telectronics consent decree issue with the FDA by authoring
new (GMP) compliant phased development methodologies for the company.
Delivered products using full custom CMOS ASICs and TiAlSi Hybrid technologies.

WangDat/ Rexon Corporation, Longmont, CO 1994 – 1995

Vice President of Development & Engineering
Executive leader of a cross-functional team of engineers developing helical scan data storage systems

Developed and launched a new 4mm, DDS-3 data storage product.

Rebuilt digital ASIC, firmware, mechanical, and support engineer groups, as well as agency

WangDat/ Rexon Corporation Cont.

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.

Verbatim Corp, San Diego CA 1990 – 1994

Director of Engineering,
Lead the product development engineering department which included new product development engineering,
manufacturing, and test engineering. Helped build the product portfolio to increase annual sales 43% in less
than 3 years.

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)

Education / Specialized Experience

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

10 patents issued related to the mechanical design of data cartridges.

Top 10 Key Competencies (reference: “FYI” by Lombardo and Eichinger)

Integrity and trust

Drive for results
Timely decision making
Problem solving
Interpersonal savvy
Conflict Management
Dealing with ambiguity
Customer Focus
Team Building
Technical skills

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