The plant manager of Intel’s Fab 24 chip manufacturing plant in Leixlip, Eamonn Sinnott, has become the second Irishman after country manager Jim O’Hara at the site in Ireland to be made a vice-president of Intel, a major honour for the local operations.
This brings to three the number of Irishmen who hold vice-president positions. Rory McInerney, based at Intel’s headquarters in Santa Clara, is vice-president in charge of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group.
Sinnott has been named vice-president, Technology and Manufacturing Group, and plant manager of Fab 24 in Leixlip, Ireland.
He is responsible for all operational aspects of Fab 24, Intel’s first 300mm facility outside of the United States.
Sinnott joined Intel Corporation in 1991 as manufacturing shift manager in Ireland. He has held a variety of factory management positions in Ireland, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Portland, Oregon.
Sinnott became factory manager for the 300mm start-up and ramp of Fab 24 in 2001 before taking over as plant manager in 2006 when he successfully ramped the facility to 65nm technology.
Eamonn Sinnott’s background
Prior to joining Intel, Sinnott worked as an engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation and as a manufacturing manager at Nuvotem.
Sinnott received an MBA from University College Dublin in 2000 and a bachelor’s degree in Science from University of Dublin, Trinity College, in 1986.
He is a board member of the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland.
Fab 24 played a leading role in the fabrication of Project ‘Canmore’, the creation of a chip that will do for internet TV what the Pentium did for the PC industry.
Speaking to Siliconrepublic.com at the time, Sinnott said: “We were just delighted to be able to play an important part in enabling that. When we see the results of that, collectively as a team we recognise that it’s just another example of how this corner of the world is impacting worldwide strategic initiatives.
“Canmore is one product out of many for us. The fact that we manufacture those at the sort of safety levels that nobody can emulate, at the quality levels that nobody can emulate, and at the speed that is continuing to improve.
“Fab 24 since its inception has been at the leading edge of Intel’s product offering in the marketplace. We are producing today all of Intel’s flagship products here in Leixlip.
“There’s a high chance that wherever on the planet, you are buying Intel’s latest and greatest products today. Whether it’s for the digital home, healthcare, enterprise – depending on us to execute flawlessly at world-class levels.
“It really gives us that collective sense of pride that what we do really makes a difference on the planet,” Sinnott said at the time.
By John Kennedy
Photo: Eamonn Sinnott
