Promex, a specialist in assembling small devices that contain semiconductor chips for the medical, biotechnology and communications markets, has named David Fromm its chief operating officer.
The promotion and new title in addition to Fromm’s current role as vice president of engineering at the company.
Fromm will be responsible for the full breadth of operations at Promex, including technical developments for scalable assembly and manufacturing of complex medical devices that incorporate microelectronics. He will lead operations, engineering, and business development teams from the company’s Silicon Valley facility in Santa Clara. He joined Promex in March 2023, after collaborating with the company as a customer for nearly a decade.
Richard Otte, Promex CEO, said: “Dave has walked in the shoes of OEM engineers, project leads, and procurement decision-makers. He is uniquely qualified to bring a customer-focused perspective to every aspect of the Promex business. He understands how to partner for turnkey, vertically integrated approaches to creating the smallest, most complex medical devices that are enabled with microelectronics.”
Most recently, Fromm led research and development for hardware and technology for next-generation platforms at Cepheid as director of instrument research. He partnered with Promex to develop and build key subassemblies within a ruggedised Point of Care molecular diagnostics device.
Fromm said: “I needed a partner capable of iterating and building out the vision, from a blank piece of paper through design maturity, for very complex projects. My leadership at Promex is shaped by what appealed to me as a customer – the company’s capabilities, flexibility, and problem-solving skills. Promex can take early, abstract requirements and scale them into successful production and commercialisation.”
Fromm also has experience as a senior optical scientist at Theranos and research scientist at Agilent Technologies. He earned a PhD in physical chemistry at Stanford University and a B.A. in biochemistry from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He holds multiple patents for molecular diagnostics systems and high-speed atomic force microscopy. Fromm will focus on continued enhancement of skills needed to develop devices for a growing range of medical device customers and creation of new technical capabilities to achieve the leading-edge assembly and manufacturing services required by these products.
Promex is the market leader in microelectronic component assembly, process design, and packaging for the medtech and biotechnology markets. It is uniquely positioned among contract manufacturers with the broadest set of capabilities under one roof: two full SMT lines; post-wafer processing technologies, including wafer dicing, grinding, die attach, and flip-chip; wire bonding; encapsulation; and more. With cutting-edge equipment, extensive material properties knowledge, and meticulous supply chain management, Promex partners with OEMs at all stages, from early and small prototypes to R&D development and high-volume production.
