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It’s a New Year and with that comes a new blog look!To better tell the whole Applied Materials story in a more dynamic and interactive way, we've redesigned the blog. The new blog will provide readers with a richer and more vibrant environment by featuring highly visual images and videos. These will provide a glimpse into the various roles Applied Materials plays as a leader in the semiconductor, solar and display industries as well as a socially responsible company.

Applied Materials announced today that Bob Halliday has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer.  Halliday previously was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates prior to Applied’s acquisition of the company in November 2011.Read the press release on our website.

Applied Materials is deeply saddened by the passing of Gary Fazzino on Tuesday evening after a long battle with cancer.  Gary joined Applied Materials as Vice President, Government Affairs in July 2009 after a long and successful career at Hewlett-Packard Company.  In addition to serving as a government affairs executive in the private sector, Gary was a dedicated public servant in Palo Alto, serving on the City Council from 1977 to 1981 and from 1989 to 2002.  He was elected Mayor of Palo Alto in 1992 and again in 1999.

Applied Materials employees and associates gather to form the Applied Materials logo.This month marks an exceptional milestone for the Applied Materials India team; we’ve reached our 10th anniversary in the region — we’ve come a long way since our humble beginnings in 2002! Several key executives, including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Splinter; Chief Financial Officer, George Davis; Executive Vice President and General Manager for the Silicon Systems Group, Randhir Thakur, and Chief Technology Officer, Om Nalamasu, joined us to celebrate our journey and discuss the company’s strategy.

Scientists and inventors may not be the first things that come to mind with the upcoming Saint Patrick’s Day holiday. The day is usually associated with four-leaf clovers, leprechauns, performers or food and most importantly green beer. It turns out Ireland has a significant scientific heritage that has produced many top inventors, scientists and innovators who have made great contributions in pioneering new technologies. In honor of the upcoming holiday, Applied Materials would like to take this opportunity to recognize and honor some major Irish figures in the history of science.

I recently had the great pleasure of hosting California Democratic Congressman Mike Honda during a town hall meeting at Applied Materials where he discussed a variety of issues including education, the deficit, and the significance of government, private partnerships to ensure U.S. competitiveness.During the town hall meeting, Congressman Honda described how he is leading efforts to establish a two-year public-private partnership between the industry and the federal government to help the industry’s transition to 450mm—a transition that is scheduled to take place in the future. To learn more about this initiative read Honda’s latest op-ed in The Hill.Honda is Silicon Valley’s representative in Congress. He is Budget Task Force chairman for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the author of “The People’s Budget,” and a member of the House Appropriations and Budget committees.

Applied Materials was named among Technology Review’s 2012 TR50, which lists the world's 50 most innovative companies, for the third consecutive year.  Applied is recognized for “helping lower the cost of solar power through a new innovative manufacturing system that allows solar producers to increase the output and efficiency of their cells.”

 Click on the graphic to expand the image.We’ve all seen it happen many times, especially during major events such as the post-thanksgiving Black Friday, Cyber Monday and holiday sales: gadgets that were expensively priced for early adopters are suddenly affordable and accessible to the average person, which in turn spur a jump in demand. A 55-inch 3D LED TV, for example, that retailed for more than $3000 USD not too long ago now sells for about $1300 (and it comes with a 3D Blu-ray player and 4 sets of 3D glasses!) Similarly, a respectable laptop PC can cost less than $300 USD these days when they were more than $2000 just a couple years back. My 486 desktop computer used to be two grand! Aside from consumer electronics, we’re seeing similar trends of cost reduction in industries such as solar and LED lighting. A photovoltaic (PV) solar module that used to cost more than $5 per watt five years ago now goes for about $1.50 per watt. LED light bulbs for general lighting sold for more than $40 per bulb in hardware stores two years ago now sell for less than $20, and I am sure they will be comparably priced with today’s CFL bulb in the near future.So how do these incredibly technologically advanced products become so affordable? The answer is technology and scale.

Following is a list of Applied Materials' top 10 blog posts of 2011.