Oak Technology, Inc. announced today that semiconductor industry veteran Barry Cornell has been appointed vice president of operations and quality, reporting to president and CEO, Young Sohn. Cornell will be responsible for quality and reliability, manufacturing, materials, foundry and fab relationships for Oak's optical storage and digital imaging operations. ``Barry brings to this vital position a proven track record in achieving aggressive product cost targets and improving product margins while simultaneously achieving high customer satisfaction and quality levels,'' said Sohn. ``These skills combined with his extensive background in the semiconductor industry and his ability to coach and motivate managers and employees in a results-oriented environment will greatly assist Oak Technology in optimizing market opportunities as we move beyond the PC and office equipment space into consumer applications.''

``I am truly enthusiastic about joining Oak Technology,'' stated Cornell. ``With its leadership position in the industry and positive corporate culture, I will be able to best apply my expertise in fostering strong customer and vendor relationships to build upon what is already a strong enterprise.''

Prior to joining Oak, Cornell was vice president, quality and reliability, programmable systems products division at STMicroelectronics. Before STMicroelectronics, he spent nine years at WaferScale Integration where he served as vice president, quality and reliability, as well as director, product operations, and product line manager, logic and memory products. Previously, he served as a product engineering section manager and design engineering section manager for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Cornell graduated with honors with an MS degree in Engineering Management from Stanford University and holds a B.S.E.E. from Cornell University. He has been awarded two U.S. patents for circuit design.