Green Plug Appoints Kevin Jones to New Post of Chief Scientist, Names Rajeev Prasad VP of Engineering

Executive Management Changes Follow Closing of Series C Round for Power Electronics Innovator

SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Green Plug (www.greenplug.com), the first company to bring fully programmable mixed-signal controllers to the high volume AC-DC power converter market, today named longtime executive Kevin Jones to the newly-created position of Chief Scientist and appointed semiconductor industry veteran Rajeev Prasad to succeed Jones as VP of Engineering.

“Kevin has enabled Green Plug to focus our technology on a critically needed area in AC-DC power conversion -- the use of fully programmable controllers for high volume, low-cost applications. Developing programmable control in specific markets is a genuine innovation.”

Prasad and the Green Plug management team will be on hand during 2013 International CES, at the company’s suite at the Platinum Hotel (211 E. Flamingo Road, 702/365-5000).

The appointments mark the next phase of Green Plug’s growth, as the company focuses on executing contracts with strategic partners and shaping the future of innovative programmable power control in a number of related fields. The announcement follows on the heels of Green Plug’s Series C investment round, from U.K.-based strategic investor Imagination Technologies Group plc (LSE: IMG), joined by longtime institutional investors Herald Ventures and Killik & Co., both of London; and Peninsula Ventures of Redwood City, Calif.

Jones, who joined Green Plug as VP of Engineering in early 2008, has nearly 30 years’ experience in building and validating complex hardware and software systems. “Kevin’s breadth of knowledge, his ability to think outside the box and his versatility in working with all kinds of technologies make him absolutely ideal for the Chief Scientist position,” said Frank Paniagua, Jr., Green Plug CEO. “Kevin has enabled Green Plug to focus our technology on a critically needed area in AC-DC power conversion -- the use of fully programmable controllers for high volume, low-cost applications. Developing programmable control in specific markets is a genuine innovation.” Jones earned a Ph.D. in Computing Science from the University of Manchester, a M.Sc. in Computation from Oxford University and a B.Sc. from Reading.

Prasad has more than 20 years of engineering and management experience at delivering successful energy-efficient products in wireless, PC, embedded and consumer electronics. Prior to joining Green Plug, he led the development of low-power audio processors for smartphones as Director of VLSI Engineering at Audience and for laptops, speakers and headphones as Sr. Director of Engineering at Creative. Prasad managed the graphics, video and wireless chip and IP development at NVIDIA and two startups acquired by Synopsys and Cirrus Logic.

“Rajeev excels at delivering, at getting designs out the door, and brings to Green Plug strong connections with the semiconductor industry,” Paniagua said. “Under his leadership, Green Plug Engineering will continue to innovate in AC-DC power conversion, cost reduction in the lower-power device market, integration of higher switching frequency technologies like GaN and SiC, additional non-linear software algorithms, and more. With Rajeev’s guidance, Green Plug will pursue novel approaches to achieve further energy savings, and will continue to make real advances in communication technologies and their use in the power market.”

Prasad began his career at Intel, where he designed numerous 486 and Pentium-based chipsets during a six-year period. He holds an executive MBA in marketing and finance from University of California, Davis, M.S. in electrical and computer engineering from University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from IIT-BHU, India.

About Green Plug

Green Plug (www.GreenPlug.com) develops and licenses innovative technology that enables consumer electronics manufacturers to upgrade from traditional analog-controlled power adapters to “smart” digitally controlled systems that save power and dramatically speed product design and development. Green Plug is the first company to offer real-time programmable control for multiple control algorithms in a single-chip package at a cost-neutral price point, thus eliminating the major barrier to adoption in consumer AC-DC power converters. The company’s patented mixed-signal technology provides unprecedented flexibility in design through software programming and also enables communication between electronic devices and their power sources – an important precursor to developing power products that leverage the Smart Grid. Founded in 2006, Green Plug is privately held and headquartered in San Ramon, Calif.