At International Rectifier Dr. Michael A. Briere has been appointed to the role of Executive Vice President, Research & Development and Chief Technology Officer. Briere joined International Rectifier in 2003 and most recently served as the company’s Executive Vice President, Research & Development. In that role, he led a team of 250 engineers and scientists. Before joining International Rectifier, Dr. Briere was Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Picor Corporation, a developer of power IC designs and systems. A 20-year semiconductor industry veteran, Dr. Briere previously held positions at IBM, the Hahn Meitner Institute of Berlin, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Cherry Semiconductor, and ON Semiconductor.