NEC Electronics America, Inc. today announced the promotion of Kazuyoshi (Kazu) Yamada to vice president of the company’s Custom SoC Solutions Unit. In his new role, Mr. Yamada will report directly to President and CEO Yuichi Kawakami and be responsible for overseeing the company’s custom ASIC-related business. In 25-plus years with NEC Electronics, Mr. Yamada has held a number of key positions in marketing and engineering, including two most recent posts as associate vice president of NEC Electronics Corporation’s Technology Foundation Unit in Japan and assistant general manager of NEC Electronics America’s ASIC strategic business unit (SBU). An extensive background in high-speed design and design automation makes him extremely well qualified to lead NEC Electronics America’s efforts to expand its custom ASIC business in the Americas. Mr. Yamada holds 20 patents in Japan for bipolar-related designs, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the Musashi Institute of Technology in Tokyo.

NEC Electronics America also announced today the appointment of Kugao Ouchi as general manager of the company’s new Digital Consumer and Connectivity SBU. This new SBU represents a business segment encompassing digital consumer and high-speed computer interface products, which are becoming an increasingly important revenue source for many companies. In his new role, Ouchi will direct the development and marketing of NEC Electronics America’s industry-leading USB, PCI Express(TM), advanced memory buffer and Wireless USB product lines and its digital consumer products for set-top boxes, TV capturing systems and DVD recorders. Mr. Ouchi has been with NEC Electronics since 1981 and holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Ibaraki University in Japan.