About Linx Consulting

About Linx Consulting Inc.

Linx Consulting Inc. is the premier electronic materials consultant to the semiconductor, display, photovoltaic, MEMS, energy, and nanotechnology industries. Linx offers a full suite of consulting services including electronic materials reports and services designed to forecast industry trends and opportunies for material suppliers as well as customized reports.

With many years of experience developing, marketing, and consulting in the chemical industry, Linx Consulting offers unparalleled expertise and capabilities for driving strategic and tactical data generation and decision-making for users, specifiers and suppliers of electronic materials.

Many of the challenges in materials applications are very different when viewed from the perspective of the chemical industry. Our depth of knowledge in the chemical and advanced materials industries gives us a broader perspective of electronic materials and their impact on the development of products and solutions for the electronics markets.

Linx Consulting has a global network of consultants and materials analysts to offer a broader perspective of the electronic materials industry by combining expertise and capabilities from around the world. This global perspective allows Linx Consulting to reach all major markets for electronic materials and device manufacturing.

Linx Conferences

In addition to reports and services, Linx also manages semiconductor industry conferences as part of Linx Conferences, a new division established in 2018 to manage the conference end of the business.  Linx became involved in the conference business in 2015 with management of the Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference (SPCC).   In 2019, Linx started the Electronic Specialty Gases & Systems Conference (ESGS) designed to discuss key technical and business issues around gases and vapor phase materials and the systems that process gases in the fab. In 2023Linx expanded the ESG conference to target electronic specialty gas systems which resulted in our new Electronic Specialty Gas and Systems Conference (ESGS) format. The ESGS is designed for executives, buyers, product managers, and strategic planners from the electronic gases value chain including end-users, producers, and equipment and system suppliers. The conference features knowledgeable experts in the industry, who understand the key developments and challenges unique to this market.

Management Team

Mark Thirsk, Managing Partner

Mark ThirskMark Thirsk has over 20 years experience in the chemical industry working with a variety of materials and processes utilized in wafer fabrication. In addition to his knowledge of electronic materials and manufacturing, he has also been involved in economic and business forecasting, strategic planning, technical marketing and M&A.

Having been on both sides of the fence as a user and seller of materials and equipment, as well as being intimately involved with major materials manufacturers, Mark is well placed to bring clarity and insight into understanding markets from both a technical and commercial perspective.

Previous to Linx, Mark was Senior Marketing Manager at Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, a specialty materials company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was responsible for strategic planning and new business development. Additionally, Mark has served on the SEMI Chemicals and Gases Manufacturers Group (CGMG) since 1999, acting as Chairman between 2001 and 2003. Mark has worked in the UK, Germany, Belgium, and the USA, and has traveled extensively in Asia. He is fluent in both English and German.  Mark has authored several recent articles and papers published in and presented at: Semiconductor Fabtech Strategic Materials Conference.

Mark holds an Honours B.Sc. in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Birmingham University in Birmingham, UK and an MBA from The Open University Business School in Milton Keynes, UK.

Mike Corbett, Managing Partner

Mike Corbett, managing partner Linx ConsultingMike Corbett has been involved with semiconductor processes and materials consumed in both front end of the line (FEOL) and back end of the line (BEOL) semiconductor operations for 15 years. Mike has experience in many semiconductor technologies including compound semiconductors, transistor/device construction and fabrication, semiconductor interconnect materials and processes, and device packaging. He is also involved in other electronics-focused areas including:  printed circuit boards, flat panel displays, optoelectronics, photovoltaics and advanced battery technologies.

Mike has developed programs to commercialize novel technologies, identify growth opportunities, complete M&A, conduct strategic planning and develop cost-of-ownership (COO) assessments.  Through these engagements, he has developed a detailed understanding of the semiconductor industry’s structure and trends as well as contacts at key equipment suppliers, consumables producers and semiconductor fabricators.

Mike was also Chairman of the Chemicals and Gases Manufacturers Group (CGMG) and is an active member of SEMI, IEEE, MRS, and AVS. Mike has authored several recent articles and papers published in and presented at:

  • Solid State Technology
  • Semiconductor Manufacturing Magazine
  • Strategic Materials Conference
  • Microelectronics Materials Strategy Symposium

Mike holds a BSEE from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and an MBA in finance from Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

Andy Tuan, Managing Director, Asia

Andy Tuan joined Linx Consulting in 2014 to manage Linx Consulting’s Asian business. Based in Taipei, Taiwan, Mr. Tuan is responsible for business development and project management and overall strategy development in Asia.

Prior to joining Linx, Mr. Tuan was Director of Strategic Marketing of the Global Electronics Division of Air Products and Chemicals, where he focused on Semiconductor, LCD, Photovoltaic, LED, and other emerging electronics industry segments in Asia. Mr. Tuan was also general manager of the Electronics Business in China, and global product manager in the company’s electronics specialty material group at the US headquarters. Mr. Tuan joined Air Products Asia in 1996 where he built and led the regional electronics commercial team in Taipei. In this capacity, he supported the establishment and integration of an intra-Asia electronics supply network of manufacturing vendors, affiliate companies, strategic business partners and channel distributors across Asia. He also led several semiconductor and solar cell project activities in Southeast Asia and India as a new fab business development manager.

Before Air Products, Mr. Tuan worked in sales, marketing and product development in other global electronics device and electronics materials companies including Fujitsu in Japan, Merck-Kanto Advanced Chemicals in Taiwan, and Merck KGaA, Germany.

Mr. Tuan is an active particpant of SEMI, a non-profit industry association that provides services to the global semiconductor industry, where he assumed various roles including technical standard program member, PV Committee member, LED Committee member, regional advisory board member, and executive consulting member.

Mr. Tuan holds a Japan-focused International Executive MBA from a joint program offered by the University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii) and National Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan) in 1994, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from National Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu, Taiwan) in 1989.

Audrey Parton, Sales and Marketing Associate

Audrey PartonAudrey Parton joined Linx as sales and marketing associate in 2013 for Linx Consulting and more recently, Linx Cleaning Conferences.  She brings over fifteen years of consulting experience, working across a wide spectrum of industries which manufacture specialty chemicals to consumer products to advanced materials.

Prior to becoming a member of Linx Consulting, Audrey held several positions throughout her tenure at Kline & Company ranging from Senior Consultant to sales and marketing industry specialist.  Her primary responsibilities included both proprietary assignments and multiclient projects which focused on customer satisfaction and client perceptual research programs, as well as market assessments.  During her later years, Audrey’s efforts were concentrated on business development, sales, and marketing activities for the syndicated report division.  She also has experience in the financial and retail industries.

Audrey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Bloomsburg University, PA.  She also volunteers at the local Methodist Church which is actively involved with many community outreach programs.

Strategic Partners

Linx Consulting has formed strategic alliances with several other consulting companies to access technology and to broaden our services.

Hilltop Economics

Hilltop Economics LLC was founded by Duncan Meldrum, PhD to focus on business economic research and forecasting projects.  Meldrum has over thirty years experience in the application of economics to forecasting and business analysis, first as the chief economist for Air Products and Chemicals, then as the director of the Center for Forecasting and Modeling at IHS Global Insight. His experience includes frequent presentations on economic conditions and industry outlooks for major semiconductor industry events and meetings.