AMD today announced that Charles Matar and Wayne Meretsky have joined the company to assume critical new engineering leadership roles driving hardware and software intellectual property (IP) development for AMD's system-on-chip (SoC) solutions. Matar will draw upon his expertise in SoC and processor design to lead AMD's SoC methodology and client SoC execution. Meretsky will lead the company's software development, ensuring tools will be in place that will enable developers to take advantage of the compute power in AMD's SoC designs.

"Charles and Wayne will serve as key members of our engineering brain trust, bringing with them years of expertise in SoC design and developing 64-bit software ecosystems, respectively," said Mark Papermaster, AMD Chief Technology Officer. "The fact that these computing experts have returned to the company underscores AMD's unique position and opportunity, based on differentiated IP, to take a leadership position in low-power clients and dense cloud servers."

Charles Matar, named corporate vice president of SoC Development, will serve as a crucial force behind AMD's SoC solutions. Joining AMD from Qualcomm, Matar combines technical expertise in SoC processor and low-power design with a proven track record of consistently introducing new designs in advanced process technology nodes. With experience leading multidiscipline, global teams in delivering SoC designs and embedded processors from definition through silicon, he will employ his in-depth understanding of market trends and wireless industry requirements to help AMD shift appropriate focus to client and embedded market opportunities. Prior to Qualcomm, Matar held engineering roles at Motorola, Rockwell Semiconductor, HAL Computer Systems, PMC-Sierra and helped to develop AMD's K8 processor family.

Meretsky, named corporate vice president, Software IP Development, will lead software development for all of AMD's products. Meretsky is a former AMD Fellow who was instrumental in making AMD's 64-bit technology the de facto industry standard for PCs, workstations and servers. He has more than 25 years of development and management experience in the creation of high-volume technology products and has held leadership roles at Rational, Apple and P.A. Semi. In addition to his technical contributions, Meretsky has a strong track record of managing high-performance teams that will help ensure developers, technology partners and customers are fully aligned with AMD's software strategy. Meretsky is also a former P.A. Semi colleague of Jim Keller, whose appointment as AMD's Chief Architect was announced in August 2012.