Elif Balkas serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Wolfspeed, responsible for building on the company’s strong technology foundation in wide bandgap materials, driving technological improvements to yield products with high quality and reliability as Wolfspeed continues to grow as the only pure play, vertically integrated silicon carbide company. During her 19+ tenure with the company, Elif served in a variety of leadership positions in R&D and operations, dedicating most of her time and focus on developing technologies that are scalable for manufacturing purposes and to enable more efficient and powerful electronic systems. Prior to Wolfspeed, Elif served as a scientist at Intrinsic Semiconductor where she was responsible for GaN and SiC epitaxy product development with a focus on high quality and efficient processes. Elif holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science with a minor in Electrical and Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University, specialized in GaN crystal growth via physical vapor transport. Elif is also a graduate of the Chief Technology Officer Program at Wharton School. In July 2024, Elif was appointed to the US Department of Commerce Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC) for the CHIPS for America program.