AmTECH’s Story

AmTECH Microelectronics was founded in 1993 by Walter Chavez and a colleague after gaining a decade of experience in the electronics manufacturing industry. As an immigrant from Central America, Walter overcame many hardships and challenges in the United States, experiences that shaped his character and fueled his ambition to start his own company. 

Built on hard work, foresight, and determination – and entirely self-funded – AmTECH began operations with just a handful of tabletop machines and ovens at its original location in Santa Clara, CA. The early years were tough, but by the company’s third year, AmTECH had earned a reputation for delivering repeatable high-quality custom microelectronics assembly and packaging services. 

In the late-1990s, AmTECH’s hard work started paying off. With a growing team and improved internal systems, the company moved into a larger facility in San Jose, CA. A major turning point came when SIEMENS Berlin awarded AmTECH a production order of 50,000 fiber optic transceivers. This opportunity allowed AmTECH to scale up to around 100 employees and achieve high-volume manufacturing with high-yields exceeding 98%, eventually producing 100,000 pieces per month. 

By the mid-2000s, while much of the electronics manufacturing industry moved offshore to meet market pressures and stockholder demands, AmTECH chose a different path continuing to produce high-quality products domestically. During this period, the company collaborated with many innovators of the time, manufacturing for FLEXTRONICS 5,000 pieces per month camera modules for early cell phones, first-generation electronic credit cards with ultra-thin flex substrates, and numerous other cutting-edge technology products. 

By the early-2010s, AmTECH remained a critical manufacturing partner for Silicon Valley and beyond, serving Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) companies, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Defense (DOD), STEM start-ups, academia, and companies like VELODYNE LiDAR which became a major customer of AmTECH with requirements of 10,000 pieces per month. VELODYNE’s LiDAR system was used in the DARPA Urban Challenge competition for driverless cars. It was during this time that Walter Chavez took full ownership of the company. 

Today, AmTECH continues to grow and expand its capabilities, offering advanced manufacturing services such as flip chip bonding, precision die bonding, fine and heavy wire bonding, vacuum reflow, silver sintering, dispense and encapsulation, and SMT Assembly. We support industries including defense/ aerospace, RF/ microwave/ mmWave, medical/ biotech, automotive/ LiDAR, quantum computing, MEMS, imaging devices, and power electronics. 

The industry today looks very different from when AmTECH first started. As America renews its focus on onshore manufacturing, AmTECH stands strong - an established, trusted leader recognized for state-of-the-art equipment, talented engineers, and technicians, and a relentless focus on design for manufacturing, process development, and delivering high-yield, high-quality products form prototype to production.