Hans Keller
Hans is one of the "characters" in the industry.
He is deserving of respect not only for his longevity and accomplishments
in the industry but for his energy and enthusiasm. I first met Hans in
Wintethur, Switzerland while visiting his facility with Helmut Gutgesell
in the spring of 1983. The meeting lasted most of the morning and was conducted
primarily with Hans yelling and arm waving about how I, and everyone else
in Silicon Valley, were idiots and how he would bury us. (I believe he
takes credit for the origins of this phrase and that Kruschev stole it
from him.) I gained instant respect for Hans because I had never met someone
that could be so passionate about their business. He certainly is the only
one I had met that was equally adept at expressing his beliefs in either
German, English or French. At this time Keller was still performing micromachining
in the purest sense, they micro machined, drilled, the silicon. I assumed
they felt that if it was good enough for Rolex it was good enough for Keller.
Some years after this meeting I was told that Hans passion was bordering
on the extreme, it was alleged that he file a law suit against Gillette
for their advertisement of the razor called "Sensor." Apparently
Hans had concerned about our industry being confused by these ads with
the razor business. I never did hear the outcome of this "rumor" nor
did I ever ask Hans if it was real or a rumor. The best thing I can say
about Hans is, he has my respect.
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