Ashling Leilaeioun

About Ashling Leilaeioun

Data-informed, systematic, and efficient electrical engineer with a decade-long expertise in R&D and high-volume manufacturing, specializing in thin film deposition, characterization and thermal processes. Motivated to foster sustainable energy sources to positively impact the environment and create a lasting legacy for generations to come.Ashling earned her Ph.D. from Arizona State University in 2018. During her doctoral studies, she achieved remarkable success in designing and fabricating SHJ Solar cells, achieving near-world-record efficiency.Her postdoctoral tenure at UC Merced centered on addressing the Terawatt challenge in PV. Ashling\'s research delved into the potential of positive feedback loops to expedite the energy transition, employing a balanced approach to enhance efficacy.At Q CELLS, a solar module manufacturer, she served as a senior process engineer. Her role encompassed orchestrating the ramp-up, stabilization, and optimization of production lines. She developed metrics to investigate process improvement and implement methods for sampling, inspection and testing.Transitioning to Maxeon Solar Technologies as a Senior Staff R&D process engineer, Ashling spearheaded the development of thermal and thin film processes for next-generation technology. Her initiatives from lab-scale inception to high-volume manufacturing led to enhancements in cells\' UV reliability via a groundbreaking passivation process, thereby reducing degradation rates. She extensively characterized novel processes and their interplay with upstream and downstream operations, facilitating seamless knowledge transfer to receiving operations teams. Her global collaborations with tool suppliers and operational partners across time zones resulted in lowering equipment thermal budgets, augmenting throughput, and significantly curtailing capital expenses.

Experience

1. Research Scientist, Solar Team, Kuiper Project

   Amazon

   Nov 2025 — Present

Education

• Arizona State University

  PhD degree, Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering

  2013 — 2018