[mvpel]

Applies Materials builds the machines used in semiconductor and silicon wafter manufacturing.

Do you remember that commercial that showed various scenes, like in a hospital, a car, etc, with little star-like flashes of light here and there across the screen indicating where the chips are? That was an AMat commercial.

I work in an office just up the road from their HQ in Santa Clara - they're just south of Highway 101 at Bowers Ave.

[Yossarian]

I know people that work at Applied Materials (AMAT for short). Before this new guy came in, they had 11 (11!?!) layers of management.

Can you imagine that? If you were a front-line grunt worker with a critical idea or warning that could affect the whole company, you'd have to get the equivalent of a football team to agree, one in a row, that your idea is important and requires attention from the very top.