Currently CEO of Kubos Semiconductors, O’Brien brings 30 years of experience in the technology sector. The CSA highlights she has developed a broad knowledge of working with VC-backed businesses and multinationals. She will join the organisation later this month.
“I am thrilled to be appointed CEO of CSA Catapult at such an exciting time,” said Caroline O’Brien. ”I also look forward to working with the highly qualified and talented team, in order to navigate the business through the next phase of commercialisation and beyond.”
“Together we can embrace the opportunities for growth, across a number of semiconductor markets, and thus increase revenue, help deliver the UK industrial strategy and develop economic prosperity.”
Raj Gawera
The Chair of the Board of Directors, Jonathan Flint, also acknowledged the work of her predecessor.
“I would like to thank Raj Gawera for leading the Catapult at such an important time and guiding the organisation to meet the challenges of commercialisation and the mobilisation of the UK Semiconductor Centre. He has brought fresh perspectives, drawing on his extensive industrial experience and made a significant contribution to the future potential of the Catapult. This will help to deliver a smooth transition as Caroline takes on the leadership of the Catapult.”
Gawera returns to the board of the CSA
Rupert Baines
As mentioned, the CSA has also appointed the technology entrepreneur Rupert Baines as a Non-Executive Director. He will be serving on the CSA’s Board of Directors.
He is currently Chair of RANsemi, Chair of Cambridge Tech Week, and Co-Chair of the Semiconductor Expert Working Group. This industry body reports into the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.
“I am extremely excited to be joining CSA Catapult’s Board and look forward to supporting the Catapult’s vision of helping the UK become a global leader in compound semiconductors,” said Baines. “I worked with compound semiconductors, specifically silicon germanium, early on in my career at Analog Devices and caught a first glimpse of how effective and powerful they can be.”
“Since then, the compound semiconductor industry has grown rapidly, and the UK has developed significant strength in this area. We have a rare combination of great research and manufacturing capability with clusters around the country doing some very exciting things.”
CSA
The CSA Catapult is the UK’s authority on compound semiconductor applications and commercialisation.
It specialises in the measurement, characterisation, integration and validation of compound semiconductor technology across four areas. These are power electronics, advanced packaging, radio frequency (RF) and microwave, and photonics.
It’s headquarters are in Imperial Park in Newport.
Image: Compound Semiconductor Applications
See also: CSA Catapult calls for UK semiconductor super-cluster, and money to build it
