He was CEO from 1991 to 2021 before joining the board as president and non-executive director
IQE said Nelson is leaving to focus on his other interests, including building the South Wales Compound Semiconductor cluster and the Advisory Board of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Semiconductors, which he chairs.
He will also act as a consultant to IQE for a year to provide “continued expertise and support on industry-related issues”.
“Drew’s contribution to IQE as a founder, chief executive and president cannot be understated. He has been instrumental to the business’s growth, from start-up to global innovator and leader in the sector,” said IQE chairman Phil Smith, “Drew will continue to be a key figure in the semiconductor industry…and we look forward to working with him in this capacity.”
In 2000, Nelson was awarded The Silver Medal by the Royal Academy of Engineering for his contribution to British Engineering and was awarded the OBE for services to the Electronics Industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, 2001. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2004. He was President of the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) in 2011, and was elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales in 2012. He has served as the UK representative on the European Commission’s High Level Group (HLG) for Key Enabling Technologies since 2012, and the EU Electronics Leadership Group since 2014. He has been a key member of Wales’ REAP (Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Plan) team, resulting in the BeTheSpark digital platform launch in June 2017
