Special Event Compound Semiconductors

7 December 2022 • 13:15 - 14:35 GMT
Location: NEC, Hall 11 theatre @SPIE Photonex

Welcome and opening remarks

Wyn Meredith, Director, The Compound Semiconductor Centre (United Kingdom)
Session Chair

13:15
Enabling photonics with UK semiconductor technologies

Chris Meadows, Director of CSconnected

CSconnected is the voice for a growing number of advanced semiconductor related activities in Wales and home to a unique community of academic institutions, prototyping facilities and global, high-volume manufacturing capabilities that collaborate across a range of research and innovation programs and has enabled unparalleled progress and commercial partnerships. Our cluster is uniquely positioned to develop a global advantage in a key enabling technology which will allow Wales and the UK to increase trade globally in critical sectors.

Chris Meadows career in electronics and semiconductors started at British Telecom Research Laboratories before joining a new joint venture between BT and US based DuPont in 1986. Chris was part of the founding team at Epitaxial Products International Ltd (EPI) in Cardiff in 1988 which became IQE plc in 1999 following a successful IPO. With a background in science and engineering, Chris also holds an MBA and has held a number of senior management positions within the IQE Group. Chris is currently Director of CSconnected, representing the world’s first compound semiconductor cluster that is rapidly evolving across South Wales and the West of England.

13:30
Compound Semiconductors

Martin McHugh, CSA Catapult

Martin McHugh leads the strategic direction of the Catapult, driving its approach to accelerate UK industry's ability to exploit advancements in compound semiconductor technologies. He also leads the strategic direction of the Catapult's four key technology areas of power electronics, RF & microwave, photonics and advanced packaging. Martin's wealth of technology experience has been developed through a host of technical and commercial roles with responsibilities covering the UK, Europe and North America. Prior to joining the CSA Catapult, he headed up business and technology development for Microchip's (Microsemi Corporation) advanced packaging business where, during his twenty-year tenure, he played a key role in transforming the company's focus from analogue telecoms to wireless digital communications.
Martin has also worked on over 30 Innovate UK and EU-funded collaborations worth a total of £50m over a period of fifteen years and sits on the Industrial Advisory Board of the School of Engineering at Cardiff University.

13:45
Vector Photonics

Euan Livingston, Vector Photonics

Euan Livingston has a proven track record of business strategy development, sales and marketing, investment case management and M&A in international technology companies. His thirty-year international career includes working with Hewlett-Packard, Agilent Technologies and National Semiconductor in the UK and USA, a number of technology start-up companies in Israel and the UK and most recently with CST Global (now Sivers Photonics) in Blantyre, Glasgow. Euan's qualifications include BSc (Hons) Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Heriot-Watt University and MBA from Edinburgh Business School. Euan is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Vector Photonics.

14:00
Heat-assisted magnetic recording and the future of data storage

Martin Gubbins, Seagate

As the Data Age emerges, the insatiable hunger for greater storage capacity accelerates at an astronomical rate. The capacity of hard drives needs to continue increasing to meet the demands of data growth. Seagate’s advanced engineering team has developed HAMR (Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording) as the next major step to enable higher-capacity hard drives. HAMR uses a new kind of photonic and magnetic technology that allows data bits to become smaller and more densely packed than ever, while remaining magnetically and thermally stable. Seagate is currently launching HAMR hard drives to market with the wafer fabrication facility in Northern Ireland playing a central role in the technology transition.

Mark Gubbins is a Director of Development at Seagate Technology and leads a team with focus on developing transducer technology as a means to ensure hard drive data storage capacity leadership. This involves providing vision for technology as well as coordinating technology roadmaps with worldwide development teams to ensure successful transducer delivery to hard drive products. Mark also leads the UKRI funded SmartNanoNI consortium addressing challenges in photonics prototyping and advanced manufacturing.

14:15
Panel Discussion
with the above listed speakers and guest panelist Richard Duffy, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) (United Kingdom)