CW Technology & Engineering Conference 2026

Jon Heffernan

Director, National Epitaxy Facility, University of Sheffield

Jon Heffernan is Professor of semiconductor materials and devices at the University of Sheffield. He is concurrently Director of the EPSRC National Epitaxy Facility. Prior to joining the University of Sheffield he spent eighteen years in industrial R&D as Director of Advanced Optoelectronics at Sharp Laboratories of Europe, a division of Sharp Corporation. There he worked with teams in Japan, Europe and the USA on the development of semiconductor lasers, LEDs, nanomaterials, and solar cell technologies, taking low-TRL research through to mass manufacturing.

Professor Heffernan’s research is now focussed on novel semiconductor materials, semiconductor manufacturing technologies, and quantum technologies based on semiconductor nanomaterials. He is a co-founder of two University of Sheffield spin-out companies and has served on a number of advisory boards for semiconductor technologies.

: jon-heffernan-freng-77

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Professor Tony Kenyon

Director, Neuroware, UCL

I am Professor of nanoelectronic & Nanophotonic Materials, and Vice Dean (Research), heading the Nanoelectronic & Nanophotonic Materials group. My group’s work focuses on the application of nanostructured materials to nanoelectronics and photonics. I am particularly interested in resistance switching devices (memristors) based on oxides (mainly silicon oxides, but other CMOS-compatible oxides as well), and how they can be used in novel non-volatile memories, hardware acceleration for Machine Learning, and neuromorphic devices and systems. My work on resistance switching earned me a nomination for a personal World Technology Network Award , a “one to watch” UCL business award , and I have set up a company to commercialise this technology – Intrinsic Semiconductor Technologies.

: anthony-kenyon-52250431

Sylvia Lu

CEO & Founder, YOOVIP

Sylvia Lu is an award-winning Chartered Engineer and Non-Executive Director. Sylvia has over 16 years of experience in the Telecom industry for four mobile generations with semiconductor vendors. Sylvia provides guidance on the impact of emerging technologies on products and corporate strategy, influences global standards, accelerates the adoption of new technologies, and provides independent advice to industry and policy stakeholders.

Sylvia serves on several national and global industry Boards: she is an elected board director of CW (Cambridge Wireless), and serves on the Advisory Board of UKTIN, which provides independent advice on the telecoms sector, champions the opportunities in telecoms research, development, and innovation for the UK, and helps UKTIN provide impartial input to government. She also served on the Board of 5G-ACIA (5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation), joined forces with global industry stakeholders to influence 5G development and deployment in line with industrial imperatives to accelerate Industry 4.0.

She holds a first-class Electronic Engineering degree, a Master of Science degree in Communications and Signal Processing from the University of Bristol. She graduated with a Distinction from the University of Oxford in PGDip Strategy & Innovation, and an Executive MBA degree from the University of Cambridge. Sylvia is also an artist.

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Caroline O’Brien

CEO, CSA Catapult

A semiconductor industry specialist, Caroline O’Brien is CEO at CSA Catapult and brings over 30 years of experience in the technology sector, where she has developed a broad knowledge of working with VC-backed businesses and blue-chip multinationals. She has held senior commercial and executive positions in several companies and start-ups, including NEC Electronics, HiWave Technologies, Pyreos and Oxford Semiconductor. Caroline has dedicated her career to developing ‘deep tech’ solutions with a focus on commercialising new technologies and products. She holds a B.Eng in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from Swansea University and an MBA from the University of Bath.

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Haydn Povey

CEO, SCI Semiconductors

Haydn Povey is CEO of SCI Semiconductors, and a veteran of the embedded design space. Starting his career at National Instruments, he was hired into Arm to lead the deeply embedded processors, leading the Cortex-M family and working across global silicon vendors to drive adoption of the new technology. At Arm he also owned the security technology portfolio, including TrustZone, that underpin security across mobile phone, automotive and industrial applications. Following Arm, he founded Secure Thingz, a successful security startup, which was purchased by IAR Ltd, the leading tools vendor, where he was Group Chief Strategy Officer for over 5 years. 

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Mark Rushworth

CEO, Finchetto Ltd

Mark Rushworth is the CEO and co-founder of photonics startup, Finchetto. Mark holds certificates in integrated photonics chip design and is a member of the UK Government’s Optical Communications and Photonics Expert Working Group. 

: Linkedin.com/in/markrushworth

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Steve Taylor

Director of Strategic Marketing, UK Semiconductor Centre

Steve Taylor is a strategic marketing and communications leader with more than 30 years’ experience across semiconductors, advanced hardware and global technology ecosystems.

He has held senior roles at Paragraf, the Autoware Foundation, Linaro and Arm, and previously spent 16 years in Taiwan working with technology media, semiconductor and electronics companies including DigiTimes and Primax Electronics. His work has focused on helping organisations scale internationally and align industry, government and academic stakeholders.

Most recently, he has worked at the intersection of semiconductor innovation, industrial strategy and international collaboration, helping strengthen the visibility, positioning and growth of emerging technologies and ecosystems across the UK, Europe and Asia.

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Simon Thomas

CEO and Co-Founder, Paragraf

Simon Thomas, CEO and Co-Founder of Paragraf, has a diverse background in physics, engineering and materials science, combined with many years’ experience in the fields of semiconductors, functional materials, solid state devices and capital equipment manufacture. To date he has raised over $150m in private capital to steer the company through to the realisation of the world’s first viable graphene electronics device foundry delivering novel, game changing, products to market.

Simon’s visionary leadership, in unison with a rare combination of significant academic and business experience, equipped him to overcome long-standing challenges in two-dimensional materials production, converting their lab proven characteristics into real world, high performance, societally benefiting products.

Simon holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and a PhD in Materials Science & Engineering and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is passionate about developing technologies that can solve today’s enduring challenges and beneficially affect global society. He believes that new materials hold the key to transformational products that will deliver a brighter more sustainable future.

: simon-thomas-freng-997a423/

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Alex van Someren

Executive Chair, Photonic Inc.

Alex van Someren FREng FIET is a British engineer and cybersecurity expert who has been a key figure in the UK's technology sector, in venture capital and in national security. He is currently the Executive Chair of Vancouver-based Quantum Computing company Photonic, Inc.

His career began at Acorn Computer in the 1980s, where he contributed to developing the BBC Microcomputer and the Acorn Electron. He then co-founded several technology companies, two of which became public through IPOs on the London Stock Exchange, ANT Software plc (AIM:ANTP) and nCipher plc (LSE:NCH), both later acquired.

Alex served as a Managing Partner at venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners from 2010 to 2021, focusing on early-stage investments in ‘deep technology’ across the UK and Europe.

In 2021, he was appointed as the UK's Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security, providing independent scientific advice to the UK Intelligence Agencies and to wider UK government. During this period, he also served as a consultant to the €1 Billion NATO Innovation Fund.

Alex is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and an Honorary Professor of Computer Science at the University of Manchester. He was previously the Clore Innovation Professor at the Royal College of Art.

: alexvansomeren

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Wenmiao Yu

Co-Founder & Director of Business Development, Quantum Dice Ltd.

Wenmiao Yu is the co-founder and Director of Business Development at Quantum Dice where she focuses on translating scientific innovation into marketable products, and VC fundraising. After reading Chemistry at the University of Oxford and ideating Quantum Dice, Wenmiao went to the Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre as an Enterprise Fellow. She strongly believes in the power of communities, crucial to growing nascent industries such as quantum technologies. Wenmiao brought Quantum Dice into the Royal Academy of Engineering’s network of high-growth technology companies after being selected for the Shott Scale Up Accelerator in 2022. She is currently the founding Secretary for the Institute of Physics quantum-Business Innovation and Growth group. There, Wenmiao also leads the sub-group to deliver on qBIG’s “voice into government” objective.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wenmiao-yu-b37bba151

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