Semiconductor SIG Champions
Dr. Maheera Abdul Ghani
Rachel Boyd-Moss
Russell Haggar
Russell is a Managing Partner at Silicon Catalyst LLC, the only semiconductor-specific accelerator programme in the industry, based in Silicon Valley. He delivers ChipStart UK, an early-stage incubator for British semiconductor startups funded by the UK government. Prior to ChipStart, Russell had been involved with over 30 hardtech startups, primarily spanning the connectivity and compute sectors. ChipStart has so far added 45 more startup companies to his experience set. Over his 35 years in the sector, he has variously been a founder, investor, adviser, consultant and design engineer in the sector, including at UK startup successes Madge Networks and Element 14. He began this hugely enjoyable journey with a Computer Science degree at Cambridge University.
Stephen Riches
Over 40 years of experience in electronics assembly innovation, proposal generation and project management. Technical developments have included copper wire bonding, laser processes, high temperature electronics, MEMS assembly, ruggedised displays and LED lighting, working for the Welding Institute and GE Aviation. Has instigated and managed several Innovate UK/European projects, working collaboratively with a wide range of industrial and academic partners. Co-Director of Tribus-D, a SME involved in developing advanced interconnection technologies, particularly for power electronics since 2016. Running IMAPS-UK Secretariat since 2019 organising conferences, workshops and training courses on electronics packaging around the UK.
Steve Taylor
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.
Hashem ZareHoseini
Experienced Technical Director of IC Design with a proven track record in Ku band NTN, SatCom Terminals/Phased-Arrays, Cellular 5G/LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, and Audio industries. Alongside leading and managing, I remain deeply hands-on. As a dedicated mmWave/RF/Analog/Mixed-Signal IC Design Engineer, I am directly involved in circuit and system design, architecture and IP creation, product and roadmap definition, and technology development.