One of Wales’ leading technology firms, IQE, has revealed its new chief executive.
Americo Lemos, 54, will take up the role at the Cardiff headquartered and leading supplier of compound semiconductor wafer products and advanced material solutions to the global semiconductor industry , on January 10th.
He will succeed Dr Drew Nelson - who is retaining an advisory and ambassadorial role as a non-executive director with the title of president - at the helm of the Alternative Investment Market listed firm. His appointment follows an extensive search process led by Phil Smith, interim executive chairman of IQE.
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With over two decades of managerial experience working with multi-national tech companies, Mr Lemos will oversee the next growth phase of the business - capitalising on its position as the world’s leading of scale epitaxy wafer manufacturer.
He joins IQE from the executive team at GlobalFoundries (GF) Inc, a New York headquartered semiconductor designer and manufacturer. As GF’s senior vice president of business development for Asia Pacific and China country president, Americo has been responsible for driving the business’s efficiency and growth in these key markets.
Prior to this he held executive positions at technology companies including Qualcomm and Intel, having also worked at Flextronics, Texas Instruments and Skyworks, amongst others.
Mr Smith said: “The depth and breadth of Americo’s industry expertise make him the natural choice to take the business forward in its next stage of growth. His appointment will enable us to build on our solid global industry foundations and market-leading positions, and take advantage of key structural drivers and opportunities arising with the proliferation of 5G and the Internet of Things.
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"Americo is the ideal leader to take over from IQE’s founder Dr Drew Nelson, who I would like to thank for his years of passion and dedication to building the company to its current global leadership position.”
Ms Lemos said: “I am hugely excited to be joining IQE, a business at the forefront of the 海角视频’s high-tech manufacturing sector and one which I have long admired. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to ensure the business’s continued success and growth, and achieving our vision of being the best advanced semiconductor materials solutions company in the world.”
IQE employs 670 staff across nine manufacturing locations in the Cardiff, the US, Taiwan and Singapore.