CamSemi today announced a further strengthening of its board with the appointment of Simon Knowles, co-founder of both Element 14 and Icera - two of the UK’s most successful venture-backed semiconductor companies. Mr Knowles joins as a non-executive director to provide CamSemi with additional strategic guidance as the company continues to experience rapid and sustained sales growth for its cost-efficient power management ICs.
“CamSemi is very fortunate to have someone with Simon’s vision and track record join our board. Simon brings nearly 30 years’ semiconductor industry experience, in the dual roles of engineering innovator and entrepreneur and has both invented and brought to market some breakthrough semiconductor technologies, including Nvidia's multi-standard cellular modem processor and Broadcom’s world-leading DSL processor. His strategic insight and in-depth knowledge of the consumer electronics sector will be invaluable as we continue to develop our business, strengthen our position in key markets and deliver new products,†said David Baillie, CamSemi CEO.
Before joining CamSemi Mr Knowles was co-founder and board director of Icera, serving operationally as vice president responsible for silicon engineering and strategy until the company was acquired by Nvidia in 2011 for $435m. Prior to that, he was co-founder of Element 14, serving as vice president responsible for silicon engineering until the company’s acquisition by Broadcom in 2000 for $642m.
In his earlier career, Simon Knowles held engineering and management positions at STMicroelectronics, Inmos, and the Defence Research Agency. He is a graduate in engineering and electrical science of the University of Cambridge and in 2011 was joint winner of the NMI ‘Technology Entrepreneur of the Year’ award.
