Deep-tech Dive Japan

Katrien Marent

EVP Corporate, Marketing & Outreach Communications, imec

Katrien Marent joined imec in 1992 as analog design engineer. In 1999, she became press responsible and scientific editor. In 2001, she was appointed corporate communications director at imec. In October 2016, she became VP corporate, marketing and outreach communications. Since April 2020, she is executive vice president and member of imec's executive board.

Patrick Vandenameele

Executive Vice President & Co-Chief Operating Officer (COO), imec

Patrick holds an PhD from KU Leuven and started his career at imec as a member of the Wireless program in 1996. He left imec in 2000 to start an entrepreneurial career, co-founding and leading a series of deep-tech ventures, three of which leveraging imec technology.  As a result of acquisitions, he spent in total ten years in senior leadership teams of semiconductor companies such as Qorvo and Hisilicon/Huawei. Overall, his career outside imec led to 11 market introductions and 100Ms of shipped parts. Patrick rejoined imec in 2017 to ramp up imec's venture development activities in close collaboration with our venturing fund imec.xpand. Today he is responsible for imec’s business offering strategy and portfolio management, driving internal investments and external venturing activities for market driven application challenges, thereby enhancing imec’s technology platforms.

Olivier Rousseaux

Director Venture Development, imec

Olivier Rousseaux serves as the Director of Venture Development at imec, a global leader in nano- and digital technologies. In this pivotal role, Olivier and his team are at the forefront of creating groundbreaking deeptech ventures, leveraging imec's most innovative advancements.

Olivier brings a unique blend of technology and business expertise to the table. On the technical side, he holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from K.U. Leuven and has a distinguished background as the CTO of a fabless semiconductor startup. At imec, he has also led a research group specializing in wireless communications.

Complementing his deeptech background, Olivier boasts significant business experience. He earned an EMBA from the Solvay Business School and honed his strategic skills as a Strategy Consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. His extensive experience includes various executive roles in Business Line Management and Corporate Strategy at Commscope, a leading provider of telecom equipment.

Michael Peeters

VP Connected Computing, imec

“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” This quote, attributed to Einstein, Feynman, and others, encapsulates the key element in achieving success in every endeavor in research and development. Whether it pertains to technical or business aspects, this principle drives the three skills that Michael constantly aims to improve: understanding, communicating, and focusing on reducing things to their core.

Currently, Michael Peeters serves as the Vice President and Sector lead of Connected Computing at imec, focussing on creating new approaches to computing, connectivity and their joint architecture, and pushing existing approaches to their utmost performance, to enable continued sustainable growth and the positive impact of computing on society in the coming decade. Previous experiences as CTO for respectively the Wireline and Wireless business lines at what is now Nokia were built on the culture, enthusiasm, and love for technology and science fostered during time as a departement director at Bell Labs, as well as the principles of Free Inquiry instilled by his Alma Mater, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

Throughout their research career, which began with a Ph.D. in Applied Physics and Photonics from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Michael has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, numerous white papers, and holds patents in the access and photonics domains. Trained as an electrotechnical engineer, he is a senior member of IEEE and a Fellow of the VUB.

Outside of work, Michael Peeters (imec) balances their quest to discover the perfect lasagna recipe with long-distance running to offset the inherent caloric intake. They accept both (he/him) and (they/them) pronouns.

Bert Gyselinckx

Partner, imec.xpand

Bert Gyselinckx is an electrical engineer and IC designer by training investing in deep-tech opportunities. He is always looking to help companies to realize their ideas involving semiconductor or photonics technology.

Mike Noonen

CEO, Swave Photonics

Mike Noonen is CEO of Swave Photonics and has 30 years of experience leading technology businesses resulting in two IPOs and multiple acquisitions. Most recently he was the CEO of MixComm acquired by Sivers Semiconductor in early 2022.

Noonen was the Chairman and co-founder of Silicon Catalyst, the World’s 1st semiconductor incubator and EE Times 2015 Start-up of the Year. He has advised and led turnarounds at numerous innovative private and public companies such as Ambiq Micro, SiFive, Silego (acquired by Dialog Semiconductor), Mythic, Kilopass, Adapteva and Rambus. Previously, Noonen was EVP, Global Products, Design, Sales, & Marketing at GlobalFoundries and EVP, Worldwide Sales & Marketing, at NXP Semiconductors.

In 2013 he was elected to the Global Semiconductor Alliance Board of Directors He holds a BSEE from Colorado State University and in 2012 was named the College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni of the Year. Noonen holds multiple patents in the areas of Internet telephony and video communications.