News: Suppliers
30 May 2022
SEMI Europe honors imec’s Luc Van den hove and Soitec’s Paul Boudre for outstanding leadership in microelectronics
At the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium Europe (ISS Europe 2022), Luc Van den hove, president & CEO of nanoelectronics research center imec of Leuven, Belgium, has received the 2021 European SEMI Award and Paul Boudre, CEO of engineered substrate manufacturer Soitec of Bernin, near Grenoble, France, has received the 2021 Special Service Award.
Established more than 30 years ago, the European SEMI Award recognizes key players in the global manufacturing supply chain, highlighting leadership excellence and strategic contributions that have led to critical advances in the semiconductor industry.
Picture: imec’s president & CEO Luc Van den hove.
“We applaud Luc Van den hove and Paul Boudre for their excellent work and outstanding research and development leadership and contributions to the European semiconductor community,” comments Laith Altimime, president of SEMI Europe.
“The strong bonds between SEMI and imec go back a long way,” says Luc Van den hove. “We both understand that our industry’s grand challenges can only be addressed successfully if the entire ecosystem joins forces,” he adds. “In light of today’s economic and geopolitical turmoil, I feel – more than ever – committed to step up as a fierce proponent of regional and global collaboration.”
Van den hove received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from KU Leuven in Belgium. He joined imec in 1984, starting his research career in the field of silicide and interconnect technologies and became manager of the imec micro-patterning group (lithography and dry etching) in 1988. In 1996, Van den hove was appointed department director of unit process step R&D, and in 1998 vice president of the silicon process and device technology division. In January 2007, he was appointed imec executive VP and chief operating officer (COO) and has served as president & CEO of imec since 2009.
Picture: Soitec’s CEO Paul Boudre.
“I am very honored and grateful for this recognition by SEMI and my peers for a career entirely dedicated to semiconductors,” says Soitec’s CEO Paul Boudre. “Over decades, I had the chance to learn every day from interacting with amazing customers, suppliers and partners around the globe,” he adds. “I am also proud of what we achieved together, positioning semiconductors as a strategic industry in Europe.”
Boudre holds a graduate degree in chemistry from France’s Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Toulouse. He joined Soitec in 2007 as director of sales, marketing & business development. He has been CEO since 2015 and a member of the board of directors. During his 10 years at KLA-Tencor, he led the group’s European operations, then served as VP for Europe and the USA. He held management duties in the industrial units of IBM Semiconductor (now part of GlobalFoundries), STMicroelectronics, Motorola Semiconductor (now part of NXP Semiconductors), and Atmel. Boudre has been active in the semiconductor industry for 30 years.
imec and Soitec CEOs appointed chair and vice-chair of SEMI Europe Advisory Board
