15th Annual GSA Awards Dinner Celebration
Alisa Curry, Event Management Specialist, GSA
On December 10, 2009, GSA hosted its 15th annual Awards
Dinner Celebration at the Santa Clara Convention Center
in Santa Clara, California. At the event, companies were
recognized for demonstrating outstanding performance in 2009. The
theme for this year's celebration was "Innovation: A Blueprint for
Global Change." The evening began with a networking reception
that led into dinner before Jodi Shelton, president of GSA, took the
stage.
The ceremony started with a greeting from Ms. Shelton and her
introduction to a video showcasing the event's title sponsor, TSMC.
After the video presentation, Shelton introduced the evening's keynote
speaker, author of "Freakonomics" and "SuperFreakonomics" Steven
Levitt. If the laughter and applause in the audience was any indicator,
it was a very enjoyable speech.
Ms. Shelton then returned to the stage with GSA's board
chairman, Dwight Decker. They each shared their thoughts on the
state of the industry after a tumultuous year. Shelton stated, "Even
during the darkest period of this recession, the innovative spirit that
is the foundation of semiconductor advancement was alive and well.
The innovators, mavericks and visionaries in this industry did what
they do best—innovate."
Shelton and Decker then announced that he was handing off
board chairmanship to Dr. Nicky Lu, chairman and chief executive
officer of Etron Technology. They also announced the election of
new board vice chairman, Joep Van Beurden, chief executive officer
of CSR. Following both announcements, Dr. Lu and Ms. Shelton
presented a gift to Mr. Decker for his seven years of service on the
GSA board of directors. Mr. Decker said he was leaving "feeling
confident in the future of GSA."
GSA Leadership (from left to right) Joep Van Beurden, Dr. Nicky Lu,
Jodi Shelton and Dwight Decker.
After Mr. Decker left the stage, Dr. Lu commented that he has
"some big shoes to fill" and that he is "committed to promoting
an expanded scope and vision for GSA and to continue our vital
work as a global neutral platform of cooperation." After a few more
comments from both Ms. Shelton and Dr. Lu regarding GSA's goals
for 2010, they encouraged the audience to relax and enjoy the awards
ceremony.
Start-Up to Watch Award
To begin the ceremony, Scott McGregor, president and chief
executive officer of Broadcom, and Aiman Kabakibo, chief executive
officer of SiPort, announced the Start-Up to Watch Award winners
Ambarella (accepted by President and Chief Executive Officer Fermi
Wang) and Silicon Mitus (accepted by Chief Executive Officer Dr.
Youm Huh). GSA's Start-Up to Watch Award Committee selects
the award winners by identifying the semiconductor companies
that demonstrate the potential to positively change its market or the
semiconductor industry through the innovative use of semiconductor
technology or a new application for semiconductor technology.
Outstanding Financial Performance by a Private
Semiconductor Company Award
The top five private semiconductor companies (in terms of growth
percentage) that doubled revenue over eight consecutive quarters
were eligible to receive an award for their outstanding financial
performance. Due to confidentiality, private companies submitted
their ballots directly to a designated consulting firm to determine
which companies doubled revenue.
Bob Bruggeworth, president and chief executive officer of RF
Micro Devices, and Sailesh Chittipeddi, co-president of Conexant,
presented the Outstanding Financial Performance Award to ApexOne
Microelectronics (accepted by Chief Executive Officer and President
James Gao), Telegent Systems (accepted by Chief Executive Officer
and Co-Founder Sam Sheng), and Xelerated AB (accepted by Chief
Executive Officer Thomas Axelsson).
Most Respected Private Semiconductor Company Award
Greg Lang, president and chief executive officer of PMC-Sierra,
and Ron Jankov, president and chief executive officer of NetLogic
Microsystems, presented the Most Respected Private Semiconductor
Company Award to Dr. Naveed Sherwani, chief executive officer of
Open-Silicon. This award is designed to identify the private company
garnering the most respect of the industry in terms of its products,
vision and future opportunity. GSA's Awards Committee reviewed
all private semiconductor companies to select nominees, and online
voting took place to allow members of the semiconductor industry,
including chip companies and partners, to cast a ballot for the private
semiconductor company they most respect.
Dr. Naveed Sherwani, chief executive officer at Open-Silicon, accepted GSA's Most Respected Private Semiconductor Company Award.
Regional Awards: APAC Leadership Council
Award and EMEA Leadership Council Award
This year GSA added two new awards to the ceremony. Dr. Huh,
chief executive officer of Silicon Mitus, returned to the stage with
Dr. Kishore Seendripu, chief executive officer and co-founder
of MaxLinear, to explain that these awards focus on exceptional
companies headquartered in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East
and Africa that demonstrate the most strength in market leadership/competition, product lines, innovation, corporate management and
overall likelihood of long-term success.
Dr. Huh presented the APAC Leadership Council Award to
MediaTek (accepted by Vice President Lawrence Loh). David
Baillie, chief executive officer of CamSemi, then presented Dialog
Semiconductor with the EMEA Leadership Council Award (accepted
by Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jalal Bagherli).
Analyst Favorite Semiconductor Company
Award: Deutsche Bank Securities and Needham & Company
Ross Seymore of Deutsche Bank Securities presented the Analyst
Favorite Semiconductor Company Award to Doug Bettinger,
chief financial officer at Avago Technologies. Mr. Seymore stated,
"Completing a successful IPO in such a difficult year is a truly unique
accomplishment."
Quinn Bolton of Needham & Company presented the Analyst
Favorite Semiconductor Company Award to "the fastest growing
company in our coverage universe," Cavium Networks (accepted by
President and Chief Executive Officer Syed Ali). He explained that
"given Needham's focus on emerging growth companies, the criteria
used to select this year's nominees is compound annual growth rate
from 2008 to 2011."
Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company
Awards
Most Respected Emerging Public Semiconductor Company
Award
The Most Respected Emerging Public Semiconductor Company
Award is designed to identify the company garnering the most
respect of the industry in terms of its products, vision and future
opportunities. The criteria for this award include (but is not limited
to) achieving up to $499 million in annual sales. In addition,
profitability and market capitalization, among other financial and
product successes, are considered to be listed on the ballot. Again,
GSA's Awards Committee reviews the companies meeting the criteria,
and online voting took place to allow members of the semiconductor
industry to cast a ballot for the public emerging semiconductor
company they most respect.
Group President of Maxim Integrated Products Vijay Ullal and
Vice President of Global Supplier Management, CVCM, Cisco
Systems Ltd. Prentis Wilson presented the Most Respected Emerging
Public Semiconductor Company Award to NetLogic Microsystems
(accepted by President and Chief Executive Officer Ron Jankov).
Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Award: Achieving $500 Million to $10 Billion in Annual Sales
John Park, president and chief executive officer of Dongbu HiTek,
and Marianne Baldrica, managing director at NASDAQ OMX,
presented this award to Broadcom (accepted by President and Chief
Executive Officer Scott McGregor).
Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Award:
Achieving $10 Billion or More in Annual Sales
Richard Williams, president, chief executive officer and chief
technology officer at Advanced Analogic Technology, and Doug
Grose, chief executive officer of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, presented
this award to Intel (accepted by Vice President and General Manager
of Manufacturing and Supply Chain Brian Krzanich).
Intel's Vice President and General Manager of Manufacturing and Supply Chain Brian Krzanich
accepted the Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Award for the $10 billion or more
category.
Best Financially Managed Semiconductor
Company Award
The final company award of the evening was presented by Oleg
Khaykin, chief executive officer of International Rectifier, and
Dr. Craig Barratt, president and chief executive officer of Atheros
Communications. The Best Financially Managed Semiconductor
Company Award is designed to evaluate the financial health of public
semiconductor companies based on a number of financial metrics,
such as return on investment, return on equity, inventory turns,
revenue, net income, days sales outstanding, cash per share, cash
burn, gross profit margin, operating margin and current ratio. GSA
and financial analysts evaluate each company against their peers, and
the one with the best overall performance is determined the winner.
The Best Financially Managed Semiconductor Company Award
winner was Linear Technology (accepted by Chief Executive Officer
Lothar Maier).
Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award
The final award presentation of the evening was the Dr. Morris Chang
Exemplary Leadership Award. This award recognizes individuals,
such as its namesake, Dr. Morris Chang, for their exceptional
contributions to drive the development, innovation, growth and
long-term opportunities for the semiconductor industry.
The recipient of the 2009 Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary
Leadership Award was Dr. Aart de Geus, chairman and chief
executive officer of Synopsys. Since co-founding Synopsys in
1986, Dr. Aart de Geus has expanded Synopsys from a start-up
synthesis enterprise to a world leader in electronic design
automation (EDA). He has been honored for his industry
achievements with several awards, including the 2001 IEEE Circuits
and Systems Society Industrial Pioneer Award, 2007 IEEE Robert N.
Noyce Medal and the 2008 EDAC/CEDA Kaufman award. Dr. Aart
de Geus is active in the business community as chairman of the board
of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG), and is a member of
TechNet, the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) and the
Electronic Design Automation Consortium (EDAC). He is also
heavily involved in education for the next generation, creating the
Synopsys Outreach Foundation in 1999, which promotes project-based
science and math learning throughout Silicon Valley.1
GSA was excited to have Dr. Morris Chang himself in attendance
to present the award to Dr. Aart de Geus. As he presented the award,
Dr. Chang said, "Aart has extraordinary business vision which laid
the foundation for building one of the industry's most important
partners, Synopsys. He is an intellectual innovator that we depend
upon to propel this industry forward… GSA is proud to present its
most prestigious award to Aart."
Traditionally, the evening would then come to a close with a
champagne toast and well wishes for 2010. However, this year,
Dwight Decker and the GSA board of directors had a surprise for
Ms. Shelton. As Dr. Nicky Lu presented Ms. Shelton with a gift, Mr.
Decker said, "We are taking this opportunity to recognize you for the
visionary you truly are and 15 years of hard work and dedication to
this industry."
Ms. Shelton then gave her thanks and invited key industry leaders
to join herself and Dr. Lu and Mr. Decker on stage for the champagne
toast to welcome the New Year.
The support of our title sponsor, TSMC, as well as our general
sponsors, ARM, Advantest, Amkor, ASE Group, Atheros, Broadcom,
Cadence, Chartered, Deutsche Bank, Dongbu HiTek, eSilicon,
GLOBALFOUNDRIES, IBM, Inphi, J.P. Morgan, MagnaChip,
Morgan Stanley, Needham, nVIDIA, PricewaterhouseCoopers, ON
Semiconductor, Qualcomm, Samsung, SAP, Synopsys and UMC, is
what made this event a great success!
Be sure to join the celebration next year! Mark your calendar for
the 2010 GSA Awards Dinner Celebration on December 9, 2010 at
the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, California.
Resources
1http://www.synopsys.com/COMPANY/ABOUTSYNOPSYS/Pages/ExecutiveManagement.aspx
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