Dr Drew Nelson OBE

Drew co founded of IQE in 1988, and led the company as CEO from April 1999 until he stepped down to his current non exec position in September 2021. In that time he grew revenues profitably to over US$230m, and established IQE as the global leader in Advanced Semiconductor wafer technologies with a global manufacturing footprint covering Europe, Asia and North America. He created the Compound Semiconductor Cluster in South Wales, which now has international recognition and has been a key driver in the formulation of the UKs semiconductor strategy, now serving as Chairman of the Advisory Group to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Semiconductors. As part of developing the South Wales CS Cluster, Drew led the buy out of Newport Wafer Fab from Infineon in 2017, saving 500 jobs. The plant is now owned by Vishay, and is a core element of the SW semiconductor ecosystem. In addition he is an active Angel Investor, alongside DBW, attracting early stage companies to the CS Connected Cluster.

Drew has served on many UK and International Advisory Boards and was the UK representative on the European High Level Group for Key Enabling Technologies which developed the policy strategy which now forms the foundation of the EU CHIPS act.

His accomplishments have been recognised by several awards including the OBE for services to the UK Electronics Industry, Royal Academy Silver Medal, Inst Phys Gold Medal, the prestigious Menalaus Medal and several lifetime achievement awards. He has served as President of the European Photonics Industry Consortium, now the worlds largest industry body for Photonics, and Chairman of several international conferences. He holds an honours degree in electronic engineering and PhD in Semiconductor technology from the University of Sheffield.