EMEA Women’s Leadership Council

Martine Antonio

EMEAI IP Sales Director

Synopsys

Martine Antonio joined Synopsys in 2004. She currently serves as the IP Sales Director for EMEA and Israel, where she leads an international sales team and has consistently achieved over 20% year-over-year business growth. Her clientele includes global accounts, territorial accounts, and startups operating in the Automotive, High-Performance Computing, and Wireless/IoT sectors.

Martine’s 30+ years of international experience in the semiconductor industry, her profound understanding of customers, partners, and the ecosystem, have played a pivotal role in driving IP business growth across diverse markets and applications. A crucial aspect of her role is ensuring customer success and satisfaction while nurturing a culture of inclusion and diversity within her talented international teams.

Since her childhood, she has always believed in the role of women in technology, which is why she aspired to become an engineer. Her passion for teamwork, engaging with people, and creating a positive environment where teams can develop their skills and excel is central to her focus. She firmly believes that diversity of perspectives fosters creativity and enhances performance. She is enthusiastic about the opportunity to connect with women in the industry through the GSA Women’s Leadership Initiative.

She earned her M.Sc. in Physics and Semiconductor from the University of Sciences Paris-Saclay, France

Selma Arici

Selma Arici joined Analog Devices (ADI) in June 2019 as Global Key Account Manager, driving business development and building strategic partnerships with multinational clients.

She combines extensive global account management experience with a technical background and fluency in three languages to develop innovative solutions for advanced technologies in digital healthcare environments. A central element of her role is creating value for global clients and multi-functional teams around the world.

She received her M.Sc. in Electrical and Information Engineering with Business at the University of Applied Sciences Kempten, Germany, and her International Executive MBA University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Before joining ADI, Selma held various roles in Sales Management at Texas Instruments (TI) in Automotive, Industrial, Aerospace, and Defense, as well as led business development for top European Electronic Manufacturing Services companies globally.

In addition to her role, Selma is a member of the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and holds various leadership roles in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committees.

Cristina Borelli

Silicon Catalyst Advisor

Silicon Catalyst

Cristina Borelli has 30 years of experience in Electronic Design Automation/ Semiconductor and 10 years of experience in Software/Information Technology, with a good understanding of the European Electronic market and ecosystem.

She has covered executive positions in sales/marketing and program management in companies like Synopsys, Cadence, Etnoteam and Italtel.

While retired from business, she is committed to help new generations of innovators in the development of their ambitions in STEM.

In this context of nonprofit activities, she is currently advisor for Silicon Catalyst and Berkeley Skydeck Europe, supporting the review process and mentoring of startups.

She is also collaborating with the PhD School of Politecnico of Milan, as project teamwork facilitator for the course “Industrial Skills”.

Maria Cristina holds a Master in Electronic Engineering from the Politecnico of Milan.

Richa Bubna

Key Account Manager

Cap Gemini

Richa is an accomplished business professional with a passion for driving business growth. She finds herself intrigued by the complex world of business challenges and is adept at crafting tailored solutions to meet her clients’ unique needs. With over three years of experience in the semiconductor industry, Richa has extensive knowledge in end-to-end sales cycles, strategic planning, stakeholder management, and proposal development. Richa holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Faculty of Management Studies – University of Delhi in India. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming and reading books, and currently resides in Munich.

Françoise Chombar

Co-Founder & Chair, Board of Directors

Melexis

Françoise Chombar is Chairwoman and co-founder of Melexis. She served as the CEO of Melexis for 18 years (from 2003 to 2021). She is currently a member of the Board of Umicore, Soitec, Smart Photonics, Antwerp Management School and Mediafin.

She is also president of the STEM platform, an advisory board to the Flemish government, aiming to encourage young people to pursue a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics education. Françoise Chombar’s long-term commitment to actively advocating more STEM and gender balance is driven by her profound belief in their positive societal impact.

She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Vlerick Award, the Global Prize for Women Entrepreneurs of BNP Paribas, ICT-Personality of the Year by Datanews, Science Fellowship at the VUB, Honorary Award by the Flemish Community, the Computable Lifetime Achievement Award, a Honorary Award by the Science and Technology Group of KU Leuven and the European SEMI Award.

Ms. Chombar holds a Master’s Degree Applied Languages (Dutch, English, and Spanish) from Ghent University.

Rebecca Dobson

Corporate Vice President, EMEA

Cadence Design Systems

Rebecca joined Cadence Design Systems in January 2020 as Corporate Vice President, leading the field engineering and sales teams across Europe and the Middle East.

Since graduating with a BSc (hons) Rebecca’s career has been in high tech companies. Supporting customers across innumerable industries, but with a focus on Automotive, Infrastructure, Consumer Electronics, Industrial and Communications.

Rebecca has worked in a variety of blue-chip businesses and startups; all of which were successfully acquired due to their financial performance.

Prior to joining Cadence, Rebecca was Global SVP Sales and Marketing at Inmarsat, transforming the Enterprise Business Unit from a satellite network management business to a IoT solutions business.

Rebecca spent almost eleven years at Arm, the world’s leading semiconductor IP company, where she was VP EMEAI, leading sales and engineering teams across Europe, Middle East and India. Through her time at Arm Rebecca progressed her career from Global Account Management, managing one of Arms biggest customers, through to Director of Sales for various parts of Europe and finally VP EMEAI.

Outside work, Rebecca enjoys cooking, gardening and interior design. As well as spending time with her young family.

Christelle Faucon

VP Sales

Agile Analog

Christelle Faucon VP Sales Agile Analog. Christelle brings an impressive 27 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, covering both technical and commercial roles. Having been raised with the values of hard work and support, Christelle credits her parents for instilling in her the strong belief that anything is possible with the right dedication. As a proud mother of two teenagers, she strives to pass on to them the same philosophy. Christelle pursued studies in Mechanics and Electronics, persevering in an environment where women were a minority. This led to a successful career as a design engineer in France and later as a product marketeer at Philips Semiconductors. Christelle then spent a decade at TSMC, gaining experience in both technical and commercial positions, before taking on a leadership role at GUC Europe for ten years. Christelle is now VP Sales for Agile Analog, the customizable analog IP company. Dedicated to empowering women in the semiconductor industry, she envisions creating impactful programs through the GSA Women’s Leadership Initiative that foster diversity and celebrate achievements. Her vision is to cultivate a strong community of women, providing equal opportunities and support. Mentorship, networking, and educational initiatives will be instrumental in driving the mission of empowering women in the field. Throughout her career, support from both men and women who believed in Christelle’s abilities and goals played a significant role in her success. Joining the GSA Women’s Leadership Initiative marks an exciting step for Christelle toward driving change, inclusivity, and giving back the support she received to others.

Christina Höfner

Head of Global Executive Recruitment

NXP

Christina joined in 2014 and is leading and responsible for the Global Executive Recruitment at the company. She is a board member of the ERG WIN (Women In NXP) and the HR sponsor of the ERG No eXtra Planet. Prior to her tenure at NXP, she worked for over 16 years at an international recruitment organization leading the Global Electronics sector and served as the site manager of the Munich operation for over 13 years. She started her career as Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching and as Postdoc at the University of Houston after studying Physics and completing her PhD at the University in Osnabrück.

Dr. Maria Marced

Board Member

Ceva, IQE, Sequans

Mrs. Maria Marced holds non executive Director positions at Ceva and IQE. Prior to this, Maria has been the President of TSMC Europe from November 2007 until December 2023 being responsible for the strategy and management of TSMC Europe and leading the decision of TSMC on the EU fab.

Maria joined Philips Semiconductors in 2003 as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Connected Multimedia Solutions Business Unit and later on as General Manager of Sales and Marketing during the transformation of Philips to NXP. Maria joined Philips from Intel where she developed her professional career over 19 years, reaching the top position in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region as Vice President and General Manager. Mrs. Marced holds a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain. She was born in Valencia, Spain and is married with one daughter.

Katrien Marent

EVP & Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

Imec

Katrien holds an engineering degree in Microelectronics. She joined Imec in 1992 as an Analog Design Engineer and specialized in design of low-noise readout electronics for high-energy physics. In 1999, she became press responsible and scientific editor at Imec’s business development division and was responsible for authoring and editing the research organization’s numerous company technical documents and publications. In 2001, she was appointed Corporate Communications Director at Imec. Her responsibilities expanded in August 2007, when she got the position of External Communications Director including corporate, marketing and outreach communications. In October 2016, she became VP Corporate, Marketing and Outreach Communication. Since April 2020, she has served as the Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing and Communications Officer and member of the executive board of Imec. She is also a member of the board of directors of RVO Society, an organization to inspire young people, teachers and citizens with educational and leisure activities regarding engineering, technology and science.

Estelle Prin

Founder of the Semiconductor Observatory

Semiconductor Observatory

Estelle Prin is an economic intelligence consultant specializing in the semiconductor industry.  She created the Semiconductor Observatory – a website dedicated to providing comprehensive information and insightful analysis on this sector. Estelle previously held a career in journalism spanning 15 years, and has also taught courses on international economics and geopolitics, particularly on topics such as relations between China and the United States, and China’s policy and presence in Africa.  Estelle obtained an MBA in Economic Intelligence from the Ecole de Guerre Economique in 2022.

Olivera Stojanovic

VP of Cogita Product & Embedded

Vtool

Olivera Stojanovic holds an MSc in electrical engineering from the School of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade and EMBA from Cotrugli Business School.

Her diverse experience is concentrated on project management and managing teams of verification engineers. She spent a portion of her career helping senior management and the sales department through business development management. Her expertise in the technological field has helped her to better comprehend and anticipate customer needs.

Being the product owner of the Cogita-PRO tool, which is largely concerned with debugging and assisting verification engineers in their endeavors, is Olivera’s greatest accomplishment and current area of competence. She highlights the value of its features and devotes her varied knowledge to its upgrading as her primary goal in developing and establishing the Cogita-PRO tool’s purpose.

Her main motivation is based on her ability to get the best out of everything she learned throughout her whole career – business development management, verification, creating sales strategies, product design, project management, and leading the group.

Olivera’s next goal is to achieve progress in all areas of Cogita-PRO development and realize her vision for it to become a valuable tool for fighting bugs.

Monica Redon

Sales Director for Digital Healthcare EMEA

Analog Devices

Monica Redon holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electronics Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), completing her final year at Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). She also earned an MBA for Engineers from FAU and pursued a Bachelor of Business Administration at the National Distance Education University (UNED).

Throughout her career, Monica has held a wide range of technical and leadership roles spanning firmware development, evaluation, digital design and verification, applications engineering, system design, field technical direction, and sales leadership.

She began her professional journey at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, contributing for four years to the Wireless Networks team. She then spent five years at a PowerLine Communication startup in Spain, gaining valuable experience in a fast-paced, innovation-driven environment.

Since joining Analog Devices in 2010, Monica has held diverse roles across multiple business units, including the Consumer team, IoT Platform Technology Group, Ultralow Power Microcontrollers Platform Group, and the Medical Products team.

Currently, she serves as Sales Director for Digital Healthcare EMEA, where she brings together her technical expertise and strategic vision to drive growth and innovation in the healthcare sector.

Paola Valsecchi

Director of Corporate Enterprise Risk Management

STMicroelectronics

Paola Valsecchi currently serves as the Director of Corporate Enterprise Risk Management at STMicroelectronics headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

In her current role, she leads risk management activities at worldwide level across diverse risk categories and drivers, positioning risk management as a key enabler for the company’s long-term value creation.

With 20 years of extensive experience in manufacturing industries, Paola brings a broad skill set encompassing finance, internal audit, internal control, and risk management. Her career is marked by significant international exposure, having worked across EMEA, Americas, and APAC regions, which has strengthened her capability to manage complex business environments and promote cross-cultural collaboration.

Paola holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Milan and is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) accredited by The Institute of Internal Auditors.