Are you a student eager to explore diverse career paths and cutting-edge technologies? Join us for an enlightening event focused on the dynamic world of semiconductors!
This event offers a unique opportunity for students to delve into the fascinating world of semiconductors, welcoming all levels of interest, knowledge, and expertise. Discover how this industry intersects with various fields of study, explore potential career pathways, and network with industry professionals. Don’t miss out on this chance to unlock your potential and shape the future of technology!
12 PM - 1 PM
Principal Member of Technical Staff
AMD
Richard Heller is a proud 3-time graduate of The University of Texas earning his BS, MS, and PhD all from the Cockrell School of Engineering. Richard has been published over 40 times in journals and conference proceedings and owns 1 US Patent. Richard has been in the semiconductor industry for over 20 years starting at Motorola Semiconductor and the past 19 years at AMD. For the past 4 years, Richard has served as a Silicon Reliability Architect at AMD. Richard has 3 young boys and enjoys attending the UT home football games with his family.
DFT Engineer
ARM
Debika Ingham is a ’95 graduate from UT Austin with a BSEE and later an MBA|MSEE from Sloan|MIT . Her career has been largely centered around lifelong learning and has spanned semiconductor research, manufacturing, design, test, and technical/strategic marketing as well as a lovely extended stint as a stay-at-home parent and as a high school STEM educator.
As a returner to the industry, she’s been reminded that the only constant is change, and that is truly exciting. She’s hit her two-year anniversary at ARM, has been constantly amazed at the work they do, and is looking forward to seeing the future you all help engineer.
Strategic Software Applications Solutions Manager
Teradyne, Inc.
Michelle Evans is a Strategic Software Applications Solutions Manager at Teradyne, Inc. Teradyne is a Semiconductor Automated Test (ATE) Equipment Company which operates on the cutting edge of technological advancements within the electronics testing industry. Michelle holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas. As a Solutions Manager at Teradyne, Michelle strives to meet the high testing demands of system-on-a-chip designs that push the limits of mobile applications processors, automotive microcontrollers & networking devices. In todays world of IoT we bring together devices, automotive, home appliances with demands on connectivity, storage and analytics. Semiconductor ATE device development workflow has been moving into a hyper-automation phase, as such her work passions have turned to initiatives that also include DevOps Automation and Data Analytics in a Smart manufacturing environment. Michelle’s hobbies includes amateur photography of her son’s athletic teams, fishing with her husband, as well as competing nationally as an equestrian.
Senior Director of Engineering
Renesas
Sheela Pillai is a technology leader with over 25 years of semiconductor experience with a great passion for the semiconductor industry , technology initiatives and developing flag ship products in leading edge technology. Sheela is motivated by bringing and driving changes and fostering innovations, restructuring an underperforming org or building a team from the scratch.
At Renesas she is Sr. Director Engineering in High Performance Computing group leading SOC development for automotive applications.
Prior to joining Renesas , Sheela worked at a number of industry leading companies including Intel, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Altera and AMD.
Sheela led and successfully delivered many corporate strategies, technology initiatives, methodology transformations in addition to leading and managing large globally distributed organizations.
She also participated as a speaker in many international technical conferences.
1 PM -2 PM
Vice President of Marketing Communications
Credo
Diane has over 20 years of Marketing Communications and PR experience in the semiconductor industry. She has led the communications and brand efforts for two successful IPOs and worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies, both internally and as a partner. Diane also leads Credo’s ESG efforts and is engaged with several nonprofit organizations, including the American Heart Association for which she serves on the Executive Leadership Team for its annual Heart Ball Fundraiser. Prior to joining Credo, Diane served as a Senior Director of Marketing Communications and PR with Power Integrations. She has held various positions at Marvell, Audience (acquired by Knowles corporation), Power Integrations, and Nvidia.
Senior Manager, Global Trade Compliance
Marvell Technology, Inc.
Onanong Kamolvat is the Senior Manager of Global Trade Compliance at Marvell Technology, Inc., where she leads remote teams in managing the company’s Import and Export Trade Compliance Program. With a focus on digital transformation, she leverages emerging technologies to innovate and optimize business models, providing strategic direction and technical expertise to enhance Marvell’s Trade Compliance Program, balancing regulatory compliance with business growth.
Prior to Marvell, Onanong was the Senior Manager of Global Trade Services at Maxim Integrated (now Analog Devices) for nearly a decade. There, she developed and maintained export compliance policies and procedures to support global transactions, ensuring adherence to U.S. and international regulations. She also actively participated in trade-related government committees and provided strategic guidance to foster business growth through trade compliance.
Onanong holds an MBA in Global Business from the University of Dallas and a Bachelor of Accounting from Kasetsart University in Bangkok. She is a recipient of the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Award and the CFO Excellence Award for Microsoft Dynamics CRM from Maxim Integrated. Additionally, she serves as an industry mentor for the Chinese Institute of Engineers USA, Dallas Chapter.
Academic/Workforce Development
Siemens
Drawing upon my leadership experience on both sides of the Atlantic, I am a strategic thinker and problem solver who excels in fostering academic partnerships and implementing innovative solutions delivering value and impact. Collaborating with employers and educators, I identify and deliver the right tools and resources that enable educators to teach the skills that employers need, developing students ready for the future of work, and filling the pipeline with talent.
In my current role I lead the global academic engagement and workforce development strategy for Siemens EDA. My commitment is to provide educators with the right teaching and learning tools; students with the right skills; and our customers with a full talent pipeline for recruitment.
As a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a STEM PhD, and an Emory MBA, I offer a unique blend of competencies that enable me to bridge the gap between business and education. This allows me to cultivate productive relationships built on credibility, trust and respect.
Embracing lifelong learning and fearlessly navigating a ‘squiggly’ career path, I’ve had the privilege of exploring exciting opportunities and relocating across the Atlantic. Serendipity, coupled with unwavering family support and a penchant for saying ‘yes,’ has played a pivotal role in my success.
Passionate about mentoring and guiding others, I actively champion diversity, inclusivity, and social mobility. I strive to create a lively, secure, and engaging environment for tackling complex problems. My mission is to encourage individuals to authentically be themselves, challenge conformity, and embrace occasional failures as opportunities for learning and growth. I abide by the mantra “Courage over Comfort” and steadfastly uphold my core values.
Sales Enablement Manager
Micron
With over 18 years of experience in sales and marketing, Patricia Villagomez is a seasoned professional with a robust background in sales enablement and management. She currently serves as the Global Sales Enablement Manager at Micron Technology, a leading semiconductor company, where she is known for driving sales efficiency and effectiveness through strategic planning and execution.
Patricia’s approach emphasizes collaboration and innovation, leading initiatives that empower sales teams to surpass their targets.
Prior to her tenure at Micron Technology, Patricia was a Senior Sales Enablement and Change Management Consultant at National Instruments, now part of Emerson. Her role highlighted her expertise in sales processes and organizational change.
Originally from Mexico, Patricia relocated to Austin and advanced her education at St. Edward’s University, earning a degree in Business Administration and Finance.
Her diverse background enables her to thrive in various environments, leveraging her skills to foster growth and success.
2 PM - 3 PM
Networking and Refreshments
Principal Member of Technical Staff
AMD
Richard Heller is a proud 3-time graduate of The University of Texas earning his BS, MS, and PhD all from the Cockrell School of Engineering. Richard has been published over 40 times in journals and conference proceedings and owns 1 US Patent. Richard has been in the semiconductor industry for over 20 years starting at Motorola Semiconductor and the past 19 years at AMD. For the past 4 years, Richard has served as a Silicon Reliability Architect at AMD. Richard has 3 young boys and enjoys attending the UT home football games with his family.
DFT Engineer
ARM
Debika Ingham is a ’95 graduate from UT Austin with a BSEE and later an MBA|MSEE from Sloan|MIT . Her career has been largely centered around lifelong learning and has spanned semiconductor research, manufacturing, design, test, and technical/strategic marketing as well as a lovely extended stint as a stay-at-home parent and as a high school STEM educator.
As a returner to the industry, she’s been reminded that the only constant is change, and that is truly exciting. She’s hit her two-year anniversary at ARM, has been constantly amazed at the work they do, and is looking forward to seeing the future you all help engineer.
Strategic Software Applications Solutions Manager
Teradyne, Inc.
Michelle Evans is a Strategic Software Applications Solutions Manager at Teradyne, Inc. Teradyne is a Semiconductor Automated Test (ATE) Equipment Company which operates on the cutting edge of technological advancements within the electronics testing industry. Michelle holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas. As a Solutions Manager at Teradyne, Michelle strives to meet the high testing demands of system-on-a-chip designs that push the limits of mobile applications processors, automotive microcontrollers & networking devices. In todays world of IoT we bring together devices, automotive, home appliances with demands on connectivity, storage and analytics. Semiconductor ATE device development workflow has been moving into a hyper-automation phase, as such her work passions have turned to initiatives that also include DevOps Automation and Data Analytics in a Smart manufacturing environment. Michelle’s hobbies includes amateur photography of her son’s athletic teams, fishing with her husband, as well as competing nationally as an equestrian.
Senior Director of Engineering
Renesas
Sheela Pillai is a technology leader with over 25 years of semiconductor experience with a great passion for the semiconductor industry , technology initiatives and developing flag ship products in leading edge technology. Sheela is motivated by bringing and driving changes and fostering innovations, restructuring an underperforming org or building a team from the scratch.
At Renesas she is Sr. Director Engineering in High Performance Computing group leading SOC development for automotive applications.
Prior to joining Renesas , Sheela worked at a number of industry leading companies including Intel, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Altera and AMD.
Sheela led and successfully delivered many corporate strategies, technology initiatives, methodology transformations in addition to leading and managing large globally distributed organizations.
She also participated as a speaker in many international technical conferences.
Vice President of Marketing Communications
Credo
Diane has over 20 years of Marketing Communications and PR experience in the semiconductor industry. She has led the communications and brand efforts for two successful IPOs and worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies, both internally and as a partner. Diane also leads Credo’s ESG efforts and is engaged with several nonprofit organizations, including the American Heart Association for which she serves on the Executive Leadership Team for its annual Heart Ball Fundraiser. Prior to joining Credo, Diane served as a Senior Director of Marketing Communications and PR with Power Integrations. She has held various positions at Marvell, Audience (acquired by Knowles corporation), Power Integrations, and Nvidia.
Senior Manager, Global Trade Compliance
Marvell Technology, Inc.
Onanong Kamolvat is the Senior Manager of Global Trade Compliance at Marvell Technology, Inc., where she leads remote teams in managing the company’s Import and Export Trade Compliance Program. With a focus on digital transformation, she leverages emerging technologies to innovate and optimize business models, providing strategic direction and technical expertise to enhance Marvell’s Trade Compliance Program, balancing regulatory compliance with business growth.
Prior to Marvell, Onanong was the Senior Manager of Global Trade Services at Maxim Integrated (now Analog Devices) for nearly a decade. There, she developed and maintained export compliance policies and procedures to support global transactions, ensuring adherence to U.S. and international regulations. She also actively participated in trade-related government committees and provided strategic guidance to foster business growth through trade compliance.
Onanong holds an MBA in Global Business from the University of Dallas and a Bachelor of Accounting from Kasetsart University in Bangkok. She is a recipient of the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Award and the CFO Excellence Award for Microsoft Dynamics CRM from Maxim Integrated. Additionally, she serves as an industry mentor for the Chinese Institute of Engineers USA, Dallas Chapter.
Academic/Workforce Development
Siemens
Drawing upon my leadership experience on both sides of the Atlantic, I am a strategic thinker and problem solver who excels in fostering academic partnerships and implementing innovative solutions delivering value and impact. Collaborating with employers and educators, I identify and deliver the right tools and resources that enable educators to teach the skills that employers need, developing students ready for the future of work, and filling the pipeline with talent.
In my current role I lead the global academic engagement and workforce development strategy for Siemens EDA. My commitment is to provide educators with the right teaching and learning tools; students with the right skills; and our customers with a full talent pipeline for recruitment.
As a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a STEM PhD, and an Emory MBA, I offer a unique blend of competencies that enable me to bridge the gap between business and education. This allows me to cultivate productive relationships built on credibility, trust and respect.
Embracing lifelong learning and fearlessly navigating a ‘squiggly’ career path, I’ve had the privilege of exploring exciting opportunities and relocating across the Atlantic. Serendipity, coupled with unwavering family support and a penchant for saying ‘yes,’ has played a pivotal role in my success.
Passionate about mentoring and guiding others, I actively champion diversity, inclusivity, and social mobility. I strive to create a lively, secure, and engaging environment for tackling complex problems. My mission is to encourage individuals to authentically be themselves, challenge conformity, and embrace occasional failures as opportunities for learning and growth. I abide by the mantra “Courage over Comfort” and steadfastly uphold my core values.
Sales Enablement Manager
Micron
With over 18 years of experience in sales and marketing, Patricia Villagomez is a seasoned professional with a robust background in sales enablement and management. She currently serves as the Global Sales Enablement Manager at Micron Technology, a leading semiconductor company, where she is known for driving sales efficiency and effectiveness through strategic planning and execution.
Patricia’s approach emphasizes collaboration and innovation, leading initiatives that empower sales teams to surpass their targets.
Prior to her tenure at Micron Technology, Patricia was a Senior Sales Enablement and Change Management Consultant at National Instruments, now part of Emerson. Her role highlighted her expertise in sales processes and organizational change.
Originally from Mexico, Patricia relocated to Austin and advanced her education at St. Edward’s University, earning a degree in Business Administration and Finance.
Her diverse background enables her to thrive in various environments, leveraging her skills to foster growth and success.
Networking and Refreshments