Fireside chat - A Conversation with imec and Foxconn

Patrick Vandenameele is Chief Executive Officer at imec  - a globally recognized R&D center specializing in nanoelectronics and digital technologies - since April 1, 2026. His leadership underpins imec’s commitment to addressing market-driven application challenges while advancing its world-class technology platforms through targeted internal investments and external collaborations.

Prior to this appointment as CEO, he served as Executive Vice President and Co-Chief Operating Officer at imec, where he was overseeing and shaping the organization's R&D strategy and its execution. In this position, Patrick was responsible for shaping and driving the center’s innovation agenda, ensuring the alignment of research initiatives with emerging market needs, partner priorities and technological frontiers. Previously, as chief portfolio officer at imec until early 2024, he spearheaded strategic initiatives spanning business development, portfolio management, and venture creation. 

Holding a PhD from KU Leuven, Patrick began his journey with imec in 1996, contributing to the wireless communications program. In 2000, he transitioned to entrepreneurship, founding and leading several deep-tech ventures, three of which were built on imec technology. Patrick also held senior positions at top semiconductor firms like Qorvo and Hisilicon/Huawei, leading 11 product launches and overseeing over 100 million units shipped. After returning to imec in 2017, Patrick has been instrumental in expanding imec’s venture development activities, working closely with the deep-tech venturing fund imec.xpand to strengthen imec’s position as a pioneer in technology-driven solutions. 

Dr. Bob Chen received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering specialized in microelectronics from the University of Texas at Austin, USA in 1990, and 1994. respectively. He has an EMBA degree from National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan, and a B.S. degree in Materials Science from National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan. 

He has 30 year’s experience in the semiconductor related industries. He began his career at Motorola‘s Advanced Product Research Laboratory(Austin, Texas) in 1994, working on power PC and embedded memory R&D. He joined TSMC in 1998, later becoming deputy director, and then moved to TSMC’s subsidiary Xintec Inc. in 2008 as R&D VP, pioneering wafer-level packaging and 3DIC packaging. He founded MOS Art Packaging in 2009 and joined Neo Solar Power in 2011 as R&D VP, later becoming president of the cell business unit. Since 2017, he has been with Foxconn Technology Group, contributing to semiconductor start-ups and innovations. He currently serves as the President of Foxconn S Business Group. 

He has been involved in the development of 8 semiconductor technology nodes and led the integration of 2 process technology nodes at TSMC. He has published over 40 academic papers and 30 patents. His expertise spans over logic processes, embedded memory, image sensors, advanced packaging, and solar energy. He has extensive experience in managing R&D teams, bringing up new companies, and corporate governance. He currently serves as a board member of various semiconductor companies including Foxconn subsidiaries, HYS(SiC foundry), Koresemi(advanced package), Socle(Design service), LYG(Design service), Fortunebay(IC distributer) and FXN invested companies DNeX(IT & Technology), SFL(Sharp semiconductor & Laser), and GIS(touch panel).