SWE is proud to present an interview with esteemed guest Françoise Chombar, Chairwoman and co-founder of Melexis. Melexis is a global supplier of micro-electronic semiconductor solutions, spread over 3 continents, with 1,700 colleagues from 50 nationalities.
Françoise brings a wealth of experience as an entrepreneur and leader in a global business environment. She is a passionate advocate for DE&I in STEM. With her expertise, we explored:
- Why does Europe lag behind other regions in closing the gender gap in technical roles?
- What are some biases and barriers to progress?
- Neuroscience and research on the “gendered brain”
- The advantages being “outside of the norm”
Our session host was Madhuparna Datta, AE Director at Cadence Design Systems Ltd.
Meet the Speakers
Françoise Chombar, Chairwoman and Co-Founder of 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 and to promote the importance of STEM to the general public.
Françoise Chombar’s long-term commitment to actively advocating more STEM and more diversity and inclusion is driven by her profound belief in their positive societal impact.
Madhuparna Datta, AE Director, Cadence Design Systems Ltd.
Madhuparna started off in PCB & FPGA design background in Telecom. She then moved to the EDA industry. In her initial phase at C-DoT, she researched and developed Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) telecom systems. Her next phase at Cadence has spanned across Silicon-Package-Board as well as Digital Design and Implementation business units across multiple geographies (India, UK, and Sweden). She is currently in a people management role along with leading digital and signoff campaigns across the region.
Madhuparna loves volunteering and was the secretary of a local Timebank, which is all about community volunteering. She mentored several young people as well as experienced engineers, and she is keen on seeing the younger generation become interested in STEM. Madhuparna's passion for STEM led to her becoming a Global Ambassador for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Finally, she founded the SWE Cambridgeshire affiliate in September 2022, which is comprised of women engineers from different organizations and specializations.
Specialties: Mentoring & Coaching, Leading technical campaigns, Community volunteering, VLSI & EDA expertise, STEM ambassador
