STROBE Seminar: Dr. Laura Oliphant, “Innovation in the Semiconductor Industry: Implications for Education and Diversity”

Abstract
Dr. Laura Oliphant has been at the forefront of technology for over 25 years, first at Intel, as an Engineer and Corporate Venture Capitalist, and now, as a General Partner of a Venture Fund, Board Director and CEO of startups.  She will talk about her career trajectory, the challenges for technology innovation going forward, the implications for education, diversity, and what she wishes that she had known in starting out in her career.

About the Speaker
Laura is a General Partner with Spirit Ventures, a new venture capital firm that will focus on key enabling technologies. She is an experienced CEO, Board Member, and Investor who was an Investment Director in Intel Capital from 2001 until her retirement from Intel in 2016. At Intel, she brought significant strategic and financial value to Intel, and she was awarded Intel’s highest award, the Intel Achievement Award, for her contributions. After retiring from Intel, she was the CEO of Translarity, an investor backed, semiconductor test startup. Laura is also currently part of the Board of Directors for Thin Film Electronics ASA (THIN), a public company, Novelda AS, and Numascale AS, all based in Oslo, Norway. Prior to her role in Intel Capital, Laura served as a Supply Chain Program Manager in Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group (TMG). Laura was one of the key coordinators for Intel’s transition to the 300 mm wafer size in their factories, a project which delivered to cost targets and added to Intel’s gross margin. Laura was also the co-chairperson of the SEMATECH Metrology and Yield Management Advisory Group, and was part of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) committee for yield management technology. Laura is currently on the board of advisors for the UC Berkeley Skydeck Accelerator and has served on the Lawrence Berkeley Lab Innovation Grant Committee. Laura received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where her thesis research was centered on candidate batteries for electric cars.