The semiconductor industry is often considered a male-dominated field, with very few women in high positions and holding decision-making power. However, it is these role models that showcase the strength of women and their contributions to the semiconductor industry.
Maggie Qiu, CEO and co-founder of SemiDrive Technology, is one such woman. In June 2018, she co-founded Nanjing SemiDrive with Zhang Qiang, taking on the role of CEO and aiming to build a global high-performance automotive chip company.
Maggie Qiu previously served as General Manager at Freescale Semiconductor and was the R&D Director there. Since joining Freescale in 2011, she has led her team to develop products that dominate the global automotive-grade processor market, which are now mass-produced and used in hundreds of millions of vehicles across various models, as well as in industrial and consumer applications.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Maggie Qiu, along with other female leaders in the industry, participated in an interview with Jiqi Video to discuss her understanding of the role of women in the semiconductor industry.
The following is an excerpt from Maggie Qiu’s conversation with Jiqi:
From your own experience, how does the current status of women in the semiconductor industry differ from when you first entered the field?
I entered the semiconductor industry around 1997-1998, and I can clearly feel that the influence of women in the semiconductor industry is growing.
Due to the rapid development of the semiconductor industry in China, I see many female entrepreneurs in the semiconductor field, as well as female CEOs and executives. We are also witnessing many women from other industries entering the semiconductor sector, bringing a wealth of cross-disciplinary thinking to the industry, which has significantly increased the influence of women compared to before.
What characteristics does the semiconductor industry have, or what changes need to be made to attract and retain more women in this field?
We often say that the semiconductor industry is one that requires a readiness to sit on the “cold bench” for ten years; it demands long-term persistence and is relatively challenging.
In fact, the resilience and perseverance that women possess are very suitable for the semiconductor industry. However, due to the difficulties in this field, (women) face many challenges, including the need for frequent overtime. To meet deadlines and production schedules, they often have to invest more energy than in other industries, making it difficult to maintain a regular 9-to-5 lifestyle.
Women are not only engineers in the semiconductor industry but also play the roles of wives or mothers at home. In the past, many times, their families could not understand this. However, we now see that with the rise of the semiconductor industry in China, more families are beginning to understand the semiconductor field, and they can better comprehend what their wives, mothers, and children are doing and the significance behind their work, making the industry increasingly friendly to women.
How do you understand the “power of women in the semiconductor industry”?
More and more women are joining the semiconductor industry. They may come from a STEM background, possessing logical thinking skills; at the same time, they may also have some female traits, such as emotional thinking, empathy, or better communication skills. In a male-dominated industry, these abilities can lead to a 1+1>2 effect, even acting as a catalyst.
Therefore, we also welcome more women to join the semiconductor industry and SemiDrive Technology, to bring more inspiration to the men around them, making this industry more vibrant and interesting.
About SemiDrive Technology
Nanjing SemiDrive Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2018, headquartered in Nanjing, with R&D centers in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen.
SemiDrive Technology’s mission is “Defining the Future with Chips, Empowering Smart Mobility”, providing high-performance and high-reliability automotive chips for future smart mobility. The R&D team at SemiDrive has an average of over 15 years of experience in the chip industry, making it one of the few teams in China capable of defining, developing technology, and achieving large-scale production of automotive-grade core chip products.
SemiDrive’s product planning covers smart cockpits, central gateways, autonomous driving, and high-performance MCUs. Currently, SemiDrive has released 9 series of high-performance SoCs for the first three business scenarios and has also completed the architecture for vehicle domain control chips with higher functional safety levels.
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Official website: http://www.semidrive.com