European Chip Design Platform launch with the presence of EVP Virkkunen

Henna Maria Virkkunen is a Finnish politician who serves as Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, and European Commissioner for Digital and Frontier Technologies in the von der Leyen II Commission since December 2024.

Prof. Jari Kinaret has been Executive Director of the Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU) since October 2023. Before that, he was Director of the Graphene Flagship from 2013, one of the EU’s largest research initiatives, with a budget of one billion euros. He is Professor of Physics at Chalmers University of Technology and has held research posts in Copenhagen and Gothenburg. He holds MSc degrees in theoretical physics and electrical engineering from the University of Oulu and a PhD in physics from MIT.

Dr. Patrick Vandenameele has been CEO of imec, the world-leading R&D and innovation hub for nanoelectronics and digital technologies, since April 2026. He was previously imec’s Executive Vice President and Co-Chief Operating Officer, and before that its Chief Portfolio Officer, where he led business development, portfolio management and venture creation. He first joined imec in 1996 in its wireless communications programme. In 2000 he left to found and lead several deep-tech start-ups, three of them built on imec technology. He also held senior positions at Qorvo and HiSilicon/Huawei, where he led 11 product launches with more than 100 million units shipped. He returned to imec in 2017 to expand its venture activities with the imec.xpand fund. He holds a PhD from KU Leuven.

Dr. Romano Hoofman has been Strategic Development Director at imec since 2016. He coordinates the EU Chips Design Platform (EuroCDP) and the EUROPRACTICE service, and he leads imec’s innovation programmes at IC-Link. He began his career as a Principal Scientist at Philips Research and later NXP Semiconductors. His R&D work there covered CMOS integration, advanced packaging, thin-film batteries, photovoltaics and biosensors. He has authored more than 30 publications and holds more than 10 patents. He earned his PhD from Delft University of Technology in 2000.

Paul Williamson is Senior Vice President of Corporate Ventures at Arm, where he leads the company’s venture investments. At Arm he has led several of its largest business units, including the IoT, Client, security and wireless groups. These cover products from smartphones to edge AI devices. Before Arm, he worked at Cambridge technology firms CSR and Cambridge Consultants, developing products for consumer, medical and industrial markets.

Joe Cole is Corporate Vice President for EMEA at Cadence. He leads the company’s business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He brings a collaborative, customer-first approach to working with the region’s semiconductor and systems companies.

Geoff Lee is Vice President of EMEA Sales at Siemens EDA, a role he has held since 2024. He joined Mentor Graphics, now part of Siemens, in 1999 and helped launch the Calibre product line. He later held senior account roles across Europe before leading Strategic Accounts worldwide.

Antonio Varas is Chief Strategy Officer at Synopsys, where he leads the corporate strategic planning process. Before joining Synopsys, he spent 18 years at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), most recently as Senior Partner and Managing Director. At BCG he was global co-lead of the semiconductor practice and led its work on geopolitics in the technology industry. He holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BSc in Finance and Economics from Deusto University.