Ramiro Palma
Managing Director and Partner, Austin
Boston Consulting Group
Ramiro Palma is an MDP and core member of BCG’s Technology, Media, and Telecom practice in Austin, TX. Ramiro has been with BCG since 2013 and has extensive experience in semiconductors, network equipment, and telecom including: End-to-end cost optimization for an analog semiconductor company; Assessment of market dynamics in the semiconductor supply chain including chemicals, gases, substrates, and module components; Development of a digital production planning tool to maximize asset productivity at a North American IDM; Optimization of design decisions impacting yield for a global provider of advanced digital semiconductors; Development of 5G value proposition and market positioning for fixed wireless access of a consumer electronics manufacturer; and Due diligence of various technology companies for PE investors.
Prior to BCG, Ramiro was a founder of the Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs, a startup accelerator that facilitated >$300M in equity funding for Texas startups, conducted technical and market research as well as deal-sourcing for two venture capital firms, and submitted seven patent disclosures on algorithms for as a medical device engineer. Ramiro received his PhD in Chemical Engineering, with a focus in systems engineering, control and optimization, from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was an NSF Fellow. Ramiro also holds a BSChE with high honors in Chemical Engineering and a BS with highest honors in Chemistry from the University of Florida.
Susie Armstrong
Senior Vice President, Engineering
Qualcomm Inc.
Susan M. Armstrong started at Qualcomm working on Globalstar and then early CDMA base station projects. She was a pioneer in bringing internet protocols to the cellular industry, resulting in the first web surfing on a cellular phone in 1997, and Qualcomm’s commercialization of packet data in 1998. Since then she has held various leadership positions, first responsible for the development and commercialization of all of the software that drives Qualcomm’s chipsets, and then as the head of worldwide Customer Engineering. In addition to her work on Qualcomm’s inventions and new technologies, she has worked extensively with base station makers, carriers, phone and device makers in the US, Asia and Europe to bring those technologies to market. In 2015, Armstrong joined Qualcomm’s Government Affairs group, where she brings an engineering and product background to Government Affairs work in worldwide public policy, including intellectual property protection, cyber security, STEM and STEM diversity.
Kevin O’Buckley
Senior Vice President and General Manager, ASIC
Marvell
Kevin O’Buckley is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Marvell’s ASIC business, developing custom chips for infrastructure applications including 5G wireless, AI and machine learning, the datacenter and enterprise networking. He joined Marvell as part of its 2019 acquisition of Avera Semiconductor, where he served as chief executive. He is also a member of the board of directors at Marvell Government Solutions, developing semiconductor solutions for Aerospace and Defense customers. Kevin has previously held various executive engineering and business roles at IBM and GlobalFoundries including product and business development as well as semiconductor fab technology development and manufacturing. He received his BS in Electrical Engineering from Alfred University in NY and his MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont.
Mark Fuselier
Senior Vice President of Technology and Product Engineering
AMD
Mark Fuselier is senior vice president of Technology and Product Engineering at AMD. He is responsible for end-to-end foundry technology and engineering for new product introduction and manufacturing. Fuselier has more than 25 years of semiconductor industry experience and has been involved in the development and production of process technology generations spanning from 0.35um through 7nm across multiple fabs and products. He has played a central role in the development and productization of system-level solutions such as multi-core CPU SoC integration, heterogenous APUs, 2.5D chip-package, and chiplet System in Package (SiP) integration. Fuselier holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of IEEE and the Electron Devices Society
Robert Casanova
Director, Industry Statistics and Economic Policy
Semiconductor Industry Association
Robert Casanova is the Director of Industry Statistics and Economic Policy at the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), where he directs SIA’s statistics, data analysis, and industry research. Prior to joining SIA, Robert was an Industry Analyst and commodities expert at the U.S. International Trade Commission where he was responsible for research and market analysis of the semiconductor, robotics, and AI industries. Robert also worked on the staff of Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), where he handled the Senator’s International Trade, Small Business, and Indian Affairs legislative portfolio. Robert received a M.A. in International Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
