Antonio Varas
Senior Partner & Managing Director
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Antonio Varas is a core member of BCG’s Technology practice, based in Silicon Valley, with 20 years of experience in semiconductors, smartphones and connected devices. He has deep expertise in the Semiconductor industry, where he serves leading global companies across the value chain and all end application markets – particularly in issues related to strategy, corporate development and growth acceleration.
Raj Varadarajan
Senior Partner & Managing Director
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Raj Varadarajan leads BCG’s Global Advantage efforts in North America, which includes Geopolitics and Trade and Public/Private sector collaborations, and is also a senior leader in BCG’s TMT (Technology Media and Telecom) practice. He has over 30 years of experience working with large clients on multi-year transformational efforts across sectors (e.g. Chemicals, EPC, Airlines, Telco, Tech OEMs, Semiconductors etc.). He recently co-authored the report “How Restricting Trade with China Could End US Semiconductor Leadership”, published with SIA in March.
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.
Jackie Sturm
Corporate Vice President, Global Supply Chain Operations
Intel Corporation
Jackie Sturm leads operations for Intel’s multi-billion-dollar Global Supply Chain, which has been cited as a #8 or better for nine consecutive years in Gartner’s Supply Chain Top 25. Her international team supports Construction and Facilities sourcing, Indirect procurement, business continuity, supply chain systems and analytics, and Supply Chain Environmental and Social Governance program, which includes Intel’s first-mover Conflict Minerals initiative. Jackie is a committed advocate for the criticality of value-added manufacturing, engineering and trade as the economic foundations of thriving societies. Within Global Supply Chain, Jackie sponsors targeted advancement programs to address challenges faced by women and unrepresented minorities in technology. Prior to joining supply chain, Jackie held various finance positions at Intel, including CFO for Technology and Manufacturing, as well as at Hewlett Packard, Ridge Computer, and Apple.
Chad Bown
Reginald Jones Senior Fellow
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Chad P. Bown is Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. His research examines international trade laws and institutions, trade negotiations, and trade disputes. With Soumaya Keynes, he cohosts Trade Talks, a weekly podcast on the economics of international trade policy. Bown previously served as senior economist for international trade and investment in the White House on the Council of Economic Advisers and most recently as a lead economist at the World Bank, conducting research and advising developing country governments on international trade policy for seven years. Before joining the Peterson Institute, Bown was a tenured professor of economics at Brandeis University, where he held a joint appointment in the Department of Economics and International Business School for 12 years. He has also spent a year in residence as a visiting scholar in economic research at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat in Geneva.
Falan Yinug
Director, Industry Statistics and Economic Policy
Semiconductor Industry Association
Falan Yinug is director of industry statistics and economic policy at SIA. Responsible for managing SIA’s statistics and data program, Yinug represents SIA in the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) program, which maintains industry-driven monthly sales data for the global industry as well as sales forecasts. His work also entails supporting SIA’s advocacy efforts through economic research and analysis.
