Imagination Technology is strengthening its links with Bristol through two board-level appointments. Nigel Toon, chief executive of startup GraphCore and chairman of chip designer XMOS, is joining the board of Imagination as a non-executive director while the former chief executive of Imagination is joining the board of Ultrahaptics.
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Sir Hossein Yossaie has strong links with Bristol having worked at Inmos and ST Microelectronics on chip design before joining Imagination. He announced in February 2016 he was stepping down, following failed talks with one of its major customers, Apple, about a takeover. Andrew Heath took over in May, coming from Cookson’s electronics assembly company, Alent. Ultrahaptics in Bristol is developing ultrasonic technology to allow you to feel virtual objects in mid-air to create new kinds of user interfaces that it licenses to chip and system makers.chi
“This is a very exciting appointment for us,” said Steve Cliffe, CEO of Ultrahaptics. “Along with the technology licensing experience that he brings, Hossein also understands what it is to be part of a small company with big aspirations. The growth of Imagination, from very small beginnings, into a world-class, influential silicon IP giant is testament to the vision that Hossein had and we are delighted to be able to draw on this experience as Ultrahaptics grows.”
Deep learning
GraphCore in Bristol is developing chip and software technology for artificial intelligence and ‘deep learning’. Imagination’s PowerVR graphics technology is a leading contender for building such chips and the company has a multicore design centre in the city, as well as a wireless technology design centre nearby in Chepstow.
Prior to joining XMOS, Toon was president and CEO at Picochip in Bath that was acquired by Intel, having joined from Icera where as a co-founder he was a member of the Board of Director and led Sales and Marketing.
“Nigel has a strong background in electronics and technology marketing and brings significant experience and understanding of the semiconductor industry,” said Bert Nordberg, Chairman of Imagination.
You can see more about the company at the Imagination website and keep up to date on the company’s updates by following them on Twitter here: @ImaginationPR
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Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
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