Speakers
Get information about Synaptics thought leaders for events, interviews, and more.
Fred Caldwell
Senior Field Applications Engineer Manager
Fred Caldwell has been with Synaptics since November 1997, and has served as the Senior FAE Manager for Taiwan and China since October 2005. Prior to that, he served as a Field Sales Engineer remotely located in Austin, TX from August 2001 until October 2005, and as Field Applications Engineer located at the Synaptics California headquarters from November 1997 until August 2001. Prior to joining Synaptics, Caldwell started his career as a Telemetry/Instrumentation Engineer at NASA. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering & Applied Science from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California.
Shawn Day
Vice President of Research and Development
Shawn P. Day, Ph.D. has served as Vice President of Research and Development of our company since June 1998 and as Director of Software Development from November 1996 until May 1998. He served as principal software engineer from August 1995 until October 1996. Mr. Day holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Doctorate, both in electrical engineering, from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
Gopal Garg
Senior VP of Handheld Business and Corporate Marketing
Gopal Garg has been the Senior Vice President of the Handheld Business Unit at Synaptics since August 2008. Garg has 25+ years experience in the high tech arena, with a focus on semiconductors and systems. He previously worked at Cypress, where he was VP/GM of the Communication Business and the Power Electronics Business. He has held positions across multiple functions including product management, strategic marketing, business development, M&A, and chip design. He began his career at Semiconductor Complex Ltd, and later Arcus Technology, which was acquired by Cypress in 1999. He holds a BSEE from BITS in Pilani India, and an MBA from PU India.
Dave Gillespie
R&D Fellow
Dave Gillespie received BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from the California Institute of Technology in 1986 and 1988, and stayed at Caltech to teach Freshman computer science for several years. He joined Synaptics in 1991 where he has been involved in many areas including R&D, software and firmware, neural networks, chip architecture and design, tool development, intellectual property, technical writing, and human factors.
Dr. Andrew Hsu
Technical Marketing and Strategic Partnerships Manager
Dr. Andrew Hsu has been the primary technical contact for Synaptics’ worldwide customers in the handheld space since 1999. He joined Synaptics in 1996 and led the company's efforts into establishing a presence in the mobile handset market. Hsu developed Synaptics’ ClearPad technology, a transparent sensor that can be mounted under curved plastic and glass. He led the marketing for ClearPad, resulting in the first production phone with a capacitive touchscreen, the LG Prada. Prior to his current role, Hsu was a scientist and a design engineer that helped develop the first single-chip TouchPad solution for Synaptics. Hsu holds a doctorate in neuroscience and a master’s in computer and information science from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Caltech.
Philip Sieh
Field Applications Engineer
Philip Sieh is a Field Applications Engineer, focusing on Synaptics’ user interface solutions for mobile applications. Prior to joining Synaptics in 2008, Sieh held several positions at Freescale Semiconductor’s Sensor Division including technical marketing, product and applications engineering for capacitive sensors, as well as MEMS-based accelerometers and pressure sensors. He began his career in sensing technologies at Cornell’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Team (CUAUV) where he led the Embedded Systems group developing sensor subsystems including pressure, hydrophones, temperature and speed. While completing his graduate studies at Cornell, Sieh conducted sensor research and development on dead reckoning methods using low cost MEMS-based sensors and magnetometers. He received a BS and a ME in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.
Mark Vena
VP of PC Business unit
Mark Vena has been with Synaptics since April 2007. As an industry veteran with more than 20 years experience in the PC industry, Vena is a visionary on where the industry is going and how the power of capacitive touch is going to change how consumers interact with their intelligent devices. Before Synaptics, Vena was the VP of Worldwide Marketing at Alienware. Prior to Alienware, Vena held a number of business and product marketing leadership positions at Dell, Compaq, Epson and IBM. Vena graduated Cum Laude from Boston College in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.