Governance

Dr Shi Xu

Founder and Executive Chairman

Dr Shi Xu is responsible for charting the technological roadmap, corporate direction, and business strategies of our Group. He founded our Group in 1999 and has led its growth as the Chief Executive Officer from 1999 to 2017 and 22 June 2021 to 31 December 2021 (Interim), as the Executive Chairman since 2018, and as our Director since 1999.

Dr Shi has his roots in research and academia, and he was previously a Lecturer (from 1991 to 1993), Senior Lecturer (from 1993 to 1996) and Associate Professor (from 1996 to 1999) at the Nanyang Technological University. Dr Shi graduated from Tongji University with a Bachelor of Science (Physics), and went on to obtain his Doctor of Philosophy (Physics) from the University of Reading. He has earned numerous accolades, including the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Singapore) received in 2017 from Ernst and Young, the Innovation Award received in 2001 from the Economic Development Board, the National Technology Award received in 2000 from the National Science and Technology Board (now known as A*STAR) and the Businessman of the Year, Singapore Business Awards received in 2021 from the Business Times and DHL Express.

Mr Gary Ho Hock Yong

Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer

Mr Gary Ho Hock Yong succeeded to the role of Group Chief Executive Officer from 1 January 2022. His responsibilities involve managing the overall operations and resources, including planning and implementing the strategic direction of our Group. Mr Ho joined our Group as Chief Marketing Officer on 2 January 2018 and was subsequently re-designated as Chief Commercial Officer on 1 August 2020. As Chief Commercial Officer, he oversaw our Group’s commercial strategy and development activities. Mr Ho also served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer from June 2021 to December 2021 where he supported the overall management of the Group’s operations. On 6 July 2021, Mr Ho was appointed Executive Director of the Company.

Mr Ho started his career with Hi-P International Limited in 1996, where he served multiple roles until his departure in 2016. His roles in Hi-P International Limited include Chief Operating Officer (Greater China Business Unit), Chief Operating Officer (Operations and Supply Chain), Managing Director (Corporate Business Development) and Managing Director (Wireless Strategic Business Unit).

Mr Ho holds a Diploma in Production Technology from the German Singapore Institute, and also a Master of Business Administration from the University of Roehampton. Mr Ho has completed The Cambridge Senior Management Programme - Cohort 5, 2022 by the University of Cambridge Judge Business School.

Mr Russell Tham Min Yew

Non-Executive and Non-Independent Director

Mr Russell Tham Min Yew was appointed as a Non-Executive and Non-Independent Director of our Company on 1 March 2022. Mr Tham is Head of Strategic Development, and Joint Head of Enterprise Development Group (Singapore), of Temasek International Private Limited, focusing on building new businesses and investing globally in early-stage high potential Science & Technology ventures respectively. He joined Temasek in May 2020 after 2 years at ST Engineering where he was President of New Enterprises and Ventures.

Previously, Mr Tham worked at Applied Materials, a Silicon Valley headquartered technology MNC, from 1994 to 2018 where he last held the position of President, Applied Materials Southeast Asia and concurrently held global corporate level business development responsibilities for new markets. He led the regional business and oversaw the company’s Singapore infrastructure expansion into manufacturing, supply chain, R&D and product development for global markets. Having joined Applied Materials in 1994, he assumed the position of Regional General Manager, Southeast Asia from 2004 to 2009 after serving in various positions between 1994 to 2003. He went on to concurrently hold various global leadership roles. He was Head of Global Continuous and Improvement, Corporate Sales Operations from 2010 to 2017.

Mr Tham serves on the board of AEM Holdings Ltd. which is an SGX-listed company, and Surbana Jurong Private Limited. He is the Deputy Chairman of Temasek Polytechnic Board of Governors, and a board member of Infocomm Media Development Authority, IMDA and SkillsFuture Singapore, SSG. He is a member of the Singapore Government’s Future Economy Council, FEC.

Mr Tham holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore.

Ms Ong Siew Koon @ Ong Siew Khoon

Lead Independent Director

Ms Ong Siew Koon @ Ong Siew Khoon was appointed as an Independent Director of our Company on 9 October 2020 and redesignated as Lead Independent Director with effect from 14 May 2021.

She started her career with Ernst & Young LLP in 1982, where she rose to become Partner from 1998 to 2019. Ms Ong also concurrently served as the Chief Financial Officer of Ernst & Young LLP in Singapore from 2002 to 2005.

Currently she is also the Lead Independent Director of Karooooo Limited, listed on Nasdaq and also the Lead Independent Director of Maribank Singapore Private Limited.

Ms Ong graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Accountancy and is a Chartered Accountant of Singapore with more than 35 years of experience in this profession.

Mr Kristian John Robinson

Independent Director

Mr Kristian John Robinson was appointed as an Independent Director of our Company on 9 October 2020.

He is presently the Managing Director of Spruson & Ferguson (Asia) Pte Ltd, a role he has held since 2012 and one which has seen him expand its footprints into various Intellectual Property markets in Asia (including Hong Kong, SAR, Bangkok, Thailand and Jakarta, Indonesia). Mr Robinson has, in this capacity, worked with IPH Limited (the listed holding company of Spruson & Ferguson companies) as its key management person. Mr Robinson has held various roles in Spruson & Ferguson companies since 2003, and this most notably includes the role of Principal and Head of Chemical and Life Science from 2005 to 2011.

Mr Robinson is a registered Patent Attorney in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand and has more than 25 years of experience in this field. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) (Honours) from Curtin University of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) from Murdoch University.

Ms Lee Lee Khoon

Independent Director

Ms Lee Lee Khoon was appointed as an Independent Director of our Company on 9 October 2020.

Ms Lee was an in-house tax adviser to Kuok (Singapore) Group from 2019 to early 2021. Between 1980 and 2016, she joined Ernst & Young where she held various management positions, including as the ASEAN Business Tax Services Leader and the Lead Partner of a Corporate Tax Group. Ms Lee was with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore from 1978 to 1980.

Ms Lee was admitted as a Fellow of CPA Australia in 2004 and as an Accredited Tax Adviser of the Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals (now known as Singapore Chartered Tax Professionals Limited) in 2010. She is also registered as a Fellow Chartered Accountant of Singapore. Ms Lee graduated from the University of Singapore (now known as the National University of Singapore) in 1978 with a Bachelor of Accountancy.

Mr Steve Ghanayem

Independent Director

Mr Steve Ghanayem was appointed as an Independent Director of our Company on 1 November 2022.

Prior to this, he led a long and successful career of over three decades with Applied Materials, Inc. Mr Ghanayem joined Applied Materials in 1989 as a Process Engineer and rose through the ranks, developing and launching new products while leading several different product lines. During his tenure, he and his teams were instrumental in the development and commercialization of many flagship products, some even becoming industry benchmarks. In 2014, Mr Ghanayem, as Group Vice President and General Manager, led the largest business unit in the company at the time, the Transistor and Interconnect Group.

His last appointment was leading a newly formed Business Unit, the New Markets and Alliances Group, where he served as its Senior Vice President and General Manager. He was responsible for business development and growth in new markets, and Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions. While in that role, he and his team led the program that launched a new R&D facility in the State of New York, the META Center, which was jointly funded with the State. The team also launched a new materials business, and generated revenues for the first time in the company through new business models.

Mr Ghanayem graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. He also completed several executive education courses including the UC Berkeley - Nanyang Advanced Management Program.

Mr Wan Kum Tho

Independent Director

Mr Wan Kum Tho was appointed as an Independent Director of our Company on 14 May 2021. Mr Wan has more than 24 years of experience in the venture capital and private equity investment industry and is currently the Managing Director (Investments, APAC) of Singtel Innov8 Pte Ltd, the corporate venture capital arm of Singtel.

Prior to joining Singtel Innov8 Pte Ltd, Mr Wan was with Heliconia Capital Management Pte Ltd from 2014 to 2019 where his last held position was Managing Director of Value Creation. From 2010 to 2014, Mr Wan was a management committee member and an Executive Director (Investment) of UOB Venture Management Pte Ltd where he was responsible for evaluating investment recommendations.

From 2009 to 2010, Mr Wan was with EEMS Asia Pte Ltd as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Administration where he was in charge of rescheduling debt of the Asian operation, cost controlling, fund raising and planning strategic initiatives with private equity investors. From 2005 to 2008, Mr Wan served as Vice President of Finance and Administration EEMS Asia Pte Ltd where he participated in strategic deliberations of EEMS and was responsible for strategic decisions for the financial and overall operation of the company, and establishing management incentive structure.

Mr Wan is currently an independent non-executive director of AP Oil International Limited and Tat Hong Equipment Services Co, Ltd and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore Business School. He obtained a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration (Honours) from the National University of Singapore and completed the Berkeley Executive Program offered by the University of California, Berkeley in the U.S.