Dr. Ferdinand Bell has been involved in semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing for more than 30 years. From 2013 to the present day, Ferdinand has worked for NXP Semiconductor Technologies, the merger of the Dutch Philips and American Motorola Semiconductor divisions. Before his engagement with NXP, Ferdinand held various research and management positions at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Centre in New York, at Infineon Technologies in Villach, Regensburg, Dresden, Munich, and at Intel Corporations in Munich.
Ferdinand studied physics at the Technical University of Munich and continued research and development in Grenoble, France, where he received his PhD in materials science.
In his current role, Ferdinand leads the global Public Collaborative Program department at NXP and is responsible for all grant programs in the U.S., Europe, India, and Asia. His particular focus is on the European and American Chips Act, the ESMC joint venture together with TSMC, Bosch and Infineon in Dresden and on the largest European IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest) program for microelectronics and communication technologies. Ferdinand is the chairman of the IPCEI facilitation group, which is – among others – the interface between the ~700 industrial IPCEI partners, the European Commission, and the European member states.
