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“Our Machines have a soul”
From Twente to ASML: Richard Droste will give us a picture of his 'drive' to contribute to the most advanced chip manufacturing machines in the world.
“There is a soul in our machines: they don't work without intuition and experience,” says Richard Droste, Vice President of Development & Engineering and Head of the EUV-NXE Business Line at ASML. A soul is a living thing and has the ability to adapt and get better. Sometimes tuition, sometimes luck: Darwinism in progress based on guestimated progress. ASML machines make chips by writing on silicon wafers with light. With this lithography technology, the world's best chipmakers create microchips that are more powerful, faster, and more energy efficient. ASML machines drive technology forward. In fact, ASML machines are probably part of the electronic device you use now, namely your smartphone, smartwatch, laptop, and much more. Richard studied Applied Physics at the University of Twente and obtained his master's degree there in 1987. After graduating, he worked as a research scientist at TNO (from 1987 to 1989) and Philips Research (1989-1991). He then became project leader and group leader for Philips Displays Components (1991-1998). In 1998 he joined ASML as Group Lead in R&D, with a focus on lasers and dose control. Since then he has held various roles and assumed many leadership responsibilities for the development of the ASML product portfolio - from the early ASML steppers and the DUV immersion systems to the more recent EUV systems.
“THE MOST IMPORTANT PROPERTY OF STARTUPS IS SPEED”
From Twente to Silicon Valley: Anke Huiskes takes us on her journey as a leader and investor in diversity and sustainability.
From employee to investor to founder: Anke Huiskes has built up an impressive CV in 7 years of Silicon Valley. She now knows the startup sector like the back of her hand: “The big advantage that you have as a startup compared to a corporate is time. You have the ability to do things very quickly.” Anke is the co-founder and Managing Partner of NP-Hard Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in startups that create the building blocks of tomorrow, focusing on infrastructure, tools, and decentralized platforms. Anke is also the founder of Planet Positive, a syndicate that invests in (pre)seed-stage climate technology companies, and ANGELS.vc, a women-led community of accredited angel investors, because: “Networking is key here in the US.” Before becoming a full-time investor, she led go-to-market and sales at several venture-backed Silicon Valley hardware and software companies such as smartwatch maker Pebble and women's health tech startup Willow. After that, she was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Intellectual Ventures, one of the venture capital funds backed by Bill Gates. She once started as a commercial manager at Procter & Gamble. Anke studied Communication Sciences from 2002 to 2008 and a cum laude Master of Science and Bachelor of Science from the University of Twente.
“TECHNOLOGY IS NOT THE STARTING POINT FOR INNOVATION”
From Twente via FMCG, Energy and eCommerce to innovation in healthcare: what drives Raoul Zaal?
His son was in the hospital. As a parent, he received a large brown envelope when he was discharged. It contained the medical file that he had to take to the new treating doctor himself. "I was perplexed. I came from the digital world and thought, this can really be different. Since then I have been extremely motivated for innovation in healthcare because there is still so much to improve there.” Innovation is also necessary to compensate for the growing shortage of healthcare providers. Surprisingly, for someone from IT, he believes that technology does not play the leading role in that innovation. It's about the job to be done. Helping people to remain independent for longer, removing the burden of disease from patients, easing the work of healthcare providers or reducing costs. Technology can help with that. If you know what the job to be done is, innovation becomes easier. He is now innovating as CEO of Syntilio, a company that supports remote care using technology (platform). Before that, he was CEO at FocusCura, a market leader in healthcare innovation and the use of (home) healthcare technologies. But his career started, after an active student life in Enschede, in the 'Fast-Moving Consumer Goods' (FMCG), including at Friesland Campina. He then held various positions at companies such as Booking.com, Essent, and Dé VakantieDiscounter and has been coaching various (especially young) entrepreneurs for many years. Raoul studied Industrial Engineering and Management from 1987 to 1994.