S3B Newsletter November 2025

Welcome to the November edition of the S3B Newsletter. In this edition get a leadership update from S3B, take the annual survey, hear about upcoming events, and reminisce on the busy event season.  

We are delighted to welcome Tara Hamilton as Interim Director, while Nadia Court takes long service leave until May 2026. Tara will ensure continuity in leadership and support the team in delivering S3B’s priorities.

Tara has served as S3B Board member since January 2023 and brings deep experience across research, academia, and industry. Currently an Associate Professor at UNSW, Tara also serves as a technical advisor for several Australian technology companies.

We’re confident that under Tara’s leadership, the team will continue to achieve outstanding outcomes and maintain the strong momentum we’ve built together.

One of the core pillars of S3B’s operations is supporting the growth of the local semiconductor sector through strategic insights and market information. We collate and share trends, identify gaps and opportunities, curate events and programs, influence long-term decisions and investments, and advocate on behalf of our sector to government.

To help us shape these initiatives, we invite you to complete our Annual Survey. The survey has two parts:

• Individual Survey – Understand demographics, education, training, international delegations, and which S3B events matter most to you.
• Industry Survey – Help us measure the size of the sector, track growth, assess long-term impact, influence S3B events, and provide feedback for future international delegations

Complete one or both to inform analysis and commentary on the Australian Semiconductor Sector.

Your opinion matters and it could win you a prize!

Fill out the survey for a chance to win a Chipfluencer T-shirt (we’ve got 4 shirts up for grabs).

Take the survey’s above and help shape the future of our sector!

S3B is proud to be a Bronze Sponsor of the AIP Summer Meeting.

The 2025 Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) Summer Meeting will be held on the 1 – 5 December 2025 at the University of Wollongong, Australia. This event celebrates the incredible work of Australia’s vibrant physics community and for the first time the Summer Meeting will be held in a regional location within Australia. If you are a scientist, academic, postdoctoral researcher, or PhD student, the AIP Summer Meeting offers a jam-packed week of connection, collaboration, and plenty of course plenty of physics! S3B is a long-time supporter of AIP, and we are proud to support Australia’s physics community.

Don’t miss out, register before 24 November to secure your spot!

Event details:

1 – 5 December 2025

School of Physics, University of Wollongong

Register here

S3B is proud to be a Gold Sponsor of the inaugural FOSSi Foundation Open Source Semiconductor Design Conference – Down Underflow. 

To be held in Australia, dubbed Down Underflow, it’ll be a day of presentations and networking to be held in Sydney on February 28th.

The FOSSi Foundation’s Julius Baxter says:

“Down Underflow is our first conference event to be held in Australia and will be a format of a single day of talks and a social event in the evening, with the potential for some unconference sessions the following day”.

Much like the FOSSi Foundation sibling conferences ORConf and Latch-Up, Down Underflow is a conference that welcomes anyone passionate about open-source semiconductor design. If you are a developer or user of any open source IP blocks, tooling or flows in your day job, research work or as a hobbyist, and/or are curious about what’s going on in this world, feel free to attend! Registration has both free and professional tier registration options.

Down Underflow are now welcoming presentation submissions – feel free to submit a talk of up to 10-15minutes in duration, or a lightning talk, on your experience working with or developing in the Open Source semiconductor space.

S3B is excited to be sponsoring this event! All details and links are available on the event’s site below.

Event Details:

28 February 2026

Sydney

For more information and to register click here

S3B is proud to sponsor the relaunch event of IEEE NSW!

We’re excited to support this vibrant community of engineers, researchers, and students shaping the future of circuits, systems, and emerging technologies in New South Wales.

Join the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society (CASS), Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS), and Photonics Society Chapter reconnect and share their mission, technical focus areas, and opportunities for collaboration.

What to Expect…
Chapter relaunch & mission introduction
Key technical areas: IC design, VLSI systems, signal processing, emerging technologies
Networking opportunities & lunch included

Who Should Attend?
Students and early-career engineers
Researchers in IC design and systems
IEEE members and enthusiasts

Event Details:
Thursday, 27 November 2025
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM AEDT
Room CB11.06.408, Building 11, Level 06, University of Technology Sydney

Registration is free but mandatory by 24 November 2025:
https://lnkd.in/g5tHd-ZH ✅

The Advanced packaging working group meetings will be kicking off again next year, with the first one scheduled for Thursday, 12 February 2026. If you’d like to get involved, please reach out to Matthew Worsman: matthew.worsman@s3b.au. More information coming soon!

• International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICON 2026) – 3-5th February 2026
• Gordon Godfrey Workshop on Spins, Topology and Strong Electron Correlations – 24-28 November 

October was nothing short of incredible for Australia’s semiconductor community. From hands-on learning to industry networking and our biggest national event yet, the momentum is undeniable. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Semiconductor Australia 2025

Our premier event brought together over 400 attendees, making it the largest yet! From AI and quantum computing to advanced photonics, the day showcased Australia’s growing influence in the global semiconductor economy.
Highlights:

• Catalyst stage pitches, with George Li (Lumina Corp) winning the Dolphin Tank Pitch Lab.
• Closing remarks from Nadia Court: “Together, we’re not just building technology; we’re shaping Australia’s future.”

Thank you to all speakers, sponsors, and participants for driving this momentum.

Watch the recordings here

This event connected emerging talent with industry leaders to explore how semiconductors shape the future of electronics.
Key insights came from:

• Iain Waugh (Blackmagic Design) on FPGA-driven innovation.
• Muhammad Hanif Hannif (Aquila Earth) on wireless connectivity in drones.
• Nick Engel (RØDE) on MEMS technology in audio evolution.

Attendees left inspired, with one standout piece of advice: “Be curious. Try lots of things. You never know where something will take you.”

S3B partnered with Keysight Technologies to deliver a hands-on workshop for students and researchers, exploring the precision and complexity behind semiconductor testing.
Highlights included:

• Professor Xiaoke Yi (University of Sydney) on photonic signal processing and sensing.
• A/Prof Shaghik Atakaramians & Dr. Deepak Mishra (UNSW) on terahertz imaging for transformative applications.

Participants rotated through three hands-on labs, bridging theory and practice with techniques like CV measurement and ultra-low current testing. Huge thanks to Keysight and all presenters for making this a success!