Supriya Jaiswal

BA Physics 1993
CEO Astrileux Corporation, Berkeley, CA

The sky is the limit? Not as far as Dr Supriya Jaiswal is concerned. She is CEO of Astrileux, a next generation semiconductor start-up company in Silicon Valley, the first US female founded company in the field of semiconductor lithography. She designs technologies that are revolutionising the manufacture of integrated circuits at seven nanometers and smaller that will accelerate the development of faster, smaller, more powerful mobile devices in the era of zettabyte computing. This year her technology will be launched on the International Space Station, laying the foundation for electronics manufacture in space.

Supriya’s company has scooped numerous prestigious prizes including being winner of the 2016 International Materials Research Society competition and the 2018 International Electron Ion and Photon Beam best start-up award, and being nominated for the 2019 World Material’s Forum Prize. Supriya was internationally recognised for distinction and honours in optics and photonics and listed in 2016 SPIE’s Women in Optics. She has filed 40 patents in seven countries.

“I persevere with Physics, because Physics teaches you to teach yourself, and I feel now I can teach myself anything. Nowadays I believe everything begins with material science, as it is the true enabler for all future technology innovations.”

After Keble, she went on to the University of Virginia where she completed a Master’s in Atomic Physics and a PhD in Engineering Physics. She also holds professional qualifications in business and finance from the University of California. She is a keen violinist, kickboxer and global hiker. She speaks four languages, is passionate about French Literature, and in 2013 she climbed Mount Everest.

At Keble, Supriya recalls a pivotal moment: “I remember being singled out by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Hall as someone he wanted to meet. From then onwards I felt all things were possible if you reached for them, and we have a whole lifetime to achieve them.”