José Franca holds a Ph.D. from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (London) and a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Lisbon. He has a 30 year career as a professor at the Technical University of Lisbon, entrepreneur and business executive.
José has been Fellow of the IEEE since 1997 and was on the Board of Governors of its Circuits and Systems Society. He was also on the Executive Council of the European Circuits and Systems Society.
As an Entrepreneur, José co-founded “CHIPIDEA”, a microelectronics start-up company of which he was CEO and Chairman of the Board.
CHIPIDEA went on to become the world leader in the analogue/mixed-signal semiconductor IP industry and was eventually acquired by MIPS Technologies Inc., a NASDAQ-listed company.
José has also been State Secretary for Education in the Government of Portugal, Director of MIPS Technologies and Non-Executive Member of the Board of Banco Espírito Santo S.A. and of several technology-based start-up companies, both in Portugal and abroad.
During the course of his career, José has been honoured with several distinctions and awards: the Ernst & Young International Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Portugal), the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Portugal’s Alumni Association of the prestigious INSEAD Business School, the University of Coimbra Award, the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Golden Jubilee Medal as well as its Industrial Pioneer Award, Adjunct Professorship at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Doctor Honoris Causa in Sciences from the University of Macau and was distinguished as “Grand Officer of the Order of Merit” of Portugal.
