CEO Interview: Dr. Esko Mikkola of Alphacore

By SemiWiki

April 11, 2022

CEO’s background: what led to your current organization?

Since an early age, exceeding expectations has driven me to succeed in my areas of interest. While enlisted in the Finnish Army, I was selected, trained, and short-listed for the country’s astronaut training program before it was unfortunately dissolved. A major realized goal was to qualify and represent Finland in the 2004 Athens Olympics. In the US, I won the NCAA javelin championship in 2013. This rigorous athletic discipline complemented a similar intense academic drive to extensively research advanced analog electronics with an emphasis on radiation tolerance, reliability modeling and characterization structures. While completing a PhD in Electrical Engineering, I had a focus on evaluating analog IC modelling correlation issues affecting advanced small geometry technologies. During the course of this work, it became apparent that a significant unserved opportunity existed to deliver ultra-low power, high-speed, and high-resolution data converter solutions. I was particularly interested in the mixed signal aspects of conversion architectures especially as applied to analog circuit functionality and reliability when using emerging very small nanometer-scale geometries. Those experiences led to managing successful research and development programs where the ideas were put into practice. Once the technology and opportunity were validated, I made the entrepreneurial leap as the Founder and CEO of Alphacore Inc.

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