IQE : CEO Dr Drew Nelson OBE honoured with Honorary Fellowship

18 July 2017

Cardiff, 18 July 2017: IQE plc (AIM: IQE, 'IQE' or the 'Group'), the leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductor wafer products for the global semiconductor industry, is pleased to announce that its CEO Dr Drew Nelson OBE has been honoured by Cardiff University.

Dr Drew Nelson OBE received the honours on Monday 17 July, which are awarded to individuals who achieved outstanding recognition in their field. He was one of 15 eminent figures to receive Honorary Fellowship from Cardiff University at its annual degree ceremonies.

Dr Nelson co-founded IQE in 1988 and has led the Welsh semiconductor company to become an international world leader in the supply of epitaxial wafers for a wide range of products that enable technologies as diverse as mobile phones, high speed optical communications, ultra-efficient solar cells and low energy lighting. Under Dr Nelson's vision, IQE has been actively driving the establishment of the UK compound semiconductor cluster.

CONTACTS:

IQE Press/Investors: Chris Meadows (44) 2920-839-400

ABOUT IQE:

http://iqep.com

IQE is the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafers with products that cover a diverse range of applications, supported by an innovative outsourced foundry services portfolio that allows the Group to provide a 'one stop shop' for the wafer needs of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers.

IQE uses advanced crystal growth technology (epitaxy) to manufacture and supply bespoke semiconductor wafers 'epi-wafers' to the major chip manufacturing companies, who then use these wafers to make the chips which form the key components of virtually all high technology systems. IQE is unique in being able to supply wafers using all of the leading crystal growth technology platforms.

IQE's products are found in many leading-edge consumer, communication, computing and industrial applications, including a complete range of wafer products for the wireless industry, such as smartphones and wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi, base stations, GPS, and satellite communications; optical communications, optical storage, printing, thermal imagers, leading-edge medical products, barcode, ultra high brightness LEDs, a variety of advanced silicon based systems and high efficiency concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar cells.

The manufacturers of these chips are increasingly seeking to outsource wafer production to specialist foundries such as IQE in order to reduce overall wafer costs and accelerate time to market.

IQE also provides bespoke R&D services to deliver customised materials for specific applications and offers specialist technical staff to manufacture to specification either at its own facilities or on the customer's own sites. The Group is also able to leverage its global purchasing volumes to reduce the cost of raw materials. In this way IQE's outsourced services, provide compelling benefits in terms of flexibility and predictability of cost, thereby significantly reducing operating risk.

IQE operates multiple manufacturing and R&D facilities facilities worldwide.