Rui Gomes returned to the University of Aveiro to deliver the seventh and final lecture in the series marking the 50th anniversary of the Department of Physics, a department whose research culture is intrinsically linked to institutes such as CICECO. The session, entitled "From PhD to Startups to Silicon Valley: An RFIC Engineer's Perspective," brought together students, faculty, and researchers for reflection on the evolution of telecommunications technology, the realities of deep-tech entrepreneurship, and the future of the European semiconductor industry.

Gomes opened with an overview of the history of wireless communications, tracing a path from the early experiments of Heinrich Hertz and Guglielmo Marconi to the highly integrated systems found in today's smartphones. He introduced the transistor as one of the most consequential inventions in human history, the quiet engine behind modern telecommunications, computing, and the ways in which society communicates and accesses information.

The PhD as an Engineering Laboratory

It was within this technological landscape that Gomes pursued his doctoral research, focusing on All-Digital Transmitters, an area that exploits the advantages of CMOS technologies to improve efficiency and performance in wireless communication systems. His work covered power amplifier architectures and one of RF engineering's enduring challenges: balancing energy efficiency with linearity. A key part of his research involved taking a chip from architectural concept through fabrication, characterization, and experimental validation.

This hands-on, iterative process - design, fabrication, measurement, test, refinement, and repetition - resonates with the broader research culture of resilience, methodology and problem-solving mindset cultivated in CICECO, where materials science and device physics intersect to push the boundaries of what integrated circuits can achieve. Gomes credited this culture of resilience and problem-solving as foundational to the work that followed.

When Technology Meets the Market

His transition into the startup world brought a different kind of lesson. At Azitek, Gomes and his team developed an advanced indoor localization solution for autonomous drones. Although technically innovative, the initial concept was not fully aligned with the market demand. After listening closely to potential users and partners, the team redirected the technology toward industrial asset tracking and logistics, identifying real-world applications where it could generate clear value.

The lesson, he argued, was clear: technology only creates impact when it solves a real problem. Market validation, therefore, must be built into the process from the very beginning, rather than treated as a later stage.

Gomes’ career later took him to California, where he joined Innophase IoT as a Staff RFIC Design Engineer, contributing to the development of Wi-Fi chips for Internet of Things applications. Alongside the technical complexity of the work, including digital power amplifiers, system architecture, and the characterization of high-complexity integrated circuits, he highlighted the importance of organizational culture.

In his own view, Silicon Valley's defining advantage lies in its speed of execution. Teams are encouraged to act quickly, experiment, learn from mistakes, and improve continuously, instead of waiting for the perfect solution before moving forward. It is a mindset, he suggested, from which European institutions and companies could benefit.

Building Europe’s Semiconductor Capability from Portugal

Gomes has now channelled that experience into a new venture: Caravel Semiconductor, a Portuguese company dedicated to the design and development of integrated circuits for radio-frequency and high-speed communications applications.

The company was presented in the context of Europe’s broader effort to strengthen its semiconductor capabilities and reduce dependence on external supply chains. Caravel operates in a highly specialised segment, developing intellectual property and engineering solutions for clients requiring complex, high-performance integrated circuits. Gomes emphasised ongoing areas of work, including RF transmitters for 5G communications and ultra-high-speed data links for data center applications.

Portugal’s Strategic Opportunity

One of the session’s most compelling reflections concerned Portugal’s position in the global semiconductor landscape. Gomes argued that the country has highly qualified professionals, internationally recognized technical expertise, and research centers capable of producing knowledge at an international level. 

In a sector where the human capital and specialised know-how are central competitive advantages, Portugal, and the research ecosystem anchored by institutions like CICECO, has an opportunity to build a stronger role in chip design and related semiconductor activities.

As Europe seeks to assert its technological independence, the investment in high-specialisation niches could enable Portuguese teams to contribute meaningfully to one of the world’s most strategically important industries.

Closing the technical portion of his talk, Gomes outlined several challenges that will shape the next generation of RFIC engineering, including the integration of high-power digital transmitters, the coexistence of multi-radio within a single device, and continued advances in semiconductor fabrication processes.

A Message to the Next Generation

From the research lab to the startup world, from Silicon Valley to the launch of a Portuguese semiconductor company, Gomes’ career illustrated how knowledge forged in university research environments, including the materials and physics expertise cultivated at CICECO, can evolve into globally relevant innovation.

His message to the students in the room was direct: success in a technology career depends not only on technical skills, but on the willingness to keep learning, adapt to change, listen to the market, and turn obstacles into opportunities.

With this session, the Department of Physics at the University of Aveiro brought its cycle of seven anniversary lectures to a close, connecting its academic community with inspiring career paths and with a broader conversation about the role of science and technology in building the future.

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