Christophe Maleville, CTO of SOITEC: From Crisis to Innovation – How Soitec Redefined Semiconductors

In this episode of the Semiconductor Leadership Podcast, host Salah Nasri sits down with Christophe Maleville, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Executive Vice President of Soitec’s Innovation at Soitec — the pioneer behind Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology powering billions of devices.
From nearly facing bankruptcy in 2015 to leading a global materials revolution, Christophe shares three decades of lessons in innovation, resilience, and leadership.
🔹 The early breakthroughs that made defect-free layer transfer possible
🔹 How Soitec outperformed GaAs and transformed RF and FD-SOI design
🔹 Balancing long-term research with short-term market pressures
🔹 Green manufacturing and the future of sustainable semiconductors
🔹 What keeps him up at night and why he believes efficiency is the next scaling law
🎧 Whether you’re an engineer, investor, or industry enthusiast, this conversation offers a rare look inside one of the most influential minds in semiconductor materials science.
🔔 Subscribe and share — because as Salah says, “It takes a village to raise a chip.”