Andrew Hsu — extended biography

Andrew brings over two decades of technical and product leadership in consumer electronics. Prior to Abacus Semi, he pioneered the development and mass market adoption of touch interface solutions for mobile devices. First, at Synaptics, Inc., he was on the team that designed and launched the world’s first single-chip touch controller, using full custom logic.

Given the small team, he led the design of the ESD-tolerant memory subsystem, interfaced with the foundry on the technology process, led layout verification, and then authored a language to automate test vector generation. Following production ramp, Andrew invented the touchscreen for mobile devices and then led the efforts to productize the touchscreen – creating initial prototypes, evaluation kits, customer demos and reference designs, then engaging with customers to secure early design wins, as well as engaging with ecosystem partners.

Not only did the touchscreen fuel Synaptic’s growth to over $1 billion in revenue, but it set the standard for user interaction in today’s smartphones. During this time, Andrew also led the company’s technical marketing efforts in the laptop computer and mobile devices market, authoring numerous articles and serving as technical spokesperson at industry, media, and IR events.

Later, Andrew ran the concept prototyping team to investigate novel user interface technologies for improving the user experience. The team designed and delivered over 100 high-fidelity prototype systems that showcase novel use cases for technologies such as touch, force, fingerprint ID, eye-tracking, and voice. Following Synaptics, Andrew joined the VR/XR start-up Manomotion in a business development role and then managed NPI development at start-up Sensel for their industry-leading haptics touchpad platforms. Andrew holds multiple patents and is recipient of the 2010 Mobile Entertainment Forum’s Outstanding Contribution Award as inventor of the mobile touchscreen. Andrew received his PhD in Computational Neuroscience and a Masters in Computer Science, both from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. During his free time, Andrew is a competitive road bicyclist and transportation advocate. He also helps lead a Scout troop, focusing on teaching outdoor skills.