He Tingbo
China businesswoman and semiconductor researcher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
He Tingbo (Chinese: 何庭波; born 1969), also known as Teresa He Tingbo, is a Chinese electrical engineer and business executive. She is president of Huawei's semiconductor business, chair of Huawei's Scientist Committee, and a member of Huawei's board of directors. She is one of two women on Huawei's 17-member board, alongside Meng Wanzhou.[1] She is known in Chinese and international media as "China's chip queen" for her role in leading Huawei's semiconductor efforts through US technology sanctions.[1][2][3]
He Tingbo | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 何庭波 | |||||||
| Born | 1969 (age 56–57) | ||||||
| Other name | Teresa He Tingbo | ||||||
| Education | Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BE, ME) | ||||||
| Occupations | Electrical engineer, business executive | ||||||
| Employer | Huawei (1996–present) | ||||||
| Known for | President of HiSilicon; Huawei's semiconductor development under US sanctions | ||||||
| Title | President of Huawei Semiconductor Business Chair of Huawei Scientist Committee | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 何庭波 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 何庭波 | ||||||
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In May 2026, she delivered a keynote address titled "New Semiconductor Path in Practice" at the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems in Shanghai, where she introduced the "Tau (τ) Scaling Law," a framework for semiconductor development in the post-Moore's law era.[1][4]
Early life and education
He was born in 1969 in Changsha, Hunan province, China.[1] She graduated from the high school attached to Hunan Normal University in 1987.[citation needed] She earned a dual bachelor's degree in semiconductor physics and communications engineering, and a master's degree from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), completing her studies in 1996.[1][5]
Career
Early years and building HiSilicon (1996–2018)
He joined Huawei in 1996 as an engineer, working in development, research, architecture, and supply chain roles within the company's chip division.[5] In 2003, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei placed her in charge of the company's chip development, providing an annual budget of US$400 million and a mandate to reduce dependence on foreign semiconductor suppliers.[1][3] The following year, Huawei formally established HiSilicon as its dedicated semiconductor subsidiary, and He eventually became its president.[1][5]
Over more than two decades, she led the expansion of Huawei's semiconductor capabilities from a small internal design team into a comprehensive chip design organization. According to her professional biography for the IEEE ISCAS conference, she built capabilities across large-scale system-on-chip design, high-speed analog and mixed-signal circuits, radio frequency design, advanced packaging, power and sensor technologies, and the full range of processor architectures—including central processing units, graphics processing units, neural processing units, network processors, and digital signal processors.[4] The unit developed Kirin smartphone processors, AI chips, networking semiconductors, and 5G telecom processors, competing with products from Qualcomm and Nvidia.[3] The IEEE biography described the portfolio as "the widest product portfolio in the industry."[4] The semiconductor business contributed to Huawei reporting revenue of 880.9 billion yuan (US$130 billion) in 2025.[1]
He was appointed to Huawei's board of directors in March 2018 and serves alongside Meng Wanzhou as one of two women on the 17-member board.[1][6]
US sanctions and "Plan B" response (2019–2020)
On 16 May 2019, the US Department of Commerce added Huawei to the Entity List, restricting the company's access to American technology, including semiconductor design software and manufacturing services.[7] The following day, He published an open letter to HiSilicon employees, writing that the company had "long ago" anticipated such a scenario and had prepared "backup" technologies—a reference sometimes translated as "Plan B" or "spare tyre" in English-language media.[7][8] In the letter, she told employees they were "building a backup lifeline for Huawei and for the whole country" and called on them to pursue innovation and technological self-reliance.[1][7]
Post-sanctions era and Tau Scaling Law (2020–present)
In the years following the US restrictions, He led HiSilicon's effort to redesign its chip portfolio using alternative approaches that did not depend on restricted manufacturing technologies.[2][4] According to Reuters, her team spent six years developing a new design methodology and had mass-produced 381 chips using the approach by May 2026.[1] The IEEE ISCAS keynote biography stated her team "recreated over 150 designs using a new approach."[4]
In May 2026, He's keynote address titled "New Semiconductor Path in Practice" at the IEEE ISCAS gained widespread media attention, where she introduced the "Tau (τ) Scaling Law."[1] The framework argues that as transistor shrinking reaches physical limits, the semiconductor industry should shift focus to improving transmission speed across devices, circuits, chips, and computing systems, rather than relying solely on further miniaturization.[1] She stated the approach was based on five years of commercial experience and had identified "rules that drive the system evolution for semiconductor devices."[4]
The announcement attracted widespread international coverage. Nikkei Asia reported that He said the breakthrough would "make cutting-edge EUV tools unnecessary."[2] The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Fortune, and the South China Morning Post also covered the announcement.[9][10][11][12]
Awards and honors
- 2019 – Forbes China "Women in Tech" list (福布斯中国科技女性榜)[13][14]
- 2026 – Keynote speaker, IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), Shanghai[4]