Swindon senses a bright future

Late last year, Swindon was acquired, as part of the Schrader International Group, by Sensata Technologies. Sensata is a USD 2.4bn global business employing more than 17'000 people, headquartered in Almelo, The Netherlands, and one of the MEMS Industry Group’s top 30 companies. The acquisition coincides with two other changes: a long planned move, driven by growth, to larger premises in Royal Wootton Bassett and the retirement of Managing Director Geoff Hall. The new Managing Director is Jerry Loraine who brings over twenty five years’ experience in the semiconductor industry, during which he has driven creative teams to deliver ICs and complete products into high volume emerging markets, such as Wi-Fi in portable equipment, low power global positioning and OTT wireless video. Swindon is probably best known as the company whose ASICs are the core technology for Schrader’s Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS), but Jerry sees a much wider portfolio for the company. “This is a fantastic opportunity which will allow us to build on our thirty-five years in ASIC design”, he says. “TPMS, in which we are global leaders, is set to expand massively when China makes it mandatory. Being part of Sensata will also open up new markets for our ASICs. It means that not only can we develop further our automotive pressure sensing expertise, we can also transfer our knowledge and experience of MEMS sensors and micro-power solutions into wider applications such as factory automation, HVAC, industrial process control and remote sensing. The future for Swindon looks very good indeed.”