Mr. Obata is a semiconductor industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and business development.

Before joining SMI, Derek served as Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Ikanos Communications where he drove sales leading to a successful IPO in 2005. Prior to that, Mr. Obata was involved in another successful IPO in 1999 at PCTEL, Inc. where he served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of the core business unit and as Vice President of Worldwide Sales.

Mr. Obata holds a MBA from University of Phoenix and a B.S in Engineering Science from UC Berkeley.