THINGSTREAM - Key Persons


Andreas Thiel

Job Titles:
  • Head of Product Centers, Co‑Founder U‑Blox AG
Andreas Thiel is Head of Product Centers at u-blox AG, a role he took on in early 2019. From 1997 to 2012, he was Executive Vice President R&D Hardware of u-blox AG, and from 2007 to 2012 he served as Executive Vice President (R&D Hardware) of u-blox Holding AG. From 2012 to 2019, he acted as Executive Director Cellular Product Development. He holds a degree in electrical engineering from Aachen University (RWTH) in Germany. From 1994 to 1997 he was a research assistant and project manager at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). In 1997, he co-founded u-blox AG.

André Müller - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Board
André Müller was CEO of Cicorel SA (Switzerland) and member of the Cicor Technologies gGroup Committee from 2006 - 2009. From 1998 - 2007 he was CEO and as of 1999 Chairman of the Board of HCT Shaping Systems SA (Switzerland). From 1993 - 1996 he was Vice President and from 1996 - 1998 General Manager of ESEC SA (Switzerland). Prior to that, he held different positions in research and development divisions in the aerospace industry. Mr. André Müller is Member of the Board of Essemtec AG (Switzerland), DW Holding AG (Switzerland) and Bangerter Microtechnik AG (Switzerland). He holds a degree in engineering (ETH). He is a citizen of Switzerland.

Elke Eckstein

Job Titles:
  • Independent Member of the Board / Strategy Committee
Ms. Eckstein has more than 35 years of industrial experience in the field of semiconductors, Electronics and Photonics. Since 2019, she has been serving as President and CEO of Enics Group, a leading global electronics manufacturing service provider headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Previously, she held multiple top-level management positions in leading global companies including Operating and Digitalization Officer at Weidmüller Group (2013 - 2018) and COO of Osram Lighting (2008 - 2013), before that at AMD/Global Foundries, Altis Semiconductors and Siemens/Infineon. She is a member of the Boards of Directors at Jenoptik, KK Wind, Saferoad and BE Semiconductor. Ms. Eckstein holds a degree in electrical engineering from Siemens Academy. She is a citizen of Germany.

Jean-Pierre Wyss

Job Titles:
  • Head of Production and Logistics, Co‑Founder U‑Blox AG
Jean-Pierre Wyss co-founded u-blox AG in 1997. Since the incorporation of u-blox Holding AG in 2007, Jean-Pierre Wyss served as a Member of the Board of Directors and, until 2011, as CFO. Currently, he is Head of Production and Logistics of u-blox AG. From 1995 to 1997, he was a research assistant and project manager at ETH. Jean-Pierre Wyss is a Member of the Board of Ardo Medical AG, Switzerland. He holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and a Finance for Executives diploma from INSEAD in Singapore. He is a citizen of Switzerland.

Karin Sonnenmoser

Job Titles:
  • Audit Committee ( Chair )
  • Independent Member of the Board / Audit Committee ( Chair
Ms. Sonnenmoser has extensive experience in finance, capital markets and M&A. She currently serves in the Board of Directors of Leoni AG (Germany), a global supplier of wires, cables and wiring systems, and is an independent senior advisor for Innio Jenbacher GmbH & Co KG/ Al Alpine (Luxembourg). Most recently, she served as a Board member of Swiss Steel Group AG (2020 - 2022) and was a member of the Executive Committee of Ceconomy AG (2019 - 2021) where she oversaw strategy, capital market action and M&A. Previously, she was a member of the executive committee of Zumtobel Group AG (2014 - 2018), responsible for strategy and capital market affairs. Before that, she held various finance positions at Volkswagen Group (1995 - 2014), including accounting, controlling, innovation strategy and process optimization. Ms. Sonnenmoser holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Augsburg and an Executive MBA from the University of Dayton, Ohio. She is a citizen of Germany.

Markus Borchert

Job Titles:
  • Independent Member of the Board
Mr. Borchert has more than 25 years of international experience in the telecommunications, IT and IT services industries. Presently, he serves as CEO of Nokia Shanghai Bell and President of Nokia Greater China. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Borchert was leading the European operations of Nokia. Earlier leadership positions with Nokia and Siemens include roles in global sales, strategy, marketing, portfolio management, business unit management and key account management. Mr. Borchert also serves as President of DIGITALEUROPE, Europe's largest industry association for the digital sector, and as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of several joint venture companies of Nokia. He holds a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a citizen of Germany.

Markus Schaefer

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director Global Marketing & Sales
  • Member of the Executive Committee for Global Marketing
Markus Schaefer joined u-blox as Member of the Executive Committee for Global Marketing and Sales in September, 2019 and is based in Thalwil, Switzerland. He holds a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from RWTH Aachen, Germany and an MBA in Leadership from Tiffin University, Ohio, USA. He worked at Infineon Technologies from 1995 to 2009 in Application Engineering, Marketing and Sales, mainly based in San Jose CA, USA. He served as Senior Director of Global Sales and Marketing at NXP for RF and Power Management from 2009 to 2014 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. From 2014 to 2019, Schaefer held the position Head of Sales EMEA and India at MACOM Technologies based in Duesseldorf, Germany. He is a citizen of Germany.

Meet Pelle

wireless seniority, wisdom, always curious to see what wireless can bring to industrial applications Wireless has been a key part of Pelle's life ever since Bluetooth was launched back in 1998. He has had a front‑row seat to watch wireless evolve and even shape the process. But he is still curious to ... Read more

Rafael Duarte

Job Titles:
  • Head of Investor Relations

Roland Jud - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Financial Officer
Roland Jud has been appointed CFO of both u‑blox Holding AG and u‑blox AG in 2011. He holds a degree in economics from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), a diploma as Swiss Certified Auditor (CPA) and a diploma as Certified IFRS/ IAS Accountant. From 1992 until 1999 he was auditor and consultant at KPMG. He served as Group Controller and Deputy CFO at Gurit‑Heberlein Holding AG, Switzerland from 1999 to 2008. Thereafter, he was Head of Accounting, Reporting and ICS at Ascom Holding AG, Switzerland until 2010. From 2010 until 2011 he held the position of CFO and Member of the Executive Committee at Nexgen AG, Switzerland. Roland Jud is a Member of the Advisory Board of c‑crowd AG, Zürich.

Stephan Zizala - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Member of the Executive Committee
Stephan Zizala has served as Chief Executive Officer of u-blox since January 1, 2023. He joined u-blox in October 2022. Prior to joining u-blox, from 2014 to 2022, Stephan led the business line Automotive High Power of the Automotive division of Infineon Technologies AG. He was responsible for high-voltage Silicon and Silicon Carbide, as well as low-voltage power semiconductor products used in electrified, automated, and smart cars. From 2009 to 2013, Stephan headed the business segment of industrial and multimarket microcontrollers. He joined Infineon in 2001 and held several marketing and management positions in various business units, such as microcontrollers, security ICs, and wireless baseband ICs. Prior to joining Infineon, Stephan worked as an associated member of staff in Infineon's mixed-signal development team doing project work for his PhD thesis. His industry expertise includes further positions at Synopsys Inc. and Siemens AG. From 2016 to June 2023 Stephan was a member of the Supervisory Board of Schweizer Electronic AG where he served as Deputy Chairman. Stephan Zizala was born in Augsburg, Germany, in 1972. He holds a Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.-Ing. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Technische Universität München (Technical University Munich), Germany.

Thomas Seiler

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Independent Member of the Board / Strategy Committee ( Chair
  • Strategy Committee ( Chair )
Thomas Seiler has been a Member of the Board of Directors since the incorporation of u-blox Holding AG in 2007. He served as CEO of u-blox AG from 2002 to 2022 and as Head of Marketing and Sales from 2002 until 2019. In 1987, he was appointed Member of the Executive Committee of Melcher Holding AG, Switzerland, where he acted as CEO from 1991 to 1998. Thereafter, he served as CEO of Kistler Holding AG, Switzerland, from 1999 to 2001. Thomas Seiler is operating partner at BLR Partners AG, Switzerland, and chairman of Leitwert AG, Switzerland and of RAAAM Technologies Ltd, Israel. Thomas Seiler holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) and a MBA diploma from INSEAD, France. He is a citizen of Switzerland.

Ulrich Looser

Job Titles:
  • Independent Member of the Board
  • Independent Non - Executive Member of the U - Blox Board of Directors
Mr. Looser is an independent non-executive member of the u-blox Board of Directors. He has vast experience in private equity investments and consultancy. Prior to founding Berg Looser Rauber & Partners in 2009, he was a managing director at Accenture from 2001 - to 2009, after a career at McKinsey & Company (1987 - 2001), with extensive work in the area of finance and accounting. Mr. Looser is a Board member of Kardex Group, Straumann Group as well as LEM, and is a member of various associations and foundations. Mr. Looser holds a master's degree in physics from ETH Zurich and a master's degree in finance and accounting from the University of St. Gallen. He is a citizen of Switzerland.