ams’ Jennifer Zhao named ‘Woman of the Year’

“Having Questex recognise Jennifer as ‘Woman of the Year’ is both a great honor and a strong testament that the work she is doing truly has a positive impact on people’s lives,” said Alexander Everke, CEO at ams. “Jennifer and her team drive innovation and build differentiated solutions from sensors for the smartphone industry to using the same technology platform to help the world fight the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Jennifer Zhao joined ams in 2017 and has led the Advanced Optical Sensors division, developing and delivering industry-leading sensor solutions that detect color temperature, proximity, flicker, white balance, blood oxygen levels and more. Zhao’s more recent focus has been on the COVID-19 pandemic. She and the global team she leads in Europe, North America and Asia are reimagining ams spectral sensing technology for use in devices that provide rapid testing and rapid results related to COVID-19 infections.

Her team is working with partners around the world on solutions that will help detect the presence of both COVID-19 antigens and antibodies in lateral flow or PCR tests. Highly accurate, disposable and low-cost testing devices can play a critical role in enabling authorities, health providers and care facilities to carry out much-needed testing at the point-of-care.

“Miniaturised spectral sensing is more valuable than ever for healthcare applications, particularly in today’s global pandemic. Detecting colorimetric and fluorescence information through a tiny, yet powerful, optical sensor enables wide-spread rapid testing at disposable cost levels,” Zhao commented. “I would like to thank Fierce and Questex for this award. My conviction is that technology makes people’s lives better. So it is no coincidence that I now work for a company whose motto is ‘Sensing is life’!” 

Zhao holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and economics from Beijing University in China and a Master of Business Administration degree from Suffolk University in the US. She is fluent in English and Chinese. She is also a board member for the China International Semiconductor Executive Summit (CISES).