ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Charities
    5. Coronavirus
    6. Corporate and financial reporting
    7. Business and governance
    8. Ethics
    9. Insolvency
    10. ICAS Research
    11. Pensions
    12. Practice
    13. Public sector
    14. Sustainability
    15. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

Cameron McAulay CA on how tech is changing the future of energy

The future of energy header
  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By CA magazine

31 March 2022

Cameron's career

Education: Studied maths, statistics and accountancy at University of Strathclyde

2002: Made Financial Accountant at SMG

2004: Joins National Semiconductor as Finance Director, later moving to San Jose as Chief Audit Executive

2011: Appointed FD, Microcontroller and Touch Divisions, Atmel

2012: Moves to KLA as Director, WW Sales Finance

2015: Switches to Transphorm as CFO

With a new Nasdaq listing and demand for energy efficiency soaring, Transphorm’s semiconductors could be set to go into overdrive. CFO Cameron McAulay CA talks to Ryan Herman about gallium nitride’s potential to change the way we store energy

Read April's CA magazine now

On 23 February, Cameron McAulay CA was at the Nasdaq in Times Square, New York. He and his colleagues had travelled from California to ring the bell for the close of trading and to mark the occasion of Transphorm, a leading manufacturer of high-voltage power semiconductors, being “uplisted” on to the second biggest stock exchange in the world. It was a significant milestone, not just for a company that was founded 15 years ago, but also as the culmination of two years’ work for McAulay, its CFO.

The semiconductor is the product on which Silicon Valley’s fortunes were built. Transphorm differs from its many competitors by using the chemical compound gallium nitride (GaN), something that could have a profound effect on the energy sector as we try to reduce consumption along with our reliance on fossil fuels.

Speaking with CA magazine, McAulay presents two power adaptors – one uses a silicon semiconductor; the other, which is both significantly smaller and five times more powerful, GaN. “It’s more power efficient and has more power density. This means, when swapping silicon semiconductors for GaN ones in any power supply, you can get much more power out of the same size supply unit, or the same power out of a smaller unit,” says McAulay. “And we’ve got semiconductor products that can go from power adaptors all the way to cars, which is like going from 45W to 10kW or more.”

Because silicon-based chargers heat up as they are used, they lose more power than the more efficient GaN-based ones. McAulay says: “Across every application, we reduce those energy losses and increase power. Our technology provides a lighter and more effective solution.”

Applying that technology to electric vehicles (EVs) is where Transphorm hopes to make the great leap forwards, both financially and environmentally. A GaN on-board charger would be quicker to charge and increase driving range, perhaps overcoming the single biggest factor behind “EV hesitancy” – namely the distance an EV can travel without needing a charge point.

As McAulay says: “In America, everyone drives cars. I live in San Jose, which is 270 miles from Transphorm’s HQ in Santa Barbara. That’s not an easy journey to make in an EV right now. When someone produces a car that has a 500–600-mile drive range, and it’s relatively cost-effective, that’s going to be an absolute game-changer.

“California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, is talking about having only electric vehicles within a pretty short period [by 2035]. And for companies like us who can help to make that change happen, it’s a great opportunity.”

From the ground up

While GaN-based semiconductors are more expensive to produce than silicon ones, and its use in EV chargers is still in development, GaN adoption is increasing rapidly in adaptors and datacentre and crypto-mining power supplies, for example. Transphorm’s Nasdaq listing will be crucial both for exposure and for enabling McAulay to go out and sell the business’s products.

“A lot of my time is spent talking to investors and analysts to make sure people understand the strength of our story and the company’s potential. We’re growing, but there’s still a long way to go,” he says. “And there are huge markets where we can displace silicon. So listing on Nasdaq is a wonderful way to give us a broader platform to spread the story and to talk more about Transphorm.

“A lot of work was done to raise money to shore up the balance sheet and to make sure that we’ve got a really solid financial platform, because one of the things they’re not looking for is companies with ‘going concern’ issues. You have to be able to address such areas: do you have a good compliance structure? Do you have a strong, independent board? Do have you have a good cash position and balance sheet? Are you growing as a business?

“We raised $60m (£46m) over the latter part of 2021 through a combination of strategic and institutional investments and loan conversions. That allowed us to go back to Nasdaq and say we have this really good financial platform that we can use to invest in the business, invest in people, invest in capital and grow.”

McAulay’s passion for the growing business is informed by nearly 20 years in semiconductor manufacturing, which has taken him from Greenock to California. “I worked with National Semiconductor in Scotland, where the CEO was a CA called Don Macleod. It had a programme that each year gave one of the team an opportunity to come out to Silicon Valley. That was too good to pass up.”

So McAulay packed his bags to go and work in the company’s San Jose offices. “National Semiconductor did a great job of growing people. I worked in manufacturing and the product line and the internal audit group. Then, after a stint at KLA, I got the chance to join Transphorm as CFO in 2015. It was a KKR-backed company [the private equity firm invested $70m shortly before McAulay joined]. I knew about GaN and its capabilities. And again, I just couldn’t say no.”

Right now, however, every company making semiconductors, be they silicon or GaN, faces one huge challenge. Even though more than one trillion semiconductors were shipped in 2021, it wasn’t enough to meet the demand, largely because of supply chain issues caused by Covid-19.

McAulay explains, “Silicon is plentiful. Gallium and nitrogen are plentiful. The challenge has been in normal components of semiconductors, such as the core materials used for the power transistor packages. Part of my job at this point is planning ahead in the supply chain because what used to be a 12-week lead time is now a 25–35-week lead time. What we have to do is keep feeding the demand that the company has and keep growing the revenue.

“Semiconductor sales are going up 20% year on year, and you’re seeing more companies pour money into capital expenditure to grow capacity. And we’re no different. So, we’re ordering much earlier than we otherwise would have done, because we want to continue to grow despite the challenging circumstances. And I think it will be challenging – certainly for the short term, at least.”

Cool heads

Surging fuel prices may have consequences for Transphorm and the semiconductor industry, potentially fuelling interest in GaN as an alternative to silicon and accelerating investment in and adoption of both EVs and GaN batteries.

The pandemic has also built resilience into Transphorm. Its plan to go public was made six weeks before the US started imposing Covid restrictions. For McAulay, it meant keeping a cool head, providing clarity and drawing on his experience and training as a CA.

“What you learn from going through that process with ICAS is a bedrock of behaviours,” he says. “Even when I was at a smaller firm, I was learning how to communicate finance to non-finance people. I still call on that every day. That ability to communicate with any part of the business is a very important one.

“Another thing I still take from becoming a CA is you have to really make sure you understand the business and the environment you work in. The CA isn’t just an accounting qualification, it’s also a business qualification. At the time I was going through qualification, I underestimated that value.

“Then, moving to the US brought out a certain side in me, to be a bit more gregarious, which is a good thing. People here are more inclined to share their views. But the mindset of ‘getting things done’ is no different in Scotland than it is in the US.”

With investment pouring into the company and the sense that long-term global winds are blowing in its favour, Transphorm could be the perfect place to test that can-do mindset. “We’ve all worked so hard to get to this point and it’s now a case of taking things forward to the next level,” he says. “I’ve got no doubt that we’ve got the product to do it and we’ve got the team to do it.”

transphormusa.com

Read April's CA magazine now

CA Mag Mar 2020 Hero

CA magazine: March 2022

By Sarah Speirs, ICAS Executive Director of Member Engagement and Communication

23 February 2022

Finance + Technology

Explore our latest insights on opportunities in tech and AI. Technology will be our focus theme throughout April.

2-23-totumpro 2-23-totumpro
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: