Ritu Favre: From a Passion in Engineering to Leading Emerson’s T&M Business

Why It Matters

Her journey shows how early STEM encouragement, structured rotations, and mentorship can produce leaders who drive innovation and diversity in the test‑measurement market, a critical segment for emerging technologies.

Key Takeaways

• Early STEM passion propelled Ritu into semiconductor engineering career
• Motorola rotation program launched 25-year tenure, spanning ops to leadership
• Mentorship and advocacy were critical to her rise in male‑dominated fields
• Transition to Silicon Valley startups honed product‑to‑market expertise
• Now leads Emerson’s test‑measurement unit, championing women in engineering

Summary

In this Silicon Grapevine episode, Nitin Dahad interviews Ritu Favre, president of Emerson’s Test & Measurement (T&M) division—formerly National Instruments—who recounts her evolution from a child fascinated by math to a senior executive in the semiconductor and consumer‑electronics sectors.

Favre’s trajectory began with an accelerated education, graduating high school at 15 and earning a bachelor’s in electrical engineering at 18. She entered Motorola’s elite engineering rotation program in 1988, spending 25 years across wafer‑fab operations, RF power amplifiers, and business‑unit leadership, ultimately choosing a management track over a pure technical path.

She credits mentors who nudged her into early managerial roles and later championed her involvement in women‑in‑STEM initiatives. “I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I saw the disparity for other women,” she says, noting her work with the Global Semiconductor Association’s women’s leadership team.

Favre’s later moves to Synaptics, Next Biometrics, and finally Emerson illustrate how cross‑industry experience and product‑to‑market expertise can accelerate leadership in high‑tech firms. Her story underscores the strategic importance of mentorship, rotational programs, and diversity efforts for building the next generation of technology executives.

Original Description

In this episode of Silicon Grapevine, Ritu Favre, president of Emerson’s test and measurement business, talks about her passion for engineering and her path to management.

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