15 Oct 2025
Cambridge Mechatronics CEO Dylan Kelly: Deepening Partnership with China's Innovation Ecosystem
Highlights:
- Global SMA technology-leader, CML, accelerates China market expansion.
- CML strengthens local presence with dedicated China team and market-specific products.
- CML reduces licensing costs while providing complete solutions to lower technical adoption barriers for Chinese partners.
About Dylan Kelly, President & CEO
Dylan Kelly brings over 25 years of distinguished experience in the semiconductor industry to his role as President and CEO of Cambridge Mechatronics. Most recently serving as President and COO of Resonant Inc., he spearheaded the company's strategic transformation and successful market introduction of breakthrough acoustic-wave filter technology, culminating in its acquisition by Murata Manufacturing Company.
Kelly holds degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and UC San Diego, and is an active inventor with more than 50 patents. His extensive background in high-growth, high-volume semiconductor markets, combined with his proven track record in bringing advanced technologies to global markets, positions him ideally to lead CML's continued expansion and innovation, particularly in strategic markets like China where precision, scale, and technological excellence are paramount.
Q: As CML's new CEO, what message would you like to deliver to China market?
A: First and foremost, I want to extend warm greetings to all our customers, partners, colleagues, and friends in China. CML has long recognized China as one of our most important strategic markets as most smartphones are designed and manufactured here and lead in innovation. I'm honored to continue building on the strong foundation CML has established here.
CML is the world's leading developer of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuator technology. With over 800 patents granted and pending in our portfolio and technology proven in 100+ million consumer devices worldwide, we've built is an exceptionally strong position in precision micro-actuator technology. China represents much more than a market opportunity—it's a partnership in innovation where we're committed to supporting continued technology leadership.
Q: What is CML's business model today?
A: Our business model is built on deep technical expertise and a robust intellectual property portfolio. We operate across three key revenue streams: selling our silicon controller ICs which are highly optimized for SMA and embed our proprietary SMA control algorithms, earning royalties for our novel and patented actuator designs, and providing engineering services. CML is now firmly established as a fabless semiconductor manufacturer with millions of units shipped and an exciting roadmap to expand the applications of our breakthrough SMA technology.
By providing complete system-level solutions—from actuator designs to silicon controllers, software algorithms, and manufacturing support —this end-to-end approach accelerates time-to-market and ensures consistent performance across high-volume applications.
My semiconductor background in smartphones helps us capitalize on the significant opportunities we see in China's market, enabling our partners—many of whom are leading manufacturers in China and across Asia.
Q: How you envision our role in China's technology ecosystem in five years?
A: Looking ahead five years, I see CML as an indispensable partner in China's continued technology leadership, helping our customers solve the incredible challenges of integrating more functionality into ever shrinking devices. With smaller and lower height actuators, no magnetic or EMI interference, we aim to help our customers’ engineers quickly and smoothly solve their integration challenges. We want to be deeply integrated into our customers’ innovation processes, contributing to their technology roadmaps years in advance and helping them set the standards that define the future of technology.
We try best to understand new technologies requirements from brand customers, lower entry barriers for SMA ecosystem from both cost and technology perspectives.
Q: What are CML's specific expansion plans for China?
A: Before I answer that question, let me share what we've already accomplished in China. We have 13 dedicated engineers supporting our China business, and we've won business from the leading handset makers in China.
Most importantly, we have changed our business model for smartphone camera actuators to align with the needs of the market. We will fairly eliminate upfront license fees and let our partners share the business growth of SMA technology.
As I mentioned, we've established a dedicated China support team, and we're going to invest more resources in China, transferring more know-how from the UK to China. This enables faster, more responsive local support that matches the speed of innovation our Chinese partners demand.
In the meanwhile, we plan to release specialized solution like our upcoming Zhulong AF+OIS actuator series, tailored specifically for Chinese customers and applications.
The Chinese market moves fast, and so do we. We're ready to support ambitious timelines and help our partners maintain their competitive edge in dynamic markets.
About Cambridge Mechatronics Limited
Cambridge Mechatronics Limited (CML) is the world's leading developer of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuator technology. The company's innovative solutions enable high-performance applications requiring exceptional precision, force, and miniaturization. With over 800 patents and technology proven in nearly 100 million devices, CML partners with global leaders across smartphone, XR, automotive, medical, and industrial sectors.
Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, CML maintains operations worldwide to support its global customer base and supply chain partners.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Greta Xiong, Marketing Communications Manager at CML
Email: [email protected]