Lia (Ying) LiFounder

United Kingdom - Bristol, England

I work on disruptive optical technologies which redefine the limits of precision. My company Zero Point Motion creates chipscale optical inertial sensors to improve positioning and navigation for high volume markets. If you’re interested in helping us disrupt the inertial sensing market, apply to work with us here: https://zeropointmotion.com/

Throughout my career I’ve been obsessed with light; before my Ph.D. I built lasers at Imperial College and developed optical fiber and chip technologies at BAE Systems. I then completed a Ph.D. at UCL in the area of cavity optomechanics, publishing papers on quantum sensing, and completing field trials of my sensors with Dstl.

After successfully inventing multiple technologies with four granted patents in industry and academia, I set up Zero Point Motion to focus on my own vision; filling a gap in the UK semiconductor market to tap into the $16Bn inertial sensing market. In 2020 I invented Zero Point Motion’s foundation patents, honed my CEO skills through Bristol University’s QTEC incubator, and subsequently raised a £2.58m seed round and £3.4M of non-dilutive grant funding from Innovate UK and the European Innovation Council.

My accolades include being awarded Sensors Converge Woman of the Year 2023, the Institute of Physics Clifford Paterson Medal in 2021 and a 2022 Innovate UK Women in Innovation award. I’m a strong public speaker and science communicator, and have been featured by Google Arts & Culture, New Scientist, Institute of Physics and Nature.

Coming from a physics background where there are substantial challenges in diversity, I’ve held positions on steering groups and driven initiatives to progress gender and race equity in science. I believe that science should be accessible to all, and as a female founder I want to challenge stereotypes in both technology innovation and business.