August 21, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, announced that the IEEE has awarded a prestigious IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing award for the floating gate electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a significant technological innovation that enabled data storage in Flash memory.
Developed by Dr. Eli Harari, SanDisk’s co-founder and retired CEO, floating gate EEPROM technology fostered the use of flash memory in smartphones, tablets and other consumer electronics devices that enable today’s smart digital lifestyle.
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IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association, recognized the achievement at a ceremony at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.
“The IEEE Milestone recognizes the breakthrough technology of the floating gate EEPROM which proved the practicality, reliability, manufacturability and endurance of semiconductor-based data storage,” said Dr. Gordon Day, IEEE President. “It is the fundamental technology that allows ubiquitous personal access to data through new types of personal computing and communications devices.”
Today, flash memory is a $26 billion market and is used in billions of products worldwide. Due to its combination of fast performance, ruggedness, small footprint and low power consumption, flash memory is used in a growing number of applications — whether it is an SSD in a financial data center efficiently and reliably managing high volume transactions, a memory card that captures photos and videos or a USB flash drive that stores and transfers important work files.
“Eli’s vision and ability to see new market opportunities for flash storage in a wide range of portable electronic devices was years ahead of others,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and CEO, SanDisk Corporation. “His pioneering work on nonvolatile memory and leadership in the development of system flash eventually led to the creation of the hugely successful flash memory industry and established SanDisk as a global leader.”
The IEEE Milestones in Electrical Engineering and Computing program honors significant technical achievements that occurred at least 25 years ago in technology areas associated with IEEE. Past awards have acknowledged the work of inventors like Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison; and technologies that had a profound effect on daily life such as the integrated circuit and ARPANET, precursor to the Internet. To date, more than 100 IEEE Milestones have been approved and dedicated around the world. The award also recognizes technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) is a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, from research and development, product design and manufacturing to branding and distribution for OEM and retail channels. SanDisk is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company, with more than half its sales outside the United States. For more information, visit www.sandisk.com.