The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), in collaboration with the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), today announced the winners of its 2018 University Research Awards: Dr. Judy Hoyt, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Dr. Naresh Shanbhag, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professors Hoyt and Shanbhag will receive the awards in conjunction with the SIA Annual Award Dinner on Nov. 29, 2018 in San Jose, Calif.
“Research is the lifeblood of innovation, spurring new technologies that drive growth in the semiconductor industry and throughout the U.S. economy,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO of SIA, which represents U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research. “Throughout their distinguished careers, Professors Hoyt and Shanbhag have advanced groundbreaking scientific research, driven breakthroughs in semiconductor technology, and helped strengthen America’s global technological leadership. We are pleased to recognize Dr. Hoyt and Dr. Shanbhag for their tremendous accomplishments.”
Neuffer also highlighted the importance of government investments in semiconductor research funded through agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He expressed SIA’s readiness to work with the Trump administration and Congress to prioritize these investments in scientific research.
“The University Research Award was established to recognize lifetime achievements in semiconductor research by university faculty,” said Ken Hansen, president & CEO of SRC. “Drs. Shanbhag and Hoyt have repeatedly advanced the state-of-the-art semiconductor design and technology in their respective fields. These esteemed professors’ influence on their students has produced new leaders and contributors in the semiconductor industry. The research output from universities tackling industry relevant challenges plays an integral role in next-generation innovations. It is with great appreciation and admiration that the entire SRC team congratulates Dr. Shanbhag and Dr. Hoyt.”
Dr. Hoyt will receive the honor for excellence in semiconductor technology research. She is being recognized for her contributions in pioneering development of strained Si MOSFET devices. Dr. Hoyt’s work helped to break the 10nm barrier and is broadly adopted by companies such as Intel, TSMC, IBM, and others. From 1988-1999, Dr. Hoyt was a senior research scientist in electrical engineering at Stanford University. In January 2000, she joined the faculty at MIT in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She currently serves as associate director within the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL). Dr. Hoyt received a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University.
Dr. Shanbhag will receive the award for excellence in semiconductor design research. Specifically, he is being honored for pioneering an Information-Theoretic approach for computing by fusing Claude Shannon’s theory for communications with Turing machines. After designing DSL chip-sets at AT&T Bell Laboratories (1993-1995), he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering where he now holds the Jack S. Kilby Professorship. He co-founded Intersymbol Communications, Inc., and served as CTO (2000-2007), bringing electronic dispersion compensation chip-sets for OC-192 ultra long-haul fiber optic links. In January 2013, Dr. Shanbhag became the founding director of the Systems On Nanoscale Information fabriCs (SONIC) Center, a five-year, multi-university center funded by DARPA and SRC. Dr. Shanbhag received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Electrical Engineering.