Semiconductor Research Corporation Recognizes Innovation and Excellence at their 25th TECHCON Networking Event
AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#connectinginnovators–Every year, Semiconductor Research Corporation honors excellence across the semiconductor research community with awards for industry professionals and university researchers. SRC is proud to announce the 2023 slate of award winners; details can be found at https://www.src.org/award/.
The SRC Champion Award recognizes a member of the community who goes above and beyond their normal duties to evangelize for SRC. The SRC Champion shares their passion and excitement for SRC throughout their company, the community, and beyond. The 2023 SRC Champion is Dr. Harsono Simka of Samsung. Dr. Simka’s association with SRC goes back to his graduate school days as an SRC Research Scholar at MIT. While at Intel (previously) and Samsung (currently), Dr. Simka has participated actively as a liaison and advisory board member, ensuring his company’s tight integration with SRC research programs to gain maximum value. With expertise in the field of semiconductor devices and materials, Dr. Simka has mentored both faculty and SRC Research Scholars to develop their research ideas into industry-relevant solutions. Dr. Simka is incredibly diligent, hard-working, and a great asset to his company. Congratulations, Dr. Harsono Simka!
The SRC Aristotle Award recognizes SRC-supported faculty whose deep commitment to the educational experience of students has had a profound and continuing impact on their professional performance and consequently a significant impact for members over a long period of time. The 2023 Aristotle Award winner is Dr. Mark Tehranipoor of the University of Florida. SRC Research Scholars advised by Prof. Tehranipoor work directly with semiconductor and technology industry experts in many forms, such as direct research collaboration, formal presentations of research results, and co-authoring of papers. Through these experiences, these students gain valuable professional and technical skills. In the almost 20 years that Professor Tehranipoor has been funded by SRC, his students have worked with past and current SRC member companies such as AMD, Arm, Cadence, GlobalFoundries, Intel, IBM, Mentor (Siemens), NXP, Qualcomm, Synopsys, and Texas Instruments. Collaborations often result in internships which generate both technology transfers to industry as well as the direct hiring of students into companies. Prof. Tehranipoor has supervised nearly 30 dissertations, 17 postdocs/research professors, 7 master’s degrees, and 60 undergraduate students while currently supervising 29 PhDs/5 postdocs. Congratulations, Professor Tehranipoor!
The Technical Excellence Award recognizes research of exceptional value to SRC members by significantly enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of the semiconductor industry. The 2023 Technical Excellence Award winner is Dr. Srabanti Chowdhury of Stanford University. Dr. Chowdhury is an expert in her field and a key researcher in the SRC/DARPA JUMP ComSenter. With Dr. Chowdhury’s revolutionary invention, diamond layers with high thermal conductivity can be grown adjacent to active RF and power devices in GaN and SiC semiconductors, representing a path that could significantly address the difficult program of heat management in devices. In addition to her outstanding technical acumen, Dr. Chowdhury is recognized for the openness and transparency of her research. Congratulations, Dr. Srabanti Chowdhury!
The Young Faculty Award recognizes and promotes rising researchers in the SRC community. A key selection criteria for this award is distinction in research that shows novelty in research and technical research execution, and that greatly enriches the SRC research agenda. The 2023 Young Faculty Award winner is Dr. Mohsen Imani. Dr. Imani, SRC Research Scholar alumni from the SRC/DARPA JUMP CRISP Center, won the Best Doctorate Research Award from UC San Diego in 2020 and is now an Assistant Professor at the University of California at Irvine. His contributions in brain-inspired hyperdimensional computing have led to the development of ultra-efficient learning and cognitive support systems. A prolific author, Dr. Imani has earned more than 4,500 citation counts. Notably, his work includes over 30 joint publications with SRC member companies, 15 of which were published within the last two years. Congratulations, Dr. Mohsen Imani!
The Sustainable Future Award recognizes and celebrates noteworthy SRC research aligned to SRC’s Commitment to Sustainability. The 2023 Sustainable Future Award winner is Dr. Damian Helbling of Cornell University. Dr. Helbling’s work in identifying the sources of PFAS substances in photolithography wastewater (Project 2989.001) has helped SRC member companies to determine the sources of PFAS sources in lithography wastewater which in turn can enable point-of-use abatement systems. Dr. Helbling’s team, in collaboration with EMD Materials, GlobalFoundries, IBM, Intel, Micron, and TI, have developed an analytical technique to quantify ultra short-chain PFAS compounds in fab wastewater. The results from this project are critical to industry and academia. Congratulations, Dr. Helbling!
The SRC Innovation Award recognizes patents and IP arising from SRC research that represent inventive approaches that have made a significant impact on the semiconductor industry. The 2023 Innovation Award winner is US 11474145B2: “Methods of determining operating conditions of silicon carbide power MOSFET devices associated with aging, related circuits and computer program products” by Professor Bilal Akin of the University of Texas at Dallas. Issued in 2020, this influential research was generated from two projects, “Fault Characterization and Degradation Monitoring of SiC Devices” (Project 2712.026) and “Reconfigurable AC Power Cycling Setup and Plug-in Condition Monitoring Tools for High Power IGBT and SiC Modules” (Project 2810.054). The patent has helped develop a tool that can monitor for unexpected shutdowns or failures in aging power electronic systems. Some of the findings have been deployed in Texas Instruments’ UCC5870 gate driver, the latest high-end gate driver for EVs, and have been used by more than 10 automotive OEMs. Congratulations, Dr. Bilal Akin!
The Mahboob Khan Outstanding Liaison Award recognizes Liaisons who have had a significant impact on the technical contributions of the research, have been instrumental in transferring the research results to industry, and are deeply committed to the education of graduate students. The 2023 Mahboob Khan Outstanding Liaison Award winners are Aleksandar Aleksov (Intel), Lakshmanan Balasubramanian (Texas Instruments), Yusheng Bian (GlobalFoundries), Qiao Chen (Texas Instruments), Ramesh Chauhan (Qualcomm), Charles Dezelah (ASM), Daniel Edelstein (IBM), Mahzabeen Islam (AMD), Mahesh Ketkar (Intel), Sandhya Koteshwara (IBM), Steve Kramer (Micron Technology), Ram Krishnamurthy (Intel), Arvind Kumar (IBM), Souvikk Kundu (Intel), Hung-Yun Lin (Texas Instruments), Gabriele Manganaro (MediaTek), Abishek Manian (Texas Instruments), Kevin O’Brien (Intel), Srivatsa Rangachar Srinivasa (Intel), Ashoke Ravi (Intel), Patricio Romero (ASM), Mingyuan Song (TSMC), David Speed (GlobalFoundries), Savithri Sundareswaran (NXP), Kanda Tapily (Tokyo Electron Ltd.), Alberto Valdes-Garcia (IBM), Sam Vaziri (TSMC), Yi (Yasmine) Yan (Texas Instruments), and Xin Zhang (IBM). Congratulations to these outstanding Liaisons!
These awards are presented at SRC’s TECHCON, being held this year in Austin, TX. Now in its 25th year, TECHCON is a unique event in the industry because it facilitates direct interaction between semiconductor industry professionals and SRC Research Scholars. This year’s event features 188 student presenters. The student population is quite diverse: 50% of the students are women or under-represented minorities, and the student presenters include undergrads, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, with sixteen international attendees coming from Canada, England, India, Switzerland, Taiwan, and United Arab Emirates. SRC member company engineers, scientists, and recruiters flock to this event to exchange technology, share career insights, and experience unique networking opportunities through both formal events and informal conversations.
About SRC: Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) is a world-class, non-profit consortium that works with industry, government, and academia partners to define, fund and manage university research on behalf of its member companies. Through its highly regarded research programs, SRC plays an indispensable part in both research and development strategies of the most influential industry leaders. Members of SRC gain access to research results, fundamental IP, and highly experienced students to compete in the global marketplace and build the workforce of tomorrow. For more information and to stay informed on our advancements, visit www.src.org.
Contacts
Jennifer Dickens, jennifer.dickens@src.org, 919-941-9423
