The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) today announced the recipients of the 2022 University Research Awards: Dr. Mark J.W. Rodwell, Doluca Family Endowed Chair and Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Dr. Tajana Šimunić Rosing, Fratamico Endowed Chair and Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of California, San Diego.
SIA and SRC present the University Research Awards annually to individuals who demonstrate excellence in advancing research in semiconductor technology and design. Professors Rodwell and Rosing will receive the awards at the SIA Awards Dinner on Nov. 17, 2022 in San Jose, Calif.
“Research drives game-changing innovations in semiconductors and the countless technologies they enable,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO of SIA, which represents U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research. “Through their excellence in semiconductor research, Professors Rodwell and Rosing are advancing American innovation and helping make the world smarter, more efficient, and better connected. We are pleased to recognize Dr. Rodwell and Dr. Rosing for their tremendous accomplishments.”
Neuffer also highlighted the importance of recent enactment of the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides critical semiconductor manufacturing incentives and research investments. This federal research funding will complement existing large investments from the semiconductor industry, which plows about one-fifth of revenue into R&D. Robust investments in research, including semiconductor research, are vital to maintaining our country’s technological edge.
“SRC is excited to select, in close collaboration with our industry members, Professor Mark Rodwell and Professor Tajana Rosing for the University Research Awards in semiconductor technology and design, respectively,” said Dr. Todd Younkin, President and CEO of SRC. “They join a distinguished lineup of past award winners based on their incredible contributions into the semiconductor industry.”
Professor Mark Rodwell will receive the honor for excellence in semiconductor technology research. Professor Rodwell’s development of millimeter and sub-millimeter-wave indium phosphide (InP) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) and III-V metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) have tremendously extended the limits of high-frequency radio, high-speed optical communications, and imaging applications. His work has not only enabled ultra-high-speed 5G wireless radios and links, but has also closed the “Terahertz Gap” to make the next generation of 6G communications and high-resolution cameras and imagers possible. Professor Rodwell is an IEEE Fellow and has received numerous awards, including the 1997 IEEE Microwave Prize, the 1998 European Microwave Conference Microwave Prize, and the 2010 IEEE Sarnoff Award.
Professor Tajana Rosing will receive the award for excellence in semiconductor design research. Inspired by the human brain, Professor Rosing’s research work on hyperdimensional computing systems has been accelerated in hardware such as GPUs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and PIM to handle high-dimensional vectors in data-intensive applications, including COVID-19 sequence analysis, drug discovery, personalized healthcare, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Her approaches are delivering impressive accuracy in learning from big data with excellent performance, extreme energy efficiency, and robustness. Professor Rosing is a both an IEEE and ACM Fellow.