IEEE Awards Booklet - 2015 - 22

2015 ieee technical field awards

IEEE Daniel E. Noble Award for Emerging Technologies

IEEE Donald O. Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits

Sponsored by the Motorola Solutions Foundation

Sponsored by the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society

Khalil najafi

robert w. adams

For leadership in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technologies and
devices and for seminal contributions to
inertial devices and hermetic wafer-level
packaging

For contributions to noise-shaping data
converter circuits, digital signal processing, and log-domain analog filters

The visionary contributions of Khalil Najafi have helped advance
the development of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)
technology synonymous with the sensors ingrained in today's automotive, mobile, and biomedical applications. In 1994 he developed the first micromachined vibrating ring gyroscope featuring
a high-aspect ratio electroplated nickel process integrated with
CMOS electronics. This device was commercialized and became
the highest performing automotive gyroscope. His work showing that sensitive multi-axis accelerometers could be fabricated
in a system-in-package approach helped the introduction of accelerometers in mobile phones. He also demonstrated wafer-level
vacuum encapsulation with a biocompatible glass-silicon package
that could remain airtight for 20 years, which paved the way for
implantable wireless biomedical devices.
An IEEE Fellow, Dr. Najafi is the Schlumberger Professor of
Engineering and Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering
at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

The pioneering contributions of Robert W. Adams to delta-sigma
data conversion technology laid the groundwork responsible for
the professional-quality audio featured in today's digital consumer
devices. His "noise-shaped segmentation" concept permits costeffective integrated circuits using less space and power to deliver
high-quality audio. Mr. Adams designed one of the earliest digital
audio recorders, and he introduced the first audio converter with
18-bit resolution. In the signal-processing domain, he developed
the first integrated asynchronous sample-rate converter for audio
as well as a line of audio CODECs with an embedded DSP core
of his own design, used extensively in today's automotive audio
systems. He also discovered the log-domain analog filter principle
in 1978, which provided a fundamental new building block for
analog designers.
An IEEE Fellow, Mr. Adams is currently a Fellow with Analog
Devices, Inc., Wilmington, MA, USA.

IEEE Frederik Philips Award

IEEE Photonics Award

Sponsored by the IEEE Photonics Society

Benedetto vigna

philip st. J. russell

For leadership in conceiving,
developing, and commercializing
micro-electro-mechanical systems
(MEMS)

For pioneering contributions to the
conception and realization of photonic
crystal fibers

One of the pioneers of consumer micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), Benedetto Vigna is a key technology driver of the
tiny sensors and actuators that have revolutionized the portable
electronics landscape. Dr. Vigna's foundational work on accelerometers and gyroscopes has paved the way for over 170 patents
representing MEMS technology. In 1995, Dr.Vigna joined STMicroelectronics' R&D Labs and launched the company's efforts in
MEMS, leading the company's development of groundbreaking
MEMS products that transformed computer gaming and enabled
smartphones, tablets, and whole new industries that rely on small,
affordable, and easy-to-use sensing. Called "The Man Behind the
Chip Behind the Wii" in 2007 by IEEE Spectrum, Dr. Vigna and
his MEMS group quickly elevated STMicroelectronics to one of
the leaders in consumer MEMS technology.
An IEEE Member, Dr.Vigna is currently executive vice president and general manager of the Analog, MEMS & Sensors
Group, STMicroelectronics, Geneva, Switzerland.

Philip Russell's invention of photonic crystal fiber technology in
1991 opened a completely new field of research in photonics. He
continues to be a leading authority in the field and has developed
many key aspects of photonic crystal fiber technology, including
endlessly single-mode "holey" fibers and hollow-core photonic
bandgap fibers. Compared to traditional optical fiber, which is made
from solid glass, photonic crystal fiber is typically microstructured
with an array of hollow channels that allows tailored control of the
light passing through the fiber, providing great flexibility. The fibers
have found a wide range of unique applications, many of them pioneered by Prof. Russell, including broadband supercontinuum light
sources, high-power fiber lasers, fiber-optic communications, scientific and medical imaging, microscopy, laser beam delivery, sensing,
and pressure-tunable gas-based ultraviolet light sources.
Dr. Russell is a founding director of the Max Planck Institute
for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany, and professor of physics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.

22 | 2015 IEEE AWARDS BOOKLET

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Awards Booklet - 2015