IEEE Awards Booklet - 2020 - 23

2020 IEEE TECHNICAL FIELD AWARDS

IEEE Gustav Robert Kirchhoff Award

IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Graduate Teaching Award

Sponsored by the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society

Sponsored by the Leon K. Kirchmayer Memorial Fund

Martin Hasler

Shu Lin

For fundamental contributions
to nonlinear circuit theory and
nonlinear dynamics

For transforming graduate education in
the fields of coding theory, information
theory, and digital communications

Using his expertise in theoretical physics, Martin Hasler has
helped make sense out of chaos occurring in nonlinear circuits for
applications including secure communications. Hasler was among
the first researchers to discover that chaos is possible in simple
nonlinear circuits. When circuit researchers had viewed the presence of small levels of chaotic behavior in circuits simply as noise
that should be eliminated, Hasler demonstrated how chaos can be
used to perform technical functions such as the transmission of
messages. He showed that such functions rely on synchronizing
two circuits, with one circuit encoding information in a transmitted "chaotic message" and the other extracting the information
from the chaotic message. He also presented theoretical results
and basic system structure for secure chaotic communication applicable to encryption in broadband communication.
An IEEE Life Fellow, Hasler is an Honorary Professor with
the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,Vaud, Switzerland.

One of the world's most prolific authors of graduate textbooks
focusing on coding theory, Shu Lin has for over 45 years impacted the education of countless engineers and scientists working
in areas related to reliable data communication and storage. His
Introduction to Error Correcting Codes (Prentice-Hall, 1970) coincided with the need for stand-alone graduate courses in coding
theory, and the text is still a go-to reference today. He followed
that text with three other best-selling coding books. In the classroom, Lin imparts his real-world experience to his students, having developed many coding schemes that have been adopted in
communications standards. His students relate that he not only
provides them with coding knowledge but also the methodology
of engineering.
An IEEE Life Fellow, Lin is an adjunct professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Davis, CA, USA.

IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications
Award

IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award
Sponsored by the IEEE Power Electronics Society

Sponsored by NEC Corporation

Balaji Prabhakar

Ivo Barbi

For contributions to the theory and practice of network algorithms and protocols, in particular Internet routers, data
centers, and self-programming networks

For contributions to soft-switching converter technologies and power electronics education

The network algorithms and protocols developed by Balaji Prabhakar are enabling more efficient operation of communications networks impacting the Internet, data centers, and societal networks.
He designed the main switch scheduling and line-card algorithms
for Nexus 5000, the flagship data center switch family for Cisco
Systems and led the standardization of the QCN algorithm (IEEE
802.1Qau). His work on self-programming networks allows data
centers and cloud computing platforms to adapt to varying load
and network conditions by sensing, inferring, learning, and controlling network operations. A result of this work is the Huygens clock
synchronization algorithm, which is impacting the financial industry.
An IEEE and ACM Fellow, Prabhakar is the VMware Founders
Professor of Computer Science with the Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science Departments at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.

Ivo Barbi's innovative concepts for soft-switching converter
technologies have reduced the stresses encountered during operation of power equipment, providing smoother and more efficient results for applications including telecommunications, radar, and laser power supplies. Compared to hard switching, where
stress occurs because current and voltage may not be at zero, soft
switching enables switching at zero voltage (ZVS) and zero current (ZCS). He helped develop a three-level ZVS-pulse-widthmodulation dc-dc converter, which changed the field by bringing
the advances of ZVS to converters that can handle higher voltage levels. He also proposed new topologies impacting telecom
energy systems including a three-phase/level unidirectional PFC
rectifier for compactness and a two-state switching cell for one of
the most efficient telecom power supplies over the last 10 years.
An IEEE Life Fellow, Barbi is an Emeritus Professor with the
Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil.

23 | 2020 IEEE AWARDS BOOKLET

IEEE Awards Booklet - 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Awards Booklet - 2020