Semiconductor Research Corporation

Technical Excellence Award

2010 Call for Nominations 

Submission deadline: Monday, April 19th

The Technical Excellence Award was established as an incentive and recognition program for research of exceptional value to GRC members. Authorized by the Board of Directors in December 1991, the award is intended to complement the Inventor Recognition Award. The Technical Excellence Award is shared among key contributors for innovative technology that significantly enhances the productivity/competitiveness of the semiconductor industry. To date 25 research efforts have received the award.

Selection Process

Nominations are accepted from all members of the GRC community for work performed during the previous year. Most nominations are from industry, indicating the extent to which results from GRC-funded programs are being applied by the industry. In reviewing each nomination for the award, the Awards Review Committee considers creativity, relevance to GRC/industry research objectives, value to industry, and the researcher's role in technology transfer. The Awards Committee presents its recommendations to the Board of Directors; the Board approves and confirms all award recipients. The award is presented during the fall of each year.

Past Awards

2008 Award

The 2008 Technical Excellence Award was presented to a team of researchers from Portland State University led by Professor W. Robert Daasch, and supported by students Liwei Ning (PhD 2009), and Amit Nahar (MS 2006) for their research, "Burn-in Reduction: Improving Outlier Screening". To learn more about their work, view the poster presentation . Award Presentation

2007 Award

Professor Madhavan Swaminathan along with his team of current and former Georgia Tech students, Jinwoo Choi, Rohan Mandrekar, and Krishna Srinvasan, were recognized for their work entitled "Modeling and Co-Simulation of Power Distribution Networks for Digital and Mixed Signal Systems." To learn more about their work, view the poster presentation  from TECHCON 2007. Award Presentation

2006 Award

Professor Gennady Gildenblat and his student Weimin Wu of Arizona State University received the award for work that some say has revolutionized MOSFET Modeling. The work was recently selected as the next standard compact MOSFET model by the Compact Model Council. According to nominator, Colin McAndrews of Freescale Semiconductor, "he has assiduously leveraged industrial partners to make sure his model solves real problems. And, apart from BSIM, his model is the most successful modeling work funded by SRC in terms of making its way into simulators and being used by, and having an impact on the industry. Award Presentation

2005 Award

Professor Kaushik Roy of Purdue University and his team of 11 student researchers were selected for their investigations in the various aspects of device/circuit and architecture design for ultra low power digital sub-threshold operations. Over the past 10 years Dr. Roy's leadership has resulted in many Best Paper awards and numerous publications for him and his student researchers. More information about the research team.

2004 Award

SRC selected three professors who lead two technical programs, one at the University of Washington and the other at Carnegie Mellon University as recipients of the 2004 Technical Excellence Award. Dr. Mani Soma's work in "Test Methods for RF Systems” has influence many within the SRC community. Professors Rick Carley and Rob Rutenbar have a long relationship with SRC; their work in "Electronic Design Automation for Analog / Mixed-Signal Design" has made an impact among several SRC member companies. Collectively, they have influenced nearly a generation of students who now are making a difference within the SRC member community. They have consistently tackled tough, real-world issues and offered creative technical solutions that are transferred into many member company processes. Award Presentation

2003 Award

Professor Sachin Sapatnekar of the University of Minnesota was honored for his work in the area of "Analysis and Optimization of Signal and Supply Networks". Richard Schinella, Chairman of SRC Board of Directors recognized his achievements at TECHCON 2003. Award Presentation

2001 Award

Professors Supriyo Datta and Mark Lundstrom of Purdue University were presented the Technical Excellence Award for their work in the area "Device Physics and Simulation of nanoscale MOSFETs" by Board of Director's, Chairman, Mark Pinto at the November 2002 meeting. Award Presentation

2000 Award

Dr. Jason Cong of the University of California/Los Angeles was recognized for his work in area "Interconnect Estimation Planning and Synthesis for Deep Sub-micron Designs" at the November 2001 Board of Directors meeting. Award Presentation

1999 Award

Dr. Lawrence Pileggi of Carnegie Mellon University was honored at the Techcon 2000 for his work on "Simplified Inductance and Capacitance Extraction Algorithms." Award Presentation

1998 Award

Dr. Sung-Mo (Steve) Kang of the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign received the award for his work in "Modeling, Simulation and Design Guidelines for VLSI Reliability". Dr. David Joy of the University of Tennessee received the award for "Ultra Low Energy Electron Imaging for Metrology at 0.13 and Below." Award Presentation

1997 Award

Dr. William Oldham, Dr. Richard Schenker and Dr. Fan Piao of the University of California/Berkeley for their work on "Advanced Lithography Research Network." This research involved the study of how light affects the lithographic lens materials used in semiconductor manufacturing. Press Release

1996 Award

Dr. Grant Willson, Dr. Tsutomu Shimokawa, Mr. Kyle Patterson, Mr. Uzodinma Okoroanyanwu, and Mr. David Medeiros of the University of Texas/Austin for their work on "Advanced Resists." This research involved the investigation of new chemical platforms for the design of high performance 193-nm photoresists.

1995 Award

Dr. Randall Bryant, Dr. Edmund Clarke, and Dr. Kenneth McMillan of Carnegie Mellon University, for their work on "Formal Verification Techniques: Development of SMV Technique and Application to Formal Verification."

Dr. Kang Wang, Mr. Martin Tanner, Dr. Xingyu Zheng, Dr. Timothy Carns, and Mr. Shawn Thomas of the University of California/Los Angeles for their research on "Properties and Device Application of Si-Based Quantum Structures."

1994 Award

Dr. Carl Sechen and Dr. William Swartz of the University of Washington for their work on "Layout Optimization".

Dr. Mark Kushner, Dr. Peter Ventzek, Mr. Seung Choi and Mr. Robert Hoekstra of the University of Illinois for their work on "Computer Modeling of Plasma Reactors."

1993 Award

Dr. Mark Law, Mr. Heemyong Park, Mr. Chih-Chuan Lin, Mr. Minchang Liang and Mr. Stephen Cea of the University of Florida for their work on "Device and Process Simulation for Assessment of Advanced IC Technologies."

Dr. Joe Greene and Ms. Lucia Markert of the University of Illinois for their work on "Accelerated-Ion Doping During MBE Si and Si(1-x)Ge(x) Film Growth."

1992 Award

Dr. Wojciech Maly and Dr. Thomas Storey of Carnegie Mellon University for their work on "IDDQ Testing and the Quality of IC Test."

Dr. Thomas M. Niemczyk of the University of New Mexico, and Dr. David M. Haaland and Dr. David K. Melgaard of Sandia National Labs for their work on "Chemometrics for the Analysis of Dielectric films - Multivariate Analysis of FTIR Spectra for B and P Concentration and Thickness of BPSG Films."

1991 Award

Dr. Al F. Tasch, Jr, Dr. Christine M. Maziar and Dr. Hyungsoon Shin of the University of Texas/Austin for their work on "MOSFET Structure for Deep Submicron ULSI Processes."

Dr. Ronald A. Rohrer and Dr. Lawrence Pileggi of Carnegie Mellon University for their work on "Asymptotic Waveform Estimator (AWE)."

Dr. Farhang Shadman, Dr. Robert A. Governal, Mr. Asad M. Haider, and Ms. Alison Bonner of the University of Arizona their work on "Contamination Control in Gases and Liquids."

Dr. Chenming Hu, Dr. Ping K. Ko, Dr. Peter M. Lee, Dr. Boon-Khim Liew, Dr. Elyse Rosenbaum, and Dr. J. David Burnett of University of California/Berkeley for their work on "Berkeley Reliability Tool (BERT)."