2010 Mahboob Khan Outstanding Industry Liaison Awards Presented at TECHCON 2010

Steve Hillenius (second from left) and Celia Merzbacher (fourth from left), SRC, presented the 2010 Mahboob Khan Outstanding Industry Liaison Awards to GRC Member representatives

[Note:  The following is the presentation of the 2010 Mahboob Khan Outstanding Industry Liaison Awards by Dr. Celia Merzbacher, SRC Vice President Innovative Partnerships, at TECHCON 2010.]

The Industry Liaison Program captures the essence of SRC. It brings together faculty researchers, graduate students, and technical experts from the SRC member companies and provides for interactions that benefit each. The Industry Liaisons, who are at the heart of the program, have three roles.  They provide input and feedback to the researchers in the course of the project.  They act as mentors to GRC students.  And they are a channel for technology transfer back to the SRC companies.

The Mahboob Khan Outstanding Industry Liaison Award, named in memory of a long-time Industry Liaison program advocate from Advanced Micro Devices, is presented to those individuals who have made significant contributions to the GRC community in their roles as Industry Liaisons.  Many Industry Liaisons fulfill their responsibilities admirably, but some go above and beyond.  This year, we recognize 16 individuals for their extraordinary commitment to the program. It gives me great pleasure to present the 2010 Mahboob Khan Outstanding Industry Liaison Awards to:

Jeff Bielefeld of Intel was nominated for his work with Professor Joel Plawsky at RPI. His insight into analyzing data led to a redesign of experiments that allowed for reproducible results by the member company and the university.

Luigi Capodieci from GLOBALFOUNDRIES was nominated for his work with students and professors at the University of California/Berkeley and the University of Michigan. He is an especially effective communicator and is a role model for what students could become in their careers.

John Carulli of Texas Instruments was nominated by Professor Robert Daasch for his long-term commitment to students at Portland State University.  Mr. Carelli’s work has helped shape academic research efforts to align with industry standards.

Willard Conley of Freescale is recognized for his work with students at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Over many years, he has been responsible for arranging multiple on- and off-campus experiences for students, helping them to relate their research to the “real world.”

Marie Denison from Texas Instruments has provided technical expertise to a team of researchers and students at the University of Bologna. Dr. Denison has brought technical expertise to this research team that contributed to the understanding of unclear effects and the definition of guidelines for optimatal design.

Paul Ferno of Advanced Micro Devices  was nominated by Professor Robert Dick of the University of Michigan.  Dr. Ferno worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to facilitate collaboration within the test community. He went to great lengths to enable collaboration between the academic community and the member company community.

James Holt of Freescale is a long time advocate of the Industry Liaison program within his company.  He looks to the future needs of the industry and works to optimize the university research program through all means available.

Michael Kishinevsky of Intel is an outstanding researcher and has a special talent for bringing academic research closer to industry needs.

Anand Krishnan and Srikanth Krishnan of Texas Instruments have worked together in a partnership that enabled two Penn State students to win prestigious National Research Council Fellowships.

Dmitri Nikonov of Intel has worked with Mark Lundstrom’s group at Purdue University for five years.  During that time, his input has lead the group to consider him a member of their research team.

Mosur Mohan from Intel has worked with Professor Jason Cong at UCLA for the past 15 years.  During that time he has provided insight into the industry’s needs and guidance to the university to fulfill those needs.

Gamal Refai-Ahmed of Advanced Micro Devices is recognized for his work at Iowa State and Binghamton University.  Dr. Ahmed encourages students to engage in a dialog especially as it relates to the practical aspects of the research project.

Ganesh Srinivasan of Texas Instruments put together a team of engineers at TI that could benefit from the research results created by Professor Bruce Kim of the University of Alabama.

Andres Takach of Mentor Graphics gave effective and essential guidance to ensure the research project led by Professor Yuan Xie of Penn State stayed on track and aligned to industry needs.

Rick Wise a strong advocate of the Industry Liaison program at TI.  He has developed a set of best practices for use within his company that allows others to effectively and efficiently serve the research community in their role as Industry Liaisons.