2008 Simon Karecki Award Presented to Yasa Sampurno

Ana Karecki and Yasa Sampurno

The 2008 Simon Karecki Award was presented to Yasa Sampurno, University or Arizona, at the CEBSM Review at the University of Arizona on February 29, 2008. Following is the award presentation made by Dr. Reed Content, Advanced Micro Devices, and a member of the Simon Karecki Fellowship Fund Advisory Board.

This is the seventh presentation of the Simon Karecki Award. This Award is given in memory of Dr. Simon Karecki who was a student in this Center and an SRC Fellow. Friends and colleagues of Simon have come together to create the Simon Karecki Fellowship Fund in memory of an outstanding young man and researcher and as a way to encourage other talented young researchers in the pursuit of environmental research.

Before I present this year's Simon Karecki Award, I would like to recognize the Advisory Board and ask them to join me for this presentation: Ken Aitcheson, BOC Edwards, Walter Worth, SEMATECH, Rafael Reif, MIT, Farhang Shadman, University of Arizona, and Tim Dalton, IBM, and from SRC Tim Wooldridge and Ginny Wiggins. I would also like to take this opportunity to urge you as individuals to participate in building the Simon Karecki Fund. And we especially need the help of those of you representing companies to strongly encourage corporate donations. Any member of the Advisory Board will be glad to discuss possibilities with you and tell you how to direct your funds. Further information is also available from SRC.

On behalf of the CEBSM, SRC, and the Karecki Advisory Board, it is a great pleasure to present the 2008 Simon Karecki Award to Yasa Sampurno.

Yasa is pursuing his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University or Arizona under the direction of Professor Ara Philipossian. His thesis project focuses on the fundamental consumables characterization of advanced dielectric and metal chemical mechanical planarization processes. He has made numerous important contributions in understanding fundamental CMP phenomena and applying scientific approaches for more environmentally benign processes. Internships at Intel and IBM as well as his work at the University of Arizona have already helped the semiconductor industry achieve more environmentally benign processes, using less energy and discarding fewer materials and chemicals while maintaining equivalent or higher process yields.

Yasa has also been diligent about sharing his research. He has a long list of publications and conference presentations and is named on three patent disclosures. In addition, he has mentored younger students from junior high school to beginning participants in related research. He is currently working with research involving multiple sponsoring companies in the US, Germany and Japan and universities in the US and Germany.

Yasa's talent for research, leadership skills and strong interest in environmental issues make him an ideal recipient of the Simon Karecki Award. It is the decision of the Advisory Board that Yasa Sampurno is eminently well qualified to receive the 2008 Simon Karecki Award. We are very fortunate to once again have Mrs. Karecki, Simon's mother, with us today; it is a distinct honor for us to have her here, and we would like to ask her to present the 2008 Simon Karecki Award.