The IEEE Solid-State Circuits Award

On Whose Shoulders Do You Stand?
How can so many engineers design million-transistor circuits with confidence and get reliable products to market on time? What technical advances and what algorithms are almost intuitive in our design and software processes? How do we know where to start, where it is still too risky invest time, or what is too risky to tweak? If you can remember a decade or more ago when you dreamed about the work your team accomplishes today, you can remember the seminal ideas that have allowed circuits to evolve a hundredfold. You could be a nominator for the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Technical Field Award, the Institute's highest honor for outstanding contributions in our field.
Since its establishment in the 1980s this award has reflected the progress of the technology. The history of the field is the textbook for tomorrow's engineers. How is it that engineers can design faster, smaller, and denser circuitry every year? Look back, look around. Most of the ideas and authors are probably on the Solid-State Circuits Digital Archive DVD.
The Solid-State Circuits Technical Field Award consists of a bronze medal, a certificate, and a $10,000 cash prize, and is presented at ISSCC. It honors an individual, or team of up to three, for outstanding contributions in the field of solid-state circuits, as exemplified by enhancement to technology, benefit to society, and professional leadership. The nomination form is available to download online:
www.ieee.org/about/awards/noms/solidnom.htm.
Guidelines, also available online, emphasize the importance of the nominee's accomplishments, the quality of the nomination itself, and the quality of the supporting endorsement letters. The true merits of a candidate need to be conveyed through the nomination and endorsement paperwork. The deadline for receipt of nomination materials (including the nomination form and the supporting letters) is 31 January 2003.
For further information, to coordinate your efforts with others, or to determine if a nomination is already in progress, please contact Richard C. Jaeger, the Chair of the SSCS Awards Committee, at:
jaeger@eng.auburn.edu.

Past Solid-State Circuits Award Recipients

2003
Daniel Dobberpuhl
Broadcom
"For pioneering design of high-speed and low-power microprocessors"

2002
Chenming Hu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
Ping K. Ko
Authosis, Inc.
Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
"For BSIM3 modeling and development work"

2001
No award

2000
Robert H. Krambeck
Tandem Computers (Retired)
Hung-Fai (Stephen) Law
Alaris, Inc.
"For pioneering the introduction and implementation of domino CMOS logic"

1999
Kensall D. Wise
University of Michigan
"For pioneering contributions to the development of solid-state sensors, circuits, and integrated sensing systems"

1998
Nicky Chau-Chun Lu
Etron Technology Inc.
"For pioneering contributions to high-speed dynamic memory design and cell technology"

1997
Robert W. Brodersen
University of California, Berkeley, CA
"For contributions to the design of integrated circuits for signal processing systems"

1996
Rudy J. Van De Plassche
Philips Research Labs
"For pioneering contributions to the design of integrated circuits for data conversion"

1995
Lewis M. Terman
IBM - T. J. Watson Research Center
"For leadership in the field of MOS devices and circuits for semiconductor memories"

1994
Paul R. Gray
University of California, Berkeley, CA
"For contributions to analog integrated circuit design, especially for MOS switched capacitor circuits"

1993
Kiyoo Itoh
Hitachi, Ltd.
"For technical contributions to folded data-line circuits and the development of high-density dynamic RAMs"

1992
Barrie Gilbert
Analog Devices
"For contributions to non-linear analog signal-processing circuits"

1991
Frank Wanlass
Standard Micro Systems
"For the invention of Complementary MOS (CMOS) Logic Circuitry"

1990
Toshiaki Masuhara
Hitachi, Ltd.
"For pioneering contributions to NMOS depletion-load circuits and the development of high-speed CMOS memories."

1989
James D. Meindl
Georgia Institute of Technology
"For contributions to solid-state circuits and solid-state circuit technology"