EECS Professor Emeritus Kam-Yin Lau has won the IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal. The medal, named in honor of Scottish Physicist James Clerk Maxwell, recognizes groundbreaking contributions with exceptional impact on the development of electronics and electrical engineering, or related fields. The award consists of a gold medal, a bronze replica, a certificate, and an honorarium. Lau was honored “for spearheading high-speed semiconductor lasers and RF-over-Fiber Systems, enabling today’s wireline and wireless broadband access.”

EECS Professor Emerita Constance “Connie” Chang-Hasnain has won the IEEE Nick Holonyak Jr. Medal for Semiconductor Optoelectronic Technologies. The medal, named in honor of the late Nick Holonyak, Jr., recognizes individuals or teams that have made outstanding contributions to semiconductor optoelectronic devices and systems, including high-energy-efficiency semiconductor devices and electronics. The award consists of a gold medal, a bronze replica, a certificate, and an honorarium. Chang-Hasnain was cited “for pioneering contributions to vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and VCSEL-based photonics for optical communications and sensing.” She is the inaugural recipient of this award.

EECS Department Chair and Professor Claire Tomlin has won the IEEE Mildred Dresselhaus Medal. The medal, named after the late Mildred Dresselhaus, is awarded to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the fields of science and engineering, significantly impacting the IEEE's areas of focus. The award comprises a gold medal, a bronze replica, a certificate, and an honorarium. The selection process prioritizes individuals with a proven track record of impactful technical advancements, leadership in achieving meaningful goals, and a notable body of work reflected in publications, patents, or other evidence. Tomlin was honored “for foundational work in the design and verification of cyber-physical systems with applications to safety in autonomous systems.”

Berkeley Engineering Dean and EECS Professor Tsu-Jae King Liu has won the IEEE Founders Medal. The IEEE Founders Medal recognizes outstanding contributions to the electrical and electronics engineering profession through leadership, planning, and administration. The award consists of a gold medal, a bronze replica, a certificate, and an honorarium. Recipients are major industry administrators or managers of complex scientific missions. Additional consideration may be given for service to the IEEE beyond normal expectations. Dean Liu was honored “for leadership in the advancement and commercialization of nanometer semiconductor technologies and the promotion of microelectronics workforce development.”

EECS Professor Emeritus Theodore “Ted” Van Duzer passed away peacefully in his sleep on October 24th. He was 95. Ted was born in Piscataway Township, New Jersey in 1927. At 17, he joined the Navy as a radio technician, his entrée into a career in electrical engineering. With assistance from the G.I. Bill, he earned a bachelor's degree at Rutgers University, a master’s degree at UCLA, and a Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley where he served on the faculty from 1961 to 2014. Ted was co-author of two books, “Principles of Superconductive Devices and Circuits” and “Fields and Waves in Communications Electronics.” He was an IEEE Life Fellow, co-founder of Conductus, and an inductee into the National Academy of Engineering. In spite of his many professional honors, however, of most importance to him was his family and the many lifelong friendships with his Ph.D. students, visiting researchers, and ASC/IEEE colleagues. A memorial will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Eureka on December 30th at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family asks that donations be made to the church. If you would like to support the university in honor of Prof. Van Duzer, please reach out to gifts@eecs.berkeley.edu to learn more about the Ted Van Duzer Endowed Professorship.

A team led by EECS Associate Professor Boubacar Kanté and EECS Professor Eli Yablonovitch has developed a machine-learning based optimization method for nonlinear and quantum optics. Inverse-design has been traditionally applied to linear optical systems, and it often leads to optimized structures that are unintuitive or experimentally unrealistic. In this study, published in Optica, the researchers attempt to tackle these challenges using a new inverse-design method for nonlinear photon generation. According to lead author and graduate student Zhetao Jia, they were able to achieve a compact, robust, and efficient source of entangled photon pairs based on spontaneous four-wave mixing in silicon, the most common material used in the semiconductor industry. This nonlinear quantum-optics approach could potentially be used for large-scale communication and quantum computing applications.

CS Associate Professor Ren Ng has been elected as an Optica Fellow. Optica (formerly OSA) has inducted 129 members from 26 countries to the Society’s class of 2024 Fellows. Founded in 1916, Optica is a global society that works to advance the science and technology of light. Ng was honored “for pioneering work developing light field cameras, as well as seminal contributions in 3D view synthesis and human visual perception.” Ng was named a Sloan Fellow in 2017 and a Hellman Fellow in 2019, the same year that he received the Jim and Donna Gray Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching of Computer Science.

Professor Emeritus Chenming Hu, former chief technology officer at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), has been awarded the Taiwan Presidential Science Prize "for advancing Taiwan's Semiconductor Industry." The award, established in 2001, is presented every two years to the most distinguished scientists in Taiwan and is given to innovative researchers who have made monumental contributions to international research in the fields of mathematics, physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and applied sciences. Particular emphasis is given to scholars whose work has had a major impact on these fields in Taiwan. The award was presented to Hu by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. Hu, alongside Berkeley EECS colleagues, pioneered the FinFET transistor, which is widely used in high-performance processors around the world.

CS Associate Professor Alvin Cheung has won the 2023 Very Large Data Bases (VLDB) Early Career Research Contribution Award. The award, which includes a $2,000 prize, recognizes researchers who have made a significant impact through a specific contribution to the field since completing their Ph.D. Separately, a paper by CS Professors Joseph Gonzalez and Joseph Hellerstein, co-authored by Yucheng Low, Aapo Kyrola, Danny Bickson, and Carlos Guestrin, received the 2023 VLDB Test of Time Award. Their paper, "Distributed Graphlab: A framework for machine learning in the cloud," was published at VLDB 2012. The authors were nominated for this award by the research community, and the winner was selected based on the paper's impact through its consequent products and services, and follow-through research by the community. The VLDB awards recognize excellence in the field of database research and development. The awards are presented annually at the VLDB conference, which is one of the premier conferences in the database field.

EECS graduate students Yicheng Zhu and Jiarui Zou, and post-docs Ting Ge and Nathan Ellis have won the 2023 IEEE Control and Modeling for Power Electronics (COMPEL) Best Paper Award. Their paper, "A 48-V-to-1-V Switching Bus Converter for Ultra-High-Current Applications,” demonstrated a new dc-dc power converter topology and control technique for data center power delivery applications, capable of sourcing 1200 A of current at 1 V supply voltage. The hardware prototype used to validate the concept achieved the highest power density and efficiency combination of any prior work, academic or industrial. Next, the researchers are working with industry partners to transition this record-breaking concept to next-generation GPU/CPU computing platforms for AI and machine learning applications. IEEE COMPEL is the premier control and modeling conference for power electronics, having brought together world experts in the field for the last 24 years. Three best papers were selected this year from the total accepted 84 papers, based on originality, contribution to the field, and quality of presentation at the conference.