Nov 11 2008
The State of Connecticut's highest honor for technological achievement, the Medal of Technology, was presented this year to Yale Professor Tso-Ping (T.P.) Ma for his pioneering work in semiconductors.
The Connecticut Medal of Technology is awarded by the Board of Governors for Higher Education and the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. It is given in alternate years with the Connecticut Medal of Science and is designed to laud individuals "for scholarship achievement in science and technology."
The conferral of this year's Medal of Technology was a highlight of the Connecticut Technology Council Awards Presentation and Technology Showcase event at the Chevrolet Theater in Wallingford honoring the 40 fastest growing technology companies in the state.
"Professor T.P. Ma's outstanding contributions in the field of semiconductor technology make him one of the greatest technologists of our time," said Frank W. Ridley, Chairman of the Board of Governors for Higher Education, as he presented the award. "It is not often that basic academic research leads to such widespread practical applications but the next time you answer your cell phone, take a digital picture or tune into your iPod, know that its flash memory is in large part made possible by the pioneering work of T.P. Ma."
Ma is the Raymond John Wean Professor of Electrical Engineering at Yale and serves a co-director of the Yale Center for Microelectronic Materials and Structures in the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science.
A graduate of National Taiwan University, Ma received his Ph.D. from Yale. Early in his career, Ma did research at IBM on advanced silicon device technology and ionizing radiation effects in metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices. He joined the Yale faculty in 1977, where his research and teaching have focused on microelectronics, semiconductors, MOS interface physics, flash memory device physics, and ferroelectric thin films for memory applications.
Ma's research has had a major impact on the high-tech industry, and his students have gone on to leadership positions in the semiconductor and computer hardware field. He has served as the principal investigator of joint R & D projects with numerous companies worldwide, including IBM, Intel, Motorola, Lucent Technology, GE, Hughes, Rockwell Semiconductors, Philips, Siemens, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi Electric.
Ma is a patent holder, co-editor of a book, and contributor to several book chapters as well as over 180 research papers. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a Life member of American Physical Society. In 2005, he was recognized by IEEE with its prestigious Andrew Grove Award, and in 2006, he received the Semiconductor Industry Association annual University Researcher Award for his pioneering work in semiconductor technology.
He has been honored in Connecticut as a fellow of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. He received the Harding Bliss Prize from Yale University in 1975, and the Connecticut Yankee Ingenuity Award in 1991. He also served as a founding member and chair of the Connecticut Microelectronic and Optoelectronic Consortium (CMOC).
Internationally renowned for his work, Ma is an honorary professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an honorary guest professor at Peking University, Fudan University, Tsinghua University, Tianjin University, and Shandong University in China.