MIT scientist of Indian origin Anantha Chandrakasan, was presented the Semiconductor Industry Association's (SIA) University Researcher Award last week at the annual SIA conference in Washington for his work in micro-power design, wireless micro-sensor arrays and ultra-wideband radios.

Chandrakasan,. director of the MIT Microsystems Technology Labs, recently completed a joint project with Texas Instruments to design a micro-controller that uses only one-tenth the power compared to a conventional device.

His group has also recently demonstrated ultra-low-power video architectures, energy-efficient ultra-wideband wireless circuits, energy scavenging systems and a sensor system using carbon nanotubes.

Hector Ruiz, chairman of SIA, said that Chandrakasan's work addresses the significant challenges faced by the semiconductor industry today.

"The 'crown jewel' in the US innovation ecosystem is our network of world-leading research universities," Ruiz said in a statement announcing the award to Chandrakasan.

Ruiz said, "America's research universities attract the best and brightest students and teachers from around the world. University researchers do the fundamental research that has enabled US chipmakers to lead the world in developing innovative products and solutions."

The SIA University Researcher Award was established in 1995 to recognise lifetime research contributions to the US semiconductor industry by university faculty.

Anantha Chandrakasan received the B.S, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989, 1990, and 1994 respectively.

Since September 1994, he has been with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, where he is currently the Joseph F. and Nancy P. Keithley professor of electrical engineering.

He was also a co-recipient of several awards including the 1993 IEEE Communications Society's Best Tutorial Paper Award, the IEEE Electron Devices Society's 1997 Paul Rappaport Award for the Best Paper in an EDS publication during 1997, the1999 DAC Student Design Contest Award, the first place in the 2004 DAC/ISSCC Student Design Contest Award (operational category), the 2007 ISSCC Beatrice Winner Award for Editorial Excellence and the 2007 ISSCC Jack Kilby Award for Outstanding Student Paper.

He held the Analog Devices Career Development Chair from 1994 to 1997. He received the NSF Career Development award in 1995, the IBM Faculty Development award in 1995 and the National Semiconductor Faculty Development award in 1996 and 1997

His research interests include micro-power digital and mixed-signal integrated circuit design, wireless microsensor system design, ultra-wideband radios, and emerging technologies.