Nov. 3, 2000
NC State Engineering Professor Receives R.J. Reynolds Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dr. B. Jayant Baliga
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Dr. B. Jayant Baliga, Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering at North
Carolina State University, has received the 16th R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Extension. The award was presented to Baliga on Nov. 1 in a ceremony at NC State, and was followed by his lecture, "Trends in Power Discrete Devices."
The award was established in 1981 by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. of Winston-Salem through the NC State Engineering Foundation. It honors an engineering faculty member who has demonstrated superiority in activities that relate to the university's three-fold mission of teaching, research and extension. The recipient is given a $25,000 prize distributed over five years.
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An internationally recognized leader in power semiconductors and high voltage integrated circuits, Baliga is responsible for research leading to more than 100 patents, including his recent invention of an electric switch that can significantly improve the energy efficiency of appliances and vehicles. His research focuses on various aspects of power devices. He has published more than 550 scientific papers.
Baliga has been a member of the College of Engineering faculty since 1988. He is founding director of NC State's Power Semiconductor Research Center (PSRC), an international industry-supported center established in 1991 and recognized as the premier research organization for power semiconductor technology in the world. In addition to its research mission, the PSRC provides a innovative learning environment for students. Twenty-five master's degree students and 23 doctoral students who are now working in the semiconductor industry completed their degrees under Baliga’s direction at the PSRC.
Baliga is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In 1997 Scientific American named him one of the eight heroes of the semiconductor revolution. He received his bachelor's degree in 1969 from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India, and his master's and doctoral degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1971 and 1974, respectively.
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