Ralph K. Cavin III
Chief Scientist
The Semiconductor Research Corporation

BIOGRAPHY:
A native of Natchez Mississippi, Dr. Cavin received his BSEE (1961) and MSEE (1962) from Mississippi State University and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University in 1968. He served as a Senior Engineer at the Martin-Marietta Company in Orlando, Florida from 1962 -1965. At Martin, Dr. Cavin was involved in the design and manufacture of missile guidance and control systems.
After taking his Ph.D., Dr. Cavin joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Texas A M University where he obtained the rank of Full Professor and also served the department as Assistant Head for Research. In 1983, he joined the Semiconductor Research Corporation where he served as Director of Design Sciences research programs until 1989. He became Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Carolina State University from 1989 - 1994 and was Dean of Engineering at North Carolina State University from 1994 -1995.
He is currently Vice President for Research Operations at the Semiconductor Research Corporation. Dr. Cavins technical interests span VLSI circuit design, computer-aided design of microelectronic systems, control theory with applications to semiconductor manufacturing, and applications of computing and telecommunications to engineering education. He has authored or co-authored over 100 refereed technical papers and contributions to books.
Dr. Cavin is a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and has participated actively in society programs. He has served as a consultant to a number of government, industrial, and academic institutions and is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Engineering Consortium and the IEEE Computer Advisory Board.

Hugo DeMan
Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engg.
Catholic University of Leuven
Senior Fellow of IMEC.

BIOGRAPHY:
Hugo De Man is a Professor of electrical engineering at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, since 1976. He was a Visiting Associate Professor at UC Berkeley in 1975. His early research was devoted to mixed-signal, switched-capacitor, and DSP simulation tools. In 1984, he was one of the cofounders of IMEC, which, today, is the largest independent semiconductor research institute in Europe with over 1100 employees. From 1984 to 1995, he was the Vice-President of IMEC, responsible for research in design technology for DSP and telecom applications. In 1995, he became a Senior Research Fellow of IMEC, working on strategies for education and research on design of future post-PC systems.
His research at IMEC has lead to many novel tools and methods in the area of high-level synthesis, hardware-software codesign, and C++ based design. Many of these tools are now commercialized by spin-off companies like Coware and Target Compilers.
In 1999, he received the Technical Achievement Award of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, the Phil Kaufman Award of the EDA Consortium, the Golden Jubilee Medal of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society, and in 2004, the EDAA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hugo DeMan is an IEEE Fellow and a Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Belgium.

Dr. Meyya Meyappan
Director, Center for Nanotechnology
NASA Ames Research Center
President
IEEE Nanotechnology Technical Council

BIOGRAPHY:
Meyya Meyyappan is Chief Scientist for Exploration at the Center for Nanotechnology, NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA. Until June 2006, he served as the Director of the Center for Nanotechnology as well as Senior Scientist. He holds an Adjunct Professor position at the Arizona State University. He is a founding member of the Interagency Working Group on Nanotechnology(IWGN) established by the Office of Science and Technology Policy(OSTP). The IWGN is responsible for putting together the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
Dr. Meyyappan is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE), the Electrochemical Society(ECS)and the California Council of Science and Technology. In addition, he is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers(ASME), Materials Research Society, American Vacuum Society and American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He is the IEEE Distinguished Lecturer on Nanotechnology and ASME's Distinguished Lecturer on Nanotechnology. He is currently the President of the IEEE's Nanotechnology Council(2006-2007).
For his work and leadership in nanotechnology, he was awarded NASA's Outstanding Leadership Medal and Arthur Flemming Award by the Arthur Flemming Foundation and George Washington University. For his contributions to nanotechnology education and training, he received the 2003-2004 Engineer of the Year award by the San Francisco section of the AIAA(American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics). In 2004, he was honored with the President's Meritorious Award for his contributions to nanotechnology. Dr. Meyyappan has authored or co-authored over 150 articles in peer reviewed publications and made over 200 Invited / Keynote / Plenary Talks in nanotechnology subjects across the world.