ON Semiconductor to Advance Research in Automotive Electronics With Donation to University of Michigan
17 March 2000
ON Semiconductor to Advance Research in Automotive Electronics With Donation to University of Michigan
PHOENIX, March 17 ON Semiconductor, a leading supplier of
analog, logic, and discrete semiconductor components, announced that it has
presented a grant to advance research in the field of automotive electronics.
Research efforts will be headed by Dr. John Shen, an Assistant Professor at
the University of Michigan-Dearborn, in the Department of Electrical and
Computing Engineering and the Automotive Engineering Interdisciplinary
Program.
Automotive electronics makes up 17 percent of ON Semiconductor's business.
Many of the power products produced by ON Semiconductor are essential to the
construction of ignition coils and engine module boards that are vital to an
automobile's functions.
"Dr. Shen is in a unique position, not only to provide technology
information to ON Semiconductor, but to provide important research to benefit
the entire automotive industry with essential knowledge in the area of
applications research for automotive systems," said Joe Neel, Director of
Strategy and Planning for Technology Development at ON Semiconductor. "Dr
Shen will be a valuable conduit of information about the future direction of
automotive electronic systems, and we are confident that this gift will assist
Dr. Shen in his research."
With the research funds, Dr. Shen is forming the Automotive Semiconductor
Device Research Laboratory (ASDRL) to explore the possibility of uniting
semiconductor design engineers with automotive systems engineers in the early
design stage of an automotive electrical system. One area of focus is the
requirements of future 42-V automotive systems.
"It is the mission of the ASDRL to identify and develop the most
cost-effective semiconductor components for specific automotive applications
by creating an interactive and cooperative research environment with active
participation from both automotive and semiconductor industries," said Dr.
Shen.
Dr. Shen was chosen due to his extensive background in automotive
electronic research. He has more than twenty publications in this area of
study. He also has four issued and six pending U.S. patents. Dr. Shen
received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tshingha University, Beijing,
China in 1987, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York in 1991 and 1994,
respectively. Between 1994 and 1999, he was an employee of Motorola Inc. in
Phoenix, Arizona, where he held the position of Senior Principal Staff
Engineer. He was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of
Michigan-Dearborn in September of 1999, with teaching responsibilities in the
areas of power electronics and automotive electronics.
About ON Semiconductor
ON Semiconductor is one of the world's largest suppliers of analog,
standard logic, and discrete semiconductors for data and power management,
with shipments of approximately 19 billion units and net product revenue of
over US$1.6 billion (pro forma) in 1999. ON Semiconductor's products include
integrated circuits for high-bandwidth data applications, analog ICs for power
management and low-voltage power transistors. In addition to using
micropackaging technology across all product families, ON Semiconductor offers
the largest selection of discrete semiconductors in a variety of surface mount
and standard packages. These semiconductors turn on and connect digital
electronic products to our world. ON Semiconductor(TM) is the tradename of
SCG Holding Corporation.