Wan-Thai Hsu (PhD EE '01), Chief Technology Officer for U-M start-up Discera Inc., received the EE Times 3rd Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) award for Innovator of the Year. This award is given to an individual who brings leadership, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking to a technology, a product or a business. For years the concept of using MEMS as a replacement for quartz had been theorized by academics but there were few who thought it would be possible to overcome the challenges required for real world use. Beginning in 2001, Hsu and his team moved the technology far beyond academic research, focusing on solving real world problems. Under Hsu's technical vision and guidance, Discera successfully developed and began producing silicon MEMS devices for timing applications in high volume, targeting to displace a decades-old, $3.5B per year quartz crystal market.

"Wan-Thai Hsu embodies the spirit of the creators of technology that EE Times tries to celebrate every week in its coverage of the industry," said Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief, EE Times. "His work with his colleagues at Discera on MEMS devices is enabling a new generation of system solutions that weren't possible just a few years ago."

Additional Information:

Announcement on EE Times web site

Discera Press Release

CMP Press Release