CURRICULUM VITAE - Summary
Kamran Eshraghian is best known in the international arena as “thegrandfather” of CMOS VLSI Design influencing two generation of VLSI designers. He obtained his PhD, MEngSc, and BTech degrees from the University of Adelaide, South Australia. He is currently the President of Eshraghian Laboratories an enterprise established to foster development of micro, nano and bio-based electronics with that of the light wave technology. He is a distinguished world expert in the field of Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) systems and circuits. His achievements include pioneering research work in VLSI technology encapsulated in the standard text Principles of CMOS VLSI Design: A Systems Perspective- referred to as the “bible” of computer chip design in the international arena. In May 2004, in recognition of his research into the marriage of Microelectronic with that of photonics, he was awarded the Doctor of Engineering e.h. by the University of Ulm, Germany. In 1994 he was appointed as the Foundation Professor of Computer, Communication and Electronic Engineering followed in 1997 as Head of School of Engineering and Mathematics and the Director of the Centre for Very High Speed Microelectronic Systems. In 2003 he became the recipient of the title “Distinguished University Professor”. In 2001 he became the Director of National Networked Tele test Facility (NNTTF) under the Governments MNRF (Major National Research Facility) program. In recognition of his contributions in Microelectronics, he was appointed to the Adjunct Chair of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Adelaide, South Australia during 1994 till 1999. In 2001 he was the recipient of the prestigious German Mercator Visiting Professorship by the German Science Foundation (DSF).
In 1979 he joined the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide after spending some 10 years with Philips Research both in Europe and Australia. He has lectured widely and presented over 200 workshops & courses in very large scale integrated systems and later in MicroPhotonics in United States and Canada, Europe, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia. He has been both invited and keynote speaker at many of IEEE organised conferences. Professor Eshraghian has held a number of visiting academic posts including Professor of Computer Science at Duke University, N.C., USA, Visiting Professor of Microelectronics & Computer Systems at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland and Visiting Professor of Computer Technology at University of Las Palmas, and since 2004 is an Adjunct Professor at UKm, Microelectronics Institute. At these locations he provided significant input towards formulation and subsequent establishment of Centres of Excellence in Microelectronics. In 1987 he was appointed as the Director of the Centre for Gallium Arsenide VLSI Technology at the University of Adelaide. This was Australia's very first Centre to pursue research in the area of Very High Speed processing using digital Gallium Arsenide as the base technology. Here he made some of the original groundwork in computer vision and robotic engineering based upon insect vision.
In 1993 he was appointed as the Head (Dean) of Engineering and Computer Science at Sepang Institute of Technology, Malaysia. Here he assisted with the establishment of a unique teaching program as part of the twining arrangement with the University of Adelaide, South Australia.
To create the future generation of students with particular affinity for “Science oriented disciplines” and indeed University education, he introduce at primary school level “Science Convention Invention” awards. Other innovations that he has introduced include award of scholarships for “Women in Engineering”, School Breakfasts, and Science Mentoring Program etc.
He has held over 40 patents, co-authored six textbooks - two of which have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Greek. He was the editor of the Silicon Systems Engineering series published by Prentice Hall. He has published over 300 papers and has attracted more than $20M R&D grants through Australian Research Council large grant schemes, collaborative schemes as well as other research funding bodies in Australia, Europe and United States. Professor Eshraghian has successfully supervised 45 PhD and Masters’ candidates. Several currently hold eminent academic and/or research positions in United States and Europe. He has acted as a consultant to a number of institutions both in Australia and overseas. Professor Eshraghian, founded or co-founded four High Technology companies, providing intimate links between University research and industry.
His vision in advancement of science and technology is the realisation of a dynamic platform through horizontal integrating that would harmonise micron and photon-based technologies, with those of nano-based and bio-based sciences. In summary, in his 2000 Pearcey Award speech, Senator the Hon. Richard Alston the then Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts acknowledged Professor Eshraghian’s achievement by commenting “ did you know the "bible" of computer chip design was written by two Australians, Neil Weste and Kamran Eshraghian?” - thus, influencing two generation of researchers, academics and developers.