Kenneth W. Martin

Kenneth W. Martin

Awards

IEEE Gustav Robert Kirchhoff Award

Biography

A pioneer of switched-capacitor circuits, Kenneth W. Martin helped revolutionize mixed-signal integrated circuit design with foundational contributions that are still relevant in today’s ever-scaling semiconductor world. He was one of the first researchers to devise systematic design techniques for switched capacitor filters and a parasitic-insensitive switching configuration to combat sensitivity to parasitic capacitances. The state of the art in analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog data converters, among many other devices, would be very different and less advanced without Martin’s influence. He played a key role in establishing the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as a world leader in research and design. In 1985, he founded UCLA’s Integrated Circuits and Systems Laboratory, which became the incubator of many high-tech companies in Southern California. He also co-authored the book Analog Integrated Circuits with David Johns.

An IEEE Life Fellow, Martin is president of Granite SemiCom Inc., Toronto, Canada.