Asian American Technology Trailblazers Honored

English Articles, Honor & Duty/荣誉和责任, People/人物, 推荐 /

Fan Jiao

To honor the significant contributions of Asian American scholars, officials from the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) organized a roundtable gathering in White House on March 4, 2024. This event brought together distinguished Asian American scholars, engineers, and leaders affiliated with the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) to address the pressing issues and challenges impacting their community. [1]

The meeting included trailblazing Asian American public servants and leaders – U.S. Cabinet member and OSTP Director Dr. Arati Prabhakar and Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Liaison to AA & NHPI, Erika Moritsugu, Esq.

Following the formal termination of the “China Initiative” by the Biden administration two years prior, this event underscored a renewed dedication from the highest echelons of government to embrace and recognize Asian American scholars and their often-overlooked contributions to the fields of science, medicine, technology, and the nation. As the first anniversary of AASF‘s Project Pioneer with the National Science Foundation (NSF) approaches, this acknowledgment of the achievements of Asian American scholars resonates deeply. Project Pioneer was initiated to spotlight the accomplishments of pioneering Asian American scientists, researchers, and scholars who have significantly advanced our nation and the world. Among the first cohort of Asian American pioneer awardees are Drs. Nasir Ahmed, Frank Chang, Dawon Kahng, Teresa Meng, Raj Reddy, and Simon Sze.

AASF roundtable speakers included AASF Leadership Council member Dr. Steven Chu; AASF board member Dr. Gang Chen; AASF Co-Founder and board member Dr. Xihong Lin; and civil rights attorney & AASF founding Executive Director Gisela Perez Kusakawa. AASF board leadership participants included Drs. Yi Cui, Kai Li, Haifan Lin, Gurindar S. Sohi, Zhigang Suo, Min Wu, and Xiaodong Zhang, all of whom are National Academy members or current or former deans and department chairs. 

“We must re-instill the fact that we are a welcoming country,” said Former Secretary of the Department of Energy and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize, Dr. Steven Chu. Dr. Chu is an Asian American trailblazer inspiring the next generation of Asian American scientists. He received the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for laser cooling and trapping of atoms. Previously, he was the U.S. Secretary of Energy, where he began ARPA-E and the Energy Innovation Hubs and helped BP stop the Macondo Oil leak. His public service and dedication have improved the lives of all Americans. 

Picture 1, X post on the White House OSTP roundtable meeting (the second from left is Dr. Chu)

Now let’s introduce these six Asian technology pioneers: the invention of Floating-gate MOSFET by Dr. Simon Min Sze and Dr. Dawon Kahng, the discrete cosine transforms invented by Dr. Nasir Ahmed, the inventions and contributions to artificial intelligence by Dr. Raj Reddy, the invention of 2G/3G wireless technology by Dr. Mau-Chung Frank Chang, and the modern Wi-Fi technology invented by Dr. Teresa H. Meng.

1. Invention of Floating-gate MOSFET

Dr. Simon Min Sze (施敏), born in Nanjing China, a Taiwanese American electrical engineer, invented FGMOS with Korean electrical engineer Dr. Dawon Kahng (강대원, 姜大元) who is born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1967, while both worked in Bell Labs.[2],[3]

Dr. Sze returned to Taiwan and joined the faculty of National Chiao Tung University after 1990.

Dr. Kahng received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Ohio State University College of Engineering.

The first and foremost application of the invention is Non-Volatile Memory has huge impact and very crucial in various industries include:

  • Solid State Drivers (SSDs) use non-volatile memory, such as NAND flash, to store data persistently in computers, laptops, servers, and data centers. They offer faster read/write speeds and better durability compared to traditional hard disk drives (HDDs).
  • Embedded Systems use Non-volatile memory in various industries such as Internet routers, EVs, and other IoT (Internet Of Things) devices, to store firmware, operating systems, configuration settings, etc.
  • Smartphones and Tablets use Non-volatile memory to store the operating system, applications, user data, and media files. NAND flash memory is commonly used in these devices due to its compact size, low power consumption, and fast read/write speeds.
  • USB Flash Drives use non-volatile memory to store data, making them portable storage devices that can be easily transported and used across different computers and devices.
  • Memory Cards use the technology for such Secure Digital (SD) cards, CompactFlash cards, and Memory Stick cards, which are commonly used in digital cameras, smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices to store photos, videos, music, and other files.
Picture 2, Dr. Simon Min Sze, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Picture 3, Dr. Dawon Kahng, National Inventors Hall of Fame

2. Invention of Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT)

Dr. Nasir Ahmed is an Indian American electrical engineer and computer scientist, who is born in Bangalore India. He invented the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), the most widely used data compression transformation, the basis for most digital media standards (image, video, and audio), and digital signal processing. [4]

Dr. Ahmed received 2001 Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award from University of New Mexico.

The derived industry standards include:

  • Image and Video Compression are the most well-known applications of DCT in image and video compression algorithms such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group). In these algorithms, DCT is used to transform blocks of pixel data into frequency-domain coefficients, which can then be quantized and encoded more efficiently to reduce file size while maintaining visual quality.
  • Audio Compression is also used in audio compression algorithms such as MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III). Like image compression, DCT is applied to audio signals to convert them into frequency-domain coefficients, which can be quantized and encoded to achieve high compression ratios while preserving perceptual quality.
  • Data Compression in Communications: DCT can be used in data compression techniques for digital communications systems such as Internet routers. By transforming data into the frequency domain, redundant information can be removed or represented more efficiently, leading to higher data transmission rates and improved bandwidth utilization.
  • Biometric Authentication: DCT features are used in biometric authentication systems for recognizing and verifying individuals based on their physiological or behavioral characteristics (e.g., fingerprints, facial features, voice). DCT can be applied to extract relevant features from biometric data, facilitating accurate and reliable authentication.
Picture 4, Dr. Nasir Ahmed, Jogfalls1947

3. Speech Recognition/Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Raj Reddy is Indian American computer scientist, and the first person of Asian origin to have received Turing Award, aka “Nobel Prize of Computing”, in 1994 in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Born in a poor family Andhra Pradesh, India, he was the first member of his family to attend college and has served on the faculty of Stanford and Carnegie Mellon for over 50 years.[5]

His AI research concentrated on perceptual and motor aspect of intelligence such as speech, language, vision, and robotics. The noticeable contributions include:

  • Speech Recognition: his work in the 1970s and 1980s contributed significantly to the advancement of speech recognition technology. He developed models and algorithms for understanding and processing spoken language, laying the foundation for modern speech recognition systems.
  • Robotics: he has been instrumental in advancing research in robotics, particularly in the areas of robot perception, control, and autonomous navigation. His work has led to the development of intelligent robotic systems capable of performing complex tasks in unstructured environments.
  • Natural Language Processing (NLP): he has made significant contributions to the field of natural language processing, focusing on techniques for understanding and generating human language. His research has led to advancements in machine translation, information retrieval, and dialogue systems. NLP is a foundation component of Generative AI such as ChatGPT.
Picture 5, Dr. Raj Reddy, Debramtobin

4. Low-Cost Mobile Chips

Dr. Mau-Chung Frank Chang (張 懋中) is Distinguished Professor and the Chairman of Electrical Engineering department at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he conducts research and teaching on RF CMOS design. Prior to join UCLA, he had been the assistant director and Department Manager of the High-Speed Electronics Laboratory at the Rockwell International Science Center (now Teledyne Technologies) from 1983 to 1997 in Thousand Oaks, California where He was the inventor of the multi-band, re-configurable RF-Interconnects based on Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) multiple access algorithms for intra- and inter-ULSI communications for earlier cellular networks (2G/3G). [6]

His invention includes:

  • RF and Microwave Engineering: he has contributed extensively to the field of radio frequency (RF, FDMA and CDMA) and microwave engineering, particularly in the design of high-performance RF integrated circuits and systems. His research has led to improvements in wireless communication systems, including cellular networks and satellite communications.
  • Gallium Nitride (GaN) Semiconductor Technology: he has been involved in research on GaN semiconductor technology, which has applications in power electronics, RF amplifiers, and high-frequency devices. His work has contributed to the development of more efficient and high-power electronic devices.
Picture 6, M.C. Frank Chang, UCLA

5. Wi-Fi Technology

Dr. Teresa H. Meng (孟懷縈) is Taiwanese American academician and entrepreneur. Retired in 2013, she is a Reid Weaver Dennis Professor in Electrical Engineering and Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. [7]

In 2007, Dr. Meng was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering for pioneering the development of distributed wireless network technology.

Dr. Teresa H. Meng’s contributions have had a significant impact on the development of wireless communication technologies and have helped shape the modern landscape of mobile computing and networking, including:

  • Wireless Networking and Mobile Computing: she has focused on wireless networking and mobile computing, with a particular emphasis on developing efficient algorithms and protocols for wireless communication systems. Her work has contributed to advancements in wireless networking technologies, including mobile ad hoc networks, sensor networks, and cognitive radio networks.
  • Energy-Efficient Communication Systems: she has also made significant contributions to the design of energy-efficient communication systems. Her research has focused on developing techniques to optimize power consumption in wireless devices and networks, leading to improved battery life and reduced energy consumption in wireless communication systems.
  • Entrepreneurship: she founded Atheros Systems in 1999, which completed its IPO on the NSDAQ exchange on 2/12/2004. In May 2011, Qualcomm brought Atheros Communications for $3.7 billion.
Picture 7, The original team in mid-1999 in front of the Encina Ave, Palo Alto, MBbjv
Picture 8, Qualcomm Atheros Headquarters in San Jose, CA Schrodingerkitty
Picture 9, Prof. Teresa H Meng, Stanford

References:

  1. White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, last accessed on 4/13/2024, https://twitter.com/WHOSTP/status/1764712085592719835/photo/1
  2. In memory of Academician Simon M. Sze, 2023-11-14, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, last accessed on 4/13/2024, https://www.nycu.edu.tw/nycu/en/app/news/view?module=headnews&id=552&serno=3038cbd4-25ca-4799-9d51-091fb7525aa6
  3. Dawon Kahng, National Inventors Hall of Fame, last accessed on 4/13/2024, https://www.invent.org/inductees/dawon-kahng
  4. Hollywood Salutes Nasir Ahmed, February 15, 2021, UNM Electrical & Computer Engineering, last accessed on 4/13/2024, https://ece.unm.edu/news/2021/02/hollywood-salutes-nasir-ahmed.html
  5. Raj Reddy, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, last accessed on 4/13/2024, https://www.ri.cmu.edu/ri-faculty/raj-reddy/
  6. Prof. Mau-Chung Frank Chang, High Speed Electronics Lab, UCLA, last accessed on 4/13/2024, http://rffox.ee.ucla.edu/ppl_mcfrankchang.html
  7. Bringing Wi-Fi to the World: Teresa H. Meng receives the 2024 Marconi Prize, The Marconi Society, last accessed on 4/13/2024, https://marconisociety.org/press/bringing-wi-fi-to-the-world-teresa-h-meng-receives-the-2024-marconi-prize/

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