IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Fall 2021 - 149

PEOPLE
In Step With Boris Murmann
Solid-State Circuits Superman
Y
You probably best know Prof.
Boris Murmann through
his analog-to-digital converter
survey, which has been
accessed more than 75,000
times by researchers from
more than 100 countries. The
survey is frequently cited and
has inspired others to collect
similar data for other circuit
building blocks.
Murmann's love for circuits
started early. His first
job as a high schooler was
for an IC design company
and involved building large
breadboards of 7400 logic for
the functional verification of
hand-design logic. His first commercial
chip design was for a digital toy
train application.
He completed his Ph.D. degree in
in the areas of mixed-signal
circuit design and machine
learning hardware. He has
graduated 40 Ph.D. degree
students. " Seeing my students
succeed in industry and
academia has been my strongest
sense of accomplishment
so far, " he said.
His research is focused on
A dinner with Murmann's research group and significant others
in 2021.
Murmann has been a professor at
electrical engineering at the University
of California, Berkeley, in 2003; he is
the first person in his family to hold an
advanced degree. From 1994 to 1997,
he was with Neutron Microelectronics,
Germany, where he developed lowand
smart-power application-specific
ICs in automotive CMOS technology.
He moved to the Bay Area in 1997. His
plan was to stay in the States for two
years to complete his master's degree
and then return back to Germany.
Two years turned into six as Murmann
stayed to complete his Ph.D. degree,
and, 24 years later, he is still here.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSSC.2021.3110147
Date of current version: 17 November 2021
Stanford University since 2004 and
teaches undergraduate- and graduate-level
circuit courses on circuit
design. He currently runs a research
group of 14 Ph.D. students working
FUN FACTS ABOUT
BORIS MURMANN
■ Murmann is a cat lover.
■ Murmann is an avid scuba diver with
more than 100 dives at the California
coast.
■ Murmann enjoys learning about
blockchains and cryptocurrencies.
■ In his teens and 20s, he spent most of
his spare time on 1/8-scale remotecontrol
car racing (he competed
as a finalist in the European Youth
Championships) as well as playing,
refereeing, and coaching basketball.
bridging the physical analog
and virtual digital worlds. " I
am excited about working at
the intersection of circuits,
algorithms, and real-world
applications that push IC
technology toward its physical
limits, " he explained.
Murmann first became an IEEE
Member in 1994, before the 1997
launch of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits
Society (SSCS). " My first boss
recommended that I should read the
'red rag,' i.e., the Journal of SolidState
Circuits, to learn more about
analog circuit design, which I did, "
he recalled. " Since then, I have never
stopped learning. " The professional
contacts he established through Society
events have turned into friendships
that go well beyond work and
career. The Society's international
spirit and its worldwide events have
If you'd like to be featured in a future
" In Step With " column or would like
to nominate someone to be featured,
contact Abira Altvater at abira.altvater@
ieee.org.
IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE
FALL 2021
149
IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Fall 2021

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