IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Spring 2023 - 132

world (e.g., South America, Asia, the
Middle East, and North America), I
got this unique opportunity to learn
about wonderful activities in these
Chapters.
DM: Why is SSCS membership
important to you? What has the SSCS
done for you?
PH: The SSCS member sh ip
allowed me to learn about many
ABOUT PAYAM HEYDARI
Payam Heydari received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the Sharif
University of Technology in 1992 and 1995, respectively. He received his Ph.D. degree from
the University of Southern California in 2001. He is currently the University Chancellor's
Professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California,
Irvine (UCI).
Dr. Heydari's research covers the design of terahertz/millimeter-wave/radio frequency
and analog integrated circuits. He is the coauthor of two books, three book chapters, and
more than 180 journal and conference articles. He has given the keynote speech to the
IEEE GlobalSIP 2013 Symposium on Millimeter Wave Imaging and Communications, served
as an invited distinguished speaker to the 2014 IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and
Systems, and given a tutorial at the 2017 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference
(ISSCC). He has served as a Distinguished Lecturer of both the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society
(SSCS) (2014-2016) and the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S)
(2019-2022).
Dr. Heydari is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and a Fellow of IEEE. He
is the recipient of the 2023 MTT-S Distinguished Educator Award, the 2021 SSCS Innovative
Education Award, and Best Invited Paper Award at the 2021 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits
Conference (CICC). He was selected as the inaugural Faculty Innovation Fellow by UCI Beall
Applied Innovation. He was the recipient of the 2016-2017 UCI School of Engineering MidCareer
Excellence in Research award; the 2014 Distinguished Engineering Educator Award from
the Orange County Engineering Council; the 2009 Business Plan Competition First Place Prize
Award and Best Concept Paper Award, both from Paul Merage School of Business at University
of California (UC)-Irvine; the 2010 Faculty of the Year Award from UC-Irvine's Engineering Student
Council (ECS); the 2009 School of Engineering Best Faculty Research Award; the 2007 IEEE
Circuits and Systems Society Guillemin-Cauer Best Paper Award; the 2005 IEEE Circuits and
Systems Society Darlington Best Paper Award; the 2005 National Science Foundation (NSF)
CAREER Award; the 2005 Henry Samueli School of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award;
the Best Paper Award at the 2000 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design (ICCD);
and the 2001 Technical Excellence Award from the Association of Professors and Scholars of
Iranian Heritage (APSIH).
He was recognized as the 2004 Outstanding Faculty in the Department of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science of the UCI. His research on novel low-power multipurpose
multiantenna RF front ends received the Low-Power Design Contest Award at the 2008
IEEE International Symposium on Low-Power Electronics and Design (ISLPED). The Office of
Technology Alliances at UCI has named Dr. Heydari one of the 10 outstanding innovators at
the university.
Dr. Heydari is an associate editor of IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSC), IEEE Open
Journal of the Solid-State Circuits Society (OJ-SSCS), and IEEE Solid-State Circuits Letters (SSC-L).
He is a member of the Technical Program Committee (TPC) of the IEEE European Solid-State
Circuits Conference (ESSCIRC) and the 2021 International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2021).
Dr. Heydari is currently a member of the AdCom for the SSCS. Formerly, Dr. Heydari was a
member of the International TPC of the ISSCC (2014-2019). He was a guest editor of JSSC and
associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems - I and served on the TPCs of the
Compound Semiconductor IC Symposium (CSICS), International Symposium on Quality Electronic
Design (ISQED), IEEE Design and Test in Europe (DATE), and International Symposium on
Physical Design (ISPD). He is the director of the Nanoscale Communication Integrated Circuits
(NCIC) Labs.
SSCS activities, including participating
in and contributing to excellent
sponsored conferences; learning
about programs such as Women in
Circuits; attending workshops, tutorial
talks, and seminars; and following
the design contest programs,
Distinguished Lecturer talks, and
other educational activities. In one
statement, the SSCS laid the foundation
for me to build and expand my
career. My engagement in the SSCS
as a coauthor of more than 60 SSCSsponsored
conferences and journals
(JSSC, ISSCC, CICC, ESSCIRC, RFIC,
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine,
and OJ-SSCS); as an SSCS Distinguished
Lecturer; and on the SSCS
AdCom have all allowed me to get to
know about wonderful and inspiring
individuals.
DM: How has the Society impacted
your life outside of your work and
career?
PH: I built my career as an assistant
professor in early 2002. The
excellent environment and the highquality
individuals involved in the
SSCS who cared for their colleagues
greatly helped me in my career
development. Along the way, the
interaction through SSCS-sponsored
forums and conferences provided a
unique opportunity for me to build
friendships with several individuals
that went well beyond the professional
settings. These friendships
positively shaped my life in many
dimensions.
DM: What have you learned most
in your career?
PH: I have learned to work hard and
be passionate about empowering my
environment, which includes family,
colleagues, and my 39 former and nine
current students with whom I have had
the privilege to interact as their thesis
advisor. I grew up in a lower-middleclass
family and started from nothing
when I came to the United States and
worked extremely hard every minute
and every day. What I have learned
most through all this hard work is that
life is about creating possibilities and
bringing forth tangible actions combined
with hard work and creativity to
realize these possibilities.
132 SPRING 2023
IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE

IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Spring 2023

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