IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Winter 2021 - 60

Three Outstanding Merits of Meindl's Career: A Personal View
As Prof. Meindl's Ph.D. student (1978-1981) in the Stanford IC Lab,
which he established as the world's top academic research center in
ICs/semiconductors, I have always been so proud that he was my advisor, cultivating in me essential skills in research and leadership for my
40+ year career. He was a unique leader and educator in shaping our
industry of microelectronics and micro-power biomedical devices for
the benefit of humanity.
1) He is the only technical leader who has had the honor of delivering multiple plenary speeches at the IEEE International Solid-State
Circuits Conference (ISSCC). Our industry enthusiastically looked
forward to hearing his pioneering views on major subjects: where
semiconductor technologies are going, how much ICs can be miniaturized, and how many functions can provide outperformance beyond what human beings can expect. He also received the highest
number of Best Paper awards from the ISSCC.
2) In 1975, I received earlier training at National Taiwan University
under Prof. Simon Sze and then traveled thousands of miles to Stanford to pursue my research with Prof. Meindl. Now, 45 years later,
Taiwan has established itself as a major region for producing ICs.
However, in 1978, Prof. Meindl showed me some pictures from the
1960s of him with the president of the Republic of China on his
trip to Taiwan-not only to share his experiences of establishing
the IC Division in the U.S. Army Electronics Lab but also to advise
that ICs and microelectronics should be Taiwan's focus for growing
a prosperous economy. He told me that was one of the reasons
that he took me as his Ph.D. student, expecting that one day I may
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be contributing to Taiwan, from where I came. Ever since, I have
always been grateful and admired Prof. Meindl for his global perspective of selecting and educating his close Ph.D. students from
not only the United States but other geographies to share his own
findings and contributions with the world. His breadth of mind and
spirit is truly admirable.
3) After graduating, I constantly received great advice from him; e.g.,
he gave me his way of shaping one's career: write down explicitly and crisply, with fewer than 50 words, what one expects to
achieve in the next few years so as to lay a clear road map for the
most worthwhile career development. In 2016, he contacted me in
Taiwan and inspired me on how to make contributions to science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics education. I recorded
my views in an educational video for public broadcasting, and he
praised me for making contributions toward that direction. He was
a rare leader in our field who could easily have had goals that prioritized making money, but, instead, he dedicated his most valuable
wisdom, resources, and entire professional life to education and was
awarded an IEEE Medal of Honor.
Prof. Meindl was truly a remarkable and unforgettable figure in the
civilization of human beings. I am very proud and honored to write this
article to tell the world about such a giant as J.D.M. as well as his true
partner, Mrs. Freddie Meindl!
-Nicky Lu
About the Author
Nicky Lu is an inventor of several key IC designs/technologies and serial founder
of several companies, from start-ups to publicly listed ones. He has dedicated his
career to worldwide IC design and the semiconductor industry.

A Model of Leadership, Kindness, and Humility
Jim was my Ph.D. advisor at Stanford, so I had many opportunities to
learn from him and also study him-not just bask in his obvious brilliance but understand how he thought. In one of Jim's lectures, I was
chatting with a classmate seated next to me, when I abruptly paused the
conversation and said, " Wait, Jim is going to ask me a question " -and
then Jim asked me a question! My classmate was startled, but to me it
was not at all surprising. I had spent so much time observing, admiring,
and trying to emulate Jim that I had internalized how he thought and
made mental associations. From the start, I could sense that having the
opportunity to learn how Jim's mind worked was a rare gift.
Of course, there is no substitute for the real thing, so I continued to reach
out to Jim for his perspective, especially during my days as a junior faculty
member. Even after that, I just kept calling him, and he, graciously, kept
taking my calls. I will deeply miss having the chance to seek his advice,
talk through a thorny decision, or work through a challenging problem.
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IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE

A while back, I learned an impressive statistic: 90 graduate students
that Jim shepherded toward their Ph.D. degrees have found success in
their chosen professions, from research to industry to administration.
However, he set us on a path to something more important than just
professional achievement. Jim modeled for us how to be leaders and
show kindness and humility-not just how to think, but how to be. I am
enormously and endlessly grateful that he taught me and so many others
so well. He represented the gold standard of what a teacher and mentor
can be, and it is no exaggeration to say that I benefit from his wisdom
every single day.
-L. Rafael Reif
About the Author
L. Rafael Reif has served as the 17th president of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) since July 2012, where he has championed basic research, pioneered the future of education, and led the redevelopment of MIT's neighboring
innovation district. On the MIT faculty since 1980, he received his Ph.D. degree
in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Winter 2021

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