Posthumous Recognition for Their Significant, Noteworthy Contributions to the Electronic System Design Industry
Jim Hogan, executive, angel investor, and board member; and Stanford University Professor Edward J. McCluskey today became the first posthumous honorees of a new honor acknowledging their significant and noteworthy contributions to the electronic system design industry.
The Kaufman Hall of Fame, co-sponsored by the Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance and the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA), posthumously recognizes Jim Hogan and Professor McCluskey, neither of whom can be honored with the Phil Kaufman Award. Deceased members of the community are not eligible to receive the award, a policy set by the IEEE.
“Ed died in 2016 and, more recently, Jim, leaving giant and immutable legacies to the electronic system design industry,” comments Bob Smith, executive director of the ESD Alliance. “Both had outsized personalities and accomplishments to match.”
“While Ed will be remembered for his collection of unusual hats, he was a Computer Engineering pioneer who shaped the design and testing of digital systems for more than 50 years,” states Professor Yao-Weng Chang, president of CEDA. Dr. Chang is also the dean of the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at National Taiwan University.
“Jim was responsible for launching and/or guiding countless EDA and semiconductor startups and well understood the importance of fueling the semiconductor ecosystem with new and disruptive ideas,” adds Smith.
Jim Hogan
Jim Hogan (at left), who died in February, was managing partner of Vista Ventures, LLC., and an experienced senior executive who worked in the semiconductor design and manufacturing industry for more than 40 years. He served on numerous boards of directors for private electronic design automation, intellectual property, semiconductor equipment, material science and IT companies and acted as a strategic advisor for private and public companies.
Several nominations on his behalf attest to his commitment to the electronic system design ecosystem. “As an angel investor and board member, Jim was generous with his time and wisdom, and good at connecting with people,” says Moshe Zalcberg, Veriest Solutions’ CEO. “Right before he died, he told me how important it is to fuel the semiconductor ecosystem with new and disruptive ideas.”
“Jim remained enthusiastic about helping entrepreneurs and new technologies,” remarks Bernard Murphy, content marketing advisor and author. “He was an active promoter of innovation in our industry and an inspiration to many nascent entrepreneurs. I am hard-pressed to imagine anyone more deserving of this award.”
According to Jan Goodsell, Quadric.io’s senior director of business development: “Jim generously provided insightful, kind and warm advice across our industry. No one can surpass the combined technical, business and personal contributions that Jim made to our industry, and to so many of us in it.”
“Jim was one of the pillars of the EDA industry,” asserts Joe Costello, former CEO of Cadence Design Systems and the 2004 Phil Kaufman Award recipient. “He worked with me and Jim Solomon for over a decade building Cadence to be the leader in the EDA market and creating the mixed-signal analog division that dominates the market to this day. After I left Cadence, Jim carried on for me taking over my role in M&A continuing to build the company’s product strengths.
“After leaving Cadence, Jim may have had an even greater impact on EDA,” he continues. “Those were difficult years for small EDA companies and startups. Jim was a board member, advisor and investor in more EDA companies than any other person in the last 15 years. It is no exaggeration to say that EDA and EDA technology would not be where it is today without Jim’s guiding hand. And despite all of his prodigious accomplishments, Jim remained the most humble, easy going, likable person in the industry to the very last day.”
Simon Butler, general manager of Perforce Software, concludes: “Jim was an EDA legend.”
Professor Edward J. McCluskey
According to his nomination form, supported by six Phil Kaufman Award winners, Ed McCluskey (at right) sustained a relentless pace of fundamental contributions for efficient and robust design, high-quality testing, and reliable operation of digital systems.
His work has withstood the test of time across technology generations. “Ed’s technical contribution to the fundamentals of synthesis, test, fault tolerance, and digital design automation has been a cornerstone in the foundation of today’s world of ubiquitous computing and internet connectivity,” observes Dr. Thomas W. Williams, retired Synopsys fellow. Dr. Williams received the Phil Kaufman Award in 2018.
Ed was also a leading educator and a pioneer in establishing and fostering computer engineering as a profession. His textbooks on logic design defined the discipline. At Princeton, he established the Computer Engineering curriculum and founded the university computer center in the early 1960s. At Stanford, he founded the Digital Systems Lab (renamed Computer Systems Lab) that cultivated collaboration between Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the Center for Reliable Computing that played a major role in advancing the fields of computer reliability and testing. He produced 75 Ph.D. graduates, many of whom are leaders in academia and industry.
Andrzej J. Strojwas, Keithley Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and chief technologist at PDF Solutions, explains: “Ed’s seminal contributions in the fault-tolerant computing and digital testing fields are extremely relevant today in all aspects of digital system design. The army of his former students and followers will make sure that his ideas will live forever.” Dr. Strojwas was the 2016 recipient of the Phil Kaufman Award.
Ed received numerous awards and honors, including the IEEE John von Neumann Medal; IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award; IEEE Computer Society’s Computer Pioneer Award; and Taylor L. Booth Education Award; ACM SIGDA’s Pioneering Achievement Award; and IEEE Test Technology Technical Council’s Lifetime Contribution Medal. He was elected a Fellow of the AAAS, ACM and the IEEE, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. The IEEE Computer Society renamed its Technical Achievement Award as the Edward J. McCluskey Technical Achievement Award.
In closing, Dr. Aart de Geus, Synopsys’ chairman and co-CEO and Phil Kaufman Award recipient in 2008, notes: “We see a great oak tree suddenly fall and immediately feel the void left behind. We have all learned from Ed’s work, and today appreciate his significant contributions in making the ‘digital revolution’ not a slogan but a world-changing reality. We appreciate the impact of Ed’s technical contributions collectively and personally. Thank you, Ed!”
