Thomas Kailath is author of a mathematical development enabling the production of increasingly small size chips. Methods of his invention are able to pattern integrated circuits with components finer even than the lightwaves used in their production, rather like drawing a line that is finer than the point of the pencil. This discovery, moreover, emerged at a time when the limits of chip miniaturization seemed close and insurmountable.
Thomas Kailath has revolutionized a multitude of supposedly disparate areas, from wireless communications and mobile telephony to the aforementioned miniaturization of integrated circuits. In the field of wireless communications, his work led to the development of a new antenna system used in the now ubiquitous Wi-Fi technology, and was also instrumental in bringing to market the GSM cell phone standard.
Besides his major contributions to the applied sciences, many of the Frontiers laureate’s achievements are purely mathematical. For Kailath is that rare combination: a scientist with the ability to solve profound mathematical problems and translate them into practical applications, generating new technologies and transferring them to industry.
Thomas Kailath , Hitachi America Professor of Engineering at , obtained a B.E.(Telecom) degree from the College of Engineering in Pune, India, in 1956 and M.S. (1959) and Sc.D. (1961) degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After a year at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, he joined Stanford University in 1963 as an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, was promoted to Professor in 1968, and named to the Hitachi America Chair in 1988. He assumed Emeritus status in June 2001. His research has spanned a large number of engineering and mathematical disciplines, and he has mentored over a hundred doctoral and postdoctoral students. He has also co-founded and served as a director of several private and public high-technology companies.
In 2006, he was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame. Other major honors include several Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» medals and prizes, including the 2007 Medal of Honor in 2007, Guggenheim and Churchill Fellowships, and honorary degrees from universities in Sweden, Scotland, Spain and France.
The Frontiers of Knowledge Awards span eight scientific and artistic areas each with a cash prize of 400,000 euros and are organized in partnership with Spain's National Research Council ( ). The Information and Communication Technologies award honors outstanding research work and practical breakthroughs in this area. More information about the award, as well as information on making nominations for the second edition of the award (due June 30, 2010), can be found at the page.
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