Dr. Yun Chiu
- Professor of Electrical Engineering
- Distinguished Professor in Engineering
Chiu has filled this chair since it was established anonymously in 2011 to support the research and scholarly activities of a faculty member to benefit the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
“Integrated circuits have been key to more powerful technology and how humans translate analog communications to the digital language of computers. Since the computer is ultimately working for us, optimizing that communication is crucial.”
Dr. Yun Chiu is a researcher and innovator of circuits who specializes in the interface between analog and digital worlds – the bridge between computers and humans. He is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) senior member and serves on the executive committee of the Texas Analog Center of Excellence (TxACE) at UT Dallas.
“No other schools have such a large center just for analog research. The research and connections with government and industry resources here are limitless in opportunity.”
While working for a startup company in Silicon Valley, Chiu helped design a microchip used in digital imaging that allowed computer cameras to become smaller, cheaper and more energy-efficient. “I did a lot of work in a very short amount of time. I had to work with and lead a team of engineers. We had to explain our work in simple and quick terms that investors and patent lawyers could understand. Those management, communication and fund-raising skills were essential to my later effort of becoming an academic researcher and teacher.”
Although Chiu is prolific in circuit research, he believes that academic research should benefit our society at low or even no cost. He holds a patent for creating a faster amplifier for information and data-processing, and another for inventing a specialized comparator device that is widely used in analog-to-digital converters.
Chiu received his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Science and Technology of China, master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. Chiu started his academic career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004, where he received a tenure offer in 2010. He joined TxACE in 2010.