Kristofer S. J. Pister ("Kris Pister") is a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and the founder and CTO of

Dust Networks Dust Networks, Inc. is an American company specializing in the design and manufacture of wireless sensor networks for industrial applications including process monitoring, condition monitoring, asset management, Environment, Health and Safety (E ...

. He is known for his academic work on

Microelectromechanical systems Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), also written as micro-electro-mechanical systems (or microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems) and the related micromechatronics and microsystems constitute the technology of microscopic devices, ...

(MEMS), their simulation (the

SUGAR Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

MEMS simulator), his work on

Smartdust Smartdust is a system of many tiny microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) such as sensors, robots, or other devices, that can detect, for example, light, temperature, vibration, magnetism, or chemicals. They are usually operated on a computer netwo ...

, and his membership in the

JASON Defense Advisory Group JASON is an independent group of elite scientists which advises the United States government on matters of science and technology, mostly of a sensitive nature. The group was created in the aftermath of the Sputnik launch as a way to reinvigorate ...

. He is the son of former Berkeley Dean of Engineering and former UC Chancellor Karl Pister.

Professional work

Kristofer Pister is a professor at the

, where he has taught since 1997. Prior to that he was a professor at the University of California Los Angeles. He is generally attributed as the inventor and key implementer of

smartdust Smartdust is a system of many tiny microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) such as sensors, robots, or other devices, that can detect, for example, light, temperature, vibration, magnetism, or chemicals. They are usually operated on a computer netwo ...

, and is the founder and current CTO of

, a company commercializing the smart dust concept. Dust Networks was then bought by Linear but still kept its original name (Dust Networks). Pister initially focused on

microelectromechanical systems Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), also written as micro-electro-mechanical systems (or microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems) and the related micromechatronics and microsystems constitute the technology of microscopic devices, ...

and has since shifted his lab focus toward integrated circuits. Many of his innovations have been at the intersection of the two. Kris successfully commercialized or licensed micromachine technologies with Tanner Research, OMM Inc., Xactix, and

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

. He is also the originator of the fold up silicon quick reference macro-crystal.http://www-bsac.eecs.berkeley.edu/~pister/crystal.pdf

Education

He holds a PhD and MS in electrical engineering and computer sciences from UC Berkeley and a BS from UC San Diego.

References

External links

Pister at the UC Berkeley electrical engineering/computer science department website

UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty American chief technology officers Businesspeople in computing University of California, Los Angeles faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Missing middle or first names {{compu-scientist-stub