Ronald Reedy is an American businessman, scientist and researcher. In the semiconductor industry, he advanced

silicon on sapphire Silicon on sapphire (SOS) is a hetero-epitaxial process for metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing that consists of a thin layer (typically thinner than 0.6 µm) of silicon grown on a sapphire (Al2O3) wafer. ...

(SOS) and

CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFE ...

technology.

Education

In 1969, Reedy graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

in Annapolis with a BSEE. He then earned a MSEE degree from

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

in Monterey. In 1983, he received his Ph.D. in EE & Applied Physics from

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

Career

Reedy began his career at the NOSC (US Naval Ocean Systems Center) where he worked on silicon CMOS processing. In 1988, Reedy along with NOSC colleagues Mark Burgener and Graham Garcia published a research paper in IEEE Electron Device Letters that proved that SOS films thinned to 100 nm were suitable for application to high-performance down-scaled CMOS circuitry. It was with this advancement that Reedy decided to commercialize the technology. Their research findings were instrumental to the industry and have since been cited in 13 IEEE research papers and 58 patents. In 1990, Reedy co-founded

Peregrine Semiconductor Peregrine Semiconductor, known as pSemi, is a San Diego-based manufacturer of high-performance RF (radio frequency) CMOS integrated circuits. A Murata Manufacturing company since December 2014, the company's products are used in aerospace and defe ...

to commercialize the advanced technology. Peregrine became a fabless chip designer that was publicly traded on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

until the company was acquired by Murata in December 2014 for $471 million. Reedy served as the company's founding CEO and the company's CTO before retiring in early 2015. Reedy now holds the title of CTO emeritus of Peregrine Semiconductor. In 2016, Reedy came out of retirement and founde
Skeyeon
the first company based on placing a

satellite constellation A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global coverage, such that at any time everywhere on Earth at least one sa ...

in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) for the

earth imaging Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...

market. There are numerous benefits to operating in VLEO that are not available in higher altitude LEO and

GEO Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or land”. GEO or Geo may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazine ...

orbits, where most satellites and the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

operate, including inherently higher satellite performance; substantially lower launch and operating costs; and creating self-cleaning orbits essentially solving the significant problem of

space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, or space garbage) are defunct human-made objects in space—principally in Earth orbit—which no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict spacecr ...

. Skeyeon has developed technology enabling VLEO operation for many different applications, and is actively developing its first satellites for launch. Reedy sits on the Council of Advisors for UCSD's

Jacobs School of Engineering Jacobs may refer to: Businesses and organisations *Jacob's, a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the UK *Jacobs (coffee), a brand of coffee *Jacobs Aircraft Engine Company, former American aircraft engine company ...

and its Gordon Leadership Center. Over the course of his career, Reedy has been listed as an inventor on dozens of patents. Many of those patents are related to advancements in

silicon on insulator In semiconductor manufacturing, silicon on insulator (SOI) technology is fabrication of silicon semiconductor devices in a layered silicon–insulator–silicon substrate, to reduce parasitic capacitance within the device, thereby improving perfo ...

and

Awards and recognition

In 2011, Reedy and co-founder Mark Burgener were awarded the

IEEE Daniel E. Noble Award The IEEE Daniel E. Noble Award is a Technical Field Award of the IEEE for contributions to emerging technologies. The award is named after Daniel E. Noble. The award was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 2000, replacing the prior IEE ...

for Emerging Technologies for their contribution"to make silicon on sapphire (SOS) technology commercially feasible for wireless communications." The IEEE Noble award is presented annually to individuals who made a significant contribution to emerging technologies.

References

External links

UCSD Gordon Center
Ron Reedy speaking at the Gordon Engineering Leadership Forum {{DEFAULTSORT:Reedy, Ron Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American electrical engineers United States Naval Academy alumni University of California, San Diego alumni Naval Postgraduate School alumni Engineers from California

Education

Career

Awards and recognition

See also

References

External links