Rate My Professor Aaron Thean

Aaron Voon-Yew Thean is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He currently serves as Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost of NUS. Previously, he was the Founding Dean of the NUS College of Design and Engineering and Dean of the NUS Faculty of Engineering. He also directs the Singapore Hybrid-Integrated Next-Generation μ-Electronics Centre, the Hybrid Integrated Flexible Electronic Systems research program, and co-directs the A*Star SIMTech-NUS Joint Lab on Hybrid Flexible Electronics. Prior to joining NUS in 2016, he held the position of Vice President of Logic Technologies at IMEC, where he directed research and development of next-generation semiconductor technologies and emerging nano-device architectures, managing a $50 million USD annual R&D operation. Earlier roles include leading the Strategic Silicon Technologies Group at Qualcomm, serving as Device Manager at IBM for 28-nm and 32-nm low-power bulk CMOS technology development, and working as a senior scientist at Freescale Semiconductor and Motorola on novel devices.

Thean earned his B.Sc. (Highest Honors), M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on nano-electronics and nanotechnology. He has published over 400 technical papers and holds more than 50 US patents. Notable recognitions include the 2014 Compound Semiconductor Industry Innovation Award, the 2013 Samsung Collaboration Award, the 2010 Young Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Illinois, and designation as a Returning Singapore Scientist by the National Research Foundation. He is an Editor of the IEEE Electron Device Letters and serves on scientific advisory boards including those for the Singapore-MIT Alliance and A*Star Institute of Microelectronics, in addition to acting as a consulting fellow to the IMEC CEO.