Pitt ECE Students Ryan Caginalp and Ehab Hamed Receive IEEE SSCS Awards

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Solid State Circuits Society (SSCS), awarded two students in the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to head west and present their research at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2024 Conference in San Francisco, California.  

Code-a-Chip Grant Award 

Ryan Caginalp, an undergraduate in Pitt’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the Code-a-Chip Travel Grant for creating a capacitance-to-digital converter generator using an open-source tool flow, which would create a manufacturable design based off of high-level user input.

“The ISSCC conference is a major symposium in the field of circuit design, with leading researchers in the field attending from all around the world,” Caginalp said. “This award allowed me to present my work, learn about ongoing research in my field, and meet with world-renowned researchers. These interactions were helpful as I plan to start a PhD in the fall.”

The IEEE SSCS Code-a-Chip Travel Grant Award was created to promote responsible chip design using open-source tools and notebook-driven design flows. 

IEEE SSCS Student Travel Grant Award Program  

Ehab Hamed, a PhD student in Pitt’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the IEEE SSCE Student Travel Grant Award for his latest research work.

“My focus of study is centered around low-power analog integrated circuit design,” Hamed said. “This award helped immerse me in the latest advancements within my field, network, and gain invaluable insights that contribute to research endeavors while at the conference.”

The IEEE SSCS Student Travel Grant Award program recognizes and promotes early career accomplishments in all fields of solid-state circuits by supporting student travel to the next ISSCC conference. 

“Ehab is highly motivated by the opportunity where he engaged with top engineers, professors, and students in the semiconductor chip design field,” said Dr. In Hee Lee, assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. “I believe this motivation will lead to his presentation of his research paper at the conference next year.”

About IEEE SSCS and ISSCC

Established in 1997, the IEEE Solid State Circuits Society has over ten thousand members around the world that focus on fabricated integrated circuit designs, rather than simulated circuits and analyzed models, for all applications using relevant materials and interconnections. SSCS is a patron member of six IEEE Councils to leverage interdisciplinary technologies.

The International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) is the top international conference in the field of integrated circuit design. The conference draws significant attention from the U.S. government as well as partners from the industry and academia through the CHIPS Act of 2022, which aims to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing, design and research, fortify the economy and national security, and reinforce America’s chip supply chains. This initiative is supported by major information technology companies such as AMD, Google, Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and META through the CHIPS Alliance.