IEC Presents Fellow Award to Dr. Irwin Jacobs

Business Wire, Nov 11, 2002

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 2002

The International Engineering Consortium recently presented the IEC Fellow Award to Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs, co-founder, Chairman and CEO of QUALCOMM Inc. QUALCOMM's major product lines include CDMA technology, integrated CDMA chipsets and system software, technology licensing, e-mail software, and satellite-based and wireless fleet management systems. The IEC award came in a ceremony before Dr. Jacobs gave the plenary address at the organization's annual National Wireless Engineering Conference, held this year in San Diego, Calif.

The IEC Fellow Award was established in 1994 to recognize individuals who have provided the information industry with a superior level of sustained and significant service. Areas of service considered for the award include education, technology, and industry leadership.

Dr. Jacobs received his B.E.E. from Cornell University in 1956 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1957 and '59 respectively. From 1959 to 1966, he was assistant and associate professor of electrical engineering at MIT and a staff member with the research laboratory of Electronics. During his years at MIT, Dr. Jacobs co-authored a text on digital communications, Principles of Communications Engineering, which is still used in classrooms today. He served as a NASA Resident Research Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1964. In 1966, he joined the new Department of Applied Electrophysics at the University of California at San Diego.

In 1972, Dr. Jacobs resigned as Professor of Information and Computer Science at UCSD to co-found LINKABIT, which he served as President and CEO. In August 1980, that company merged with M/A-COM Inc., and Jacobs served the merged companies as a member of the board of directors and of the office of the President. Before departing M/A-COM in 1985, Dr. Jacobs led the development of the Air Force Dual Modem, the first commercial Very Small Aperture Terminal earth station, and the first commercial TDMA digital wireless telephone.

Jacobs retains his academic ties through service on the President's Engineering Advisory Council of the University of California, and on the visiting committee of the MIT Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems. Dr. Jacobs is a past chairman of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Defense Communications Agency and of the Engineering Advisory Council for the University of California. He is also a past academic and scientific member of the Technion International Board of Governors.

Dr. Jacobs is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. In 1982, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for "contributions to communication theory and practice, and leadership in high-technology product development." He has also been a member of the California Council on Science and Technology and serves on the UCSD Foundation Board of Trustees.

In receiving the International Engineering Consortium's Fellow Award, Dr. Jacobs joins some 80 communications and engineering trailblazers, including Gordon Moore, former CEO of Intel; David Packard, founder of Hewlett-Packard; Robert Galvin, former Motorola CEO; Vinton Cerf, senior vice president of MCI; Jack S. Kilby, Nobel Laureate and a pioneer in the development of the integrated circuit; and John Chambers, President and CEO of Cisco Systems.

More information on the IEC Fellow Award may be obtained by calling the International Engineering Consortium at 1-312-559-4100.

The International Engineering Consortium is a cooperative public-service organization dedicated to positive change in the information industry and university communities. For more than 50 years, IEC has provided educational opportunities for industry professionals, university professors and promising students. Executives from throughout the industry continue to build strong business and technical foundations for the future through knowledge gained from IEC Forums and publications.