Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Carnegie Mellon Alumnus Bruce McWilliams Establishes Graduate Student Fellowship

Home > Press > Carnegie Mellon Alumnus Bruce McWilliams Establishes Graduate Student Fellowship

Abstract:
Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Bruce McWilliams, chairman, president and CEO of Tessera Technologies; and his wife, Astrid McWilliams, have given the Mellon College of Science (MCS)
more than $1 million to establish an endowed fund for the Astrid and Bruce McWilliams Fellowship in the Mellon College of Science. The fellowship will support MCS graduate students conducting leading-edge research in emerging fields such as nanotechnology, biophysics and cosmology.

Carnegie Mellon Alumnus Bruce McWilliams Establishes Graduate Student Fellowship

PITTSBURGH, PA | Posted on April 3rd, 2007

"Graduate fellowships are critical for advancing our research, and this
outstanding gift gives us an opportunity to invest in excellent graduate
students in key research areas where MCS is having increasing impact," said
Richard D. McCullough, dean of MCS and professor of chemistry. "MCS
research - from advancing semiconductor design to creating fluorescent
nanotags - is poised to transform the future of the electronics and
biomedical industries."

"Carnegie Mellon is one of the nation's top-ranked universities. As a
student there, I received a scholarship that enabled me to pursue my
scientific studies. Through this fellowship, Astrid and I hope to give back
to the Mellon College of Science and its brightest minds as they make their
mark on science and the industry," McWilliams said.

Since June 1999, McWilliams has served as chief executive officer,
president and a member of the board of directors of Tessera Technologies.
He was named chairman of the board in February 2002. Tessera is a leading
provider of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry. Its
products have helped to enable the development of smaller, higher
performing and less expensive electronics for use in a variety of products.
Tessera's technology can be found in a broad range of electronics,
including cellular phones, computers, MP3 players, medical and defense
electronics from companies like Apple, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard and Sony.

McWilliams earned his bachelor's, master's and doctor's degrees in
physics at Carnegie Mellon, and he serves on the advisory board for the
Department of Physics.

"I am extremely pleased that a physics alumnus has chosen to give back
in such a generous way," said Fred Gilman, the Buhl Professor of
Theoretical Physics and head of the Physics Department. "I'm looking
forward to Bruce's input as the department continues to strengthen and
grow."

For the inaugural year of the Astrid and Bruce McWilliams Fellowship,
McCullough is matching the award with additional funds to provide full
support for three recipients. The 2007 recipients are Andrea Benvin,
Sandeep Gaan and Haifeng Gao - three outstanding graduate students who are
already publishing their work in top journals.

Benvin, a chemistry doctoral student working with Associate Professor
Bruce Armitage, is developing fluorescent DNA nanotags for clinical
diagnostics and basic research to label and observe discrete molecular
complexes within cells. Gaan, a physics doctoral student working with
Professor Randy Feenstra, uses a scanning tunneling microscope to study
surfaces of semiconductors that are prepared in ultra-high vacuums with
organic films that have potential applications in flexible displays and
thin- film transistors. Gao, a chemistry doctoral student working with J.C.
Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences Kris Matyjaszewski,
develops well- defined, star-like polymeric nanogels with potential uses in
drug delivery, photoelectronics and specialty coatings.

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About Carnegie Mellon University
About the Mellon College of Science: The Mellon College of Science at
Carnegie Mellon includes the departments of biological sciences, chemistry,
mathematical sciences and physics, and serves as home to a number of
interdisciplinary research centers. MCS faculty and students collaborate
with other top-ranked Carnegie Mellon programs to advance research and
education in emerging fields including nanotechnology, environmental
science, bioimaging, biosensors and computational biology.

About Tessera Technologies Inc.: Tessera is a leading provider of
miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry. Tessera provides
a broad range of advanced packaging, interconnect, and consumer optics
solutions which are widely adopted in high-growth markets including
consumer, computing, communications, medical and defense electronics.
Tessera's customers include the world's top semiconductor companies, such
as Intel, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Micron and Infineon. The
company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol
TSRA. Tessera is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and has offices around
the world. For more information, visit http://www.tessera.com .