John E. Bourgoin (BSEE ’68), Charles S.T. Liang (BSEE ’62, PhD ’69), William H. Steier (MSEE ’57, PhD ’60), and Donald R. Wilton (BSEE ’64, MSEE ’66, PhD ’70) have received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) at a banquet on Friday, September 27 in Urbana. Established 32 years ago, this award recognizes ECE alumni who have made professional and technical contributions that bring distinction to the department and the university.
Bourgoin, who is chairman, president, and CEO of MIPS Technologies, Inc. in Mountain View, CA, was recognized for his technical contributions and leadership in the field of high-performance microprocessors, of which his company is a leading supplier.
A research engineer senior principal of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, TX, Liang was honored for his contributions to the development of the technology of low observables applied to the tactical aircraft designed and produced at Lockheed Martin.
Steier, a W.M Hogue professor of electrical engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, was recognized for his basic contributions to lasers, photonics, and fiber optics; and for outstanding leadership and administrative ability in engineering.
Professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Houston, TX, Wilton was honored in recognition of outstanding contributions to fundamental theories and techniques in computational electromagnetics.
Also presented at the September 27 banquet are the ECE Young Alumni Award, which recognizes alumni less than 36 years old who have made outstanding contributions to their field, and the Marcia Peterson ECE Alumni Award, which is presented annually to a former ECE Alumni Board Member for dedicated service.
Pallab Midya (PhD ’95) is the recipient of the Young Alumni Achievement award. A distinguished member of technical staff for Motorola Corporate Laboratories in Shaumburg, IL, Midya is being recognized for his leadership and innovation in power electronics for high-performance applications.
James J. Mikulski (PhD ’59) will receive the Peterman Award. Mikulski, a retired corporate vice president for Motorola Incorporated in Shaumburg, IL, is being honored for his dedicated and loyal service to the University and Alumni Association, on which he served from 1993 to 1999.