GETTING TO KNOW US
Getting to Know Dr. Yakov Roizin,
Fellow and Director of Emerging Technologies
Dr. Roizin joined TowerJazz in 1997 as a Senior R&D Device Engineer in Migdal Haemek. He has held device engineering and section head positions prior to his assignment as TowerJazz Fellow and Director of Emerging Technologies. He received his Ph.D. and D.Sc. (Hab) degrees and Professor’s title from the leading academic institutions of the former USSR. Dr. Roizin is the author of more than 300 publications, including 50 patents.
Q: Please tell us about your position, focus areas, etc.
A: My position assumes numerous and diverse activities:
- Initiating and leading innovation projects with business potential for the Company, which includes cooperation with customers and partners and internal TowerJazz funded research.
- Supporting business unit projects at the stages of strategic work plans and risk assessment and then performing follow-up consulting.
- Interacting with Academia and international professional organizations.
- Teaching and mentoring. I am a full professor of Tel Aviv University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (visiting), where I supervise projects of TowerJazz engineers studying for Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees in addition to providing courses and lectures on semiconductor technology. I am also a moderator of TowerJazz’s Educational Seminar and TowerJazz Technology Forum and an editor of TowerJazz Technical Journal (TJ2, regular pier reviewed internal journal).
- IP related activities — Patent Committee and provide support to TowerJazz legal department.
Q: What do you enjoy about your position and what challenges you?
A: What I enjoy most is working in the creative environment. Innovation at TowerJazz is one of the key factors for its success. With the Internet of Things (IoT), machine to machine interaction, smart buildings, connected cars and more, we are at a major new inflection point in the semiconductor industry. TowerJazz’s R&D group works on internally generated ideas as well as the innovative solutions that can be either suggested by our partners and customers or driven by us based on market needs. It is a pleasure to be a part of both types of projects and teams that are continuously contributing to TowerJazz’s leadership position in the emerging markets and technologies.
One of TowerJazz’s greatest strengths is its wonderful engineering community that is able to produce solutions in different areas of semiconductor electronics, ranging from state of the art RF SOI devices, best in class image sensors, non-volatile memories and advanced power management microcircuits to MEMS and silicon photonics. For me, it is a great pleasure to work with the talented people in TowerJazz and one of my personal challenges is to involve more and more young engineers and students with high potential and capabilities in the development of innovative ideas.
We are a company that is strongly growing and we have facilities around the globe. R&D teams in different locations have extensive experience in various fields of semiconductor science and technology. There is a great cooperation between the R&D teams located in our different fabs, where each contributes its best knowledge and skills. My personal challenge is to enhance this cooperation. The aim is to use the proficiency of engineers in various locations and work together on novel ideas enabling breakthrough opportunities for our customers and partners.
Q: What is your focus this year from a business standpoint?
A: There are several areas where TowerJazz is making R&D advances that are important for future business. I would distinguish the work on creating a diverse IoT platform, that includes embedded sensor IPs and means for preliminary data processing, communication and power management of “small powers.” As a part of this program, we continue the work on novel non-volatile memories (ReRAM and STT MRAM), which are known as one of the main IoT enablers. Internal work in this area is very promising for distinguishing TowerJazz as a provider of complex solutions for mobile ultra-low power applications. Another focal direction is enhancing our power management platforms with integrated passive elements, specialized NVM and devices on GaN.
Q: What are some of your hobbies?
A: My main hobbies are connected with sports. I am practicing Aikido for many years and hold a black belt. We also regularly play tennis with my friend and colleague. Together with my wife, we continue to do ballroom dancing. We sometimes take part in contests, and this brings a lot of fun to our grandchildren, 6, 4 and 2 years old.
Q: What is your favorite travel destination?
A: I like mountains, no matter where. Together with my wife we did a lot of hiking in high mountains and this habit remained in the family. I also like sea cruises with calls at beautiful islands with rich nature.
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