Founders' achievement recognised!

Bob Swanson and Bob Dobkin, co-founders of Linear Technology, were presented with UBM Canon’s EDN and EE Times ACE Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony this week during the Embedded Systems Conference in Santa Clara (CA USA).

Bob Swanson (L) and Bob Dobkin

“Bob Swanson and Bob Dobkin are unique as individuals in their decades-deep contributions to integrated electronics, as well as their longevity in Silicon Valley,” said Steve Taranovich, Senior Technical Editor for EDN. “The talents and experiences of these two leaders, in my estimation, have brought about a corporate culture unlike most of the companies in the electronics business today. This culture encourages innovation and strongly values and recognizes the company’s engineering talent so that when a good idea emerges, management recognizes it and ‘gets out of the way’ to allow the engineer to bring it to fruition.

"They are also exceptional as a team because of their unprecedented continuity of management at a semiconductor company, as well as their refreshing style of management, amplifying Linear Technology's engineering talent. For these reasons and many more, EE Times and EDN chose to honor Bob Swanson and Bob Dobkin with the 2015 ACE Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Lothar Maier, Linear Technology CEO, stated, “Linear Technology’s exceptional performance for more than three decades is a testament to the standards of excellence, quality and innovation that Bob Swanson and Bob Dobkin have instilled in this company. The unique culture they’ve inspired encourages design innovation, unprecedented and continuing product and technology development, and excellence in financial performance. I add my congratulations to Bob Swanson and Bob Dobkin on this well-deserved honor.”

Bob Swanson and Bob Dobkin founded Linear Technology in September 1981. Bob Swanson, Executive Chairman of Linear Technology, previously served as CEO and President, and has been a director of the company since its founding. Bob Dobkin is Chief Technical Officer of Linear Technology. He holds over 100 patents pertaining to linear integrated circuits, has authored over 50 articles and papers, and is co-editor of the Analog Circuit Design book series published by Elsevier.

“The advances made each day by engineering and design are outstanding, bettering every aspect of life for today and tomorrow,” said Suzanne Deffree, Executive Editor, EDN & UBM Canon. “At the ACE Awards, we celebrated some stellar examples of creativity in design, innovation, and technology. We congratulate and thank this year’s ACE Awards nominees, finalists, and winners.”

• A panel of EDN and EE Times editors, as well as independent judges chose the finalists and winners.