YAE news

Annual YAE Prize awarded to Prof. Marian Verhelst

Prof. Verhelst is working in microelectronics and chip design, pioneer in custom AI processors, and is head of a research team at the MICAS laboratories (MICro-electronics And Sensors) of the Electrical Engineering Department of KU Leuven, Belgium. For her successes in research, she received numerous awards, prizes, fellowships, and grants including the Laureate of the National Academy of Science and Arts in Belgium, ERC Starting Grant, Fellow of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), an IEEE distinguished lectureship, and grants from industry (e.g. Intel, Qualcomm, Huawei, Nokia). Verhelst has been involved in various organizations and activities, e.g. for the enhancement of science literacy and a larger uptake of STEM studies as member of the Flemish STEM platform, and to improve possibilities, work-life balance and the science landscape for early-career researchers as founding member of the Belgian Young Academy, where she served on the Board and as co-president for two years. Verhelst is also passionate about science communication, especially towards young people and girls. She founded the Innovation Lab which develops engineering projects ready to be executed in secondary schools, with currently six projects in its portfolio, having trained over 600 teachers, who have executed the projects with more than 12 thousand students. She also features regularly on popular science TV shows (The body of Coppens) and podcasts (Nerdland), reaching hundreds of thousands viewers/listeners. She was involved in the creation of citizen science portal in Belgium, was chosen in the 2020-2022 Science meets Parliament programme, and initiated and organizes the “Women in circuits” initiative in the IEEE Solid State Circuits Society for mentoring young female chip researchers.

By awarding her the YAE Prize, the YAE recognises internationally leading academic research, management, and policy making. The YAE will award the fifth annual YAE Prize, honouring our Founding Chair André Mischke, at the joint annual AE /YAE meeting in Barcelona (October 2021).