MIPI Alliance Recognizes Members at 8th Annual Awards Ceremony

Membership awards presented for outstanding work advancing the organization's specifications for mobile, IoT, automotive and other applications

PISCATAWAY, N.J., June 9, 2021 - The MIPI^® Alliance, an international organization that develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries, today announced the recipients of the 2020 MIPI Alliance Membership Awards. The awards were presented at a virtual ceremony honoring the outstanding contributions and leadership by these individual and corporate members.

"The MIPI Alliance Membership Awards recognize individuals and companies whose dedicated collaboration and work have contributed significantly to the development of specifications that advance hardware and software integration in mobile, IoT, automotive and other areas," said Peter Lefkin, managing director of MIPI Alliance. "The entire MIPI membership works diligently to meet the needs of the industries we serve, and we’re proud to spotlight those who have gone above and beyond to further the Alliance’s mission."

An awards and recognition committee reviews nominations from MIPI members and recommends the recipients for approval by the MIPI Alliance Board of Directors. This year’s program honored seven award recipients in five categories: Lifetime Achievement, Corporate, Distinguished Service, Working Group Leadership and Special Achievement.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to individuals who have participated in MIPI Alliance efforts for at least seven years and provided significant contributions or leadership to a working group, the board or other MIPI entities. The 2020 award was presented to Raj Kumar Nagpal of Synopsys for his unparalleled dedication to the continued development and enhancement of the MIPI PHY specifications. Currently serving as chair of the MIPI PHY Steering Group, Nagpal has served in a variety of capacities within the MIPI PHY groups. He is the longtime chair of the D-PHY Working Group and co-chair of the A-PHY Working Group, and regularly shares his knowledge through webinars, presentations, videos and industry publications.

The Corporate Award was presented to STMicroelectronics in recognition of its enduring support and commitment to the success of MIPI Alliance. A founding member of the Alliance, ST has provided visionary and steady leadership since the organization’s early formative stages and establishment in 2003. Over the past 18 years, ST representatives have served in leadership roles on the MIPI board, Technical Steering Group and various other technical working groups. Of particular note is the long-term leadership of Joel Huloux, ST director of lobbying and standardization, and current chairman of the Alliance. Huloux has served on the MIPI board since 2003 and was appointed chairman in 2008. 

Two members of the MIPI I3C Working Group, both from Intel Corporation, received the 2020 Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes individuals impacting the MIPI specification development process or those contributing by serving on the board of directors, a working group or helping in the areas of marketing and testing:

• Rajesh Bhaskar was recognized for his key role in aligning JEDEC and MIPI activities related to the adoption of I3C Basic in JEDEC's Sideband Bus and DDR5 standards. As the MIPI I3C liaison to JEDEC, Bhaskar worked diligently within both organizations to gather requirements and develop mutually beneficial solutions within the I3C Basic specification.
• Matthew Schnoor received the award for his substantial contributions to MIPI I3C activities across multiple working groups. As a fundamental contributor to the I3C, I3C Basic, I3C Host Controller Interface and Debug for I3C specifications, Schnoor has used his extensive knowledge to align I3C development activities across the Alliance, and routinely champions the adoption of I3C through webinars, supporting resources and industry articles.

The Working Group Leadership Award is presented to leaders within MIPI working groups in recognition of noteworthy contributions to the groups’ activities or specification development work. Two individuals were recognized for their efforts:

• Daisuke Sonoda of KIOXIA Corporation and vice chair of the UniPro Working Group was recognized for his considerable contributions to the development of the MIPI UniPro specification. In addition to his leadership in coordinating development activities, Sonoda has provided key guidance to implementers through the creation of supporting resources, particularly application notes and conformance test suites.
• Giuseppe Tofanicchio of STMicroelectronics was awarded for his active participation in the A-PHY, Camera and Security working groups, as well as subgroups focused on functional safety, the MIPI A-PHY protocol adaptation layer for MIPI CSI-2, and other automotive activities. Tofanicchio's system-wide perspectives and contributions have been key to addressing the safety and security requirements of the automotive market.

The Special Achievement Award recognizes individuals for a particular achievement outside of the regular award categories and has only been presented twice in the history of the awards program. The 2020 award was presented to the entire MIPI DevCon event team, who quickly and successfully pivoted last year to stage a two-day virtual developers conference for more than 350 attendees around the world. MIPI DevCon Steering Committee leaders and MIPI team members recognized for the effort included Justin Endo (Mixel Inc.), DevCon Steering Committee chair; Roy Chestnut (Teledyne LeCroy), DevCon Steering Committee vice chair; Kevin Yee (Samsung Electronics Co.), Marketing Steering Group chair; and MIPI support team members Dervla Froemming, Christina Slape, Ian Smith, Lisa Magliaro, Melanie Cole and Sharmion Kerley.

Photos and information about past recipients may be found here: https://www.mipi.org/membership/annual-awards

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About MIPI Alliance

MIPI Alliance (MIPI) develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries. There is at least one MIPI specification in every smartphone manufactured today. Founded in 2003, the organization has over 325 member companies worldwide and more than 15 active working groups delivering specifications within the mobile ecosystem. Members of the organization include handset manufacturers, device OEMs, software providers, semiconductor companies, application processor developers, IP tool providers, automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, and test and test equipment companies, as well as camera, tablet and laptop manufacturers. For more information, please visit www.mipi.org.

MIPI^®, CSI-2^®, MIPI I3C^® and MIPI UniPro^® are registered trademarks owned by MIPI Alliance. MIPI A-PHY^SM, MIPI D-PHY^SM, MIPI I3C Basic^SM and Debug for I3C^SM are service marks of MIPI Alliance.