Bantval Jayant Baliga

Professor Bantval Jayant Baliga is a preeminent expert on power semiconductor devices. He received his M.S and Ph.D degrees in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York in 1971 and 1974, respectively. In the early 1980s, he invented and commercialised the IGBT, the most widely used transistor for consumer, industrial, transportation, medical and renewable energy applications. He also proposed the development of power devices using wide band gap semiconductors in 1979 and developed the technology for them in the 1990s, eventually leading to their commercialisation.

Prof Baliga spent 15 years at the General Electric R&D Center, Schenectady, New York, overseeing their power device effort and was bestowed the highest rank of Coolidge Fellow. He joined North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 1988 as a Full Professor and was promoted to Distinguished University Professor in 1997, and subsequently to Progress Energy Distinguished University Professor. He founded four start-up companies that created successful products while at NCSU. He retired from NCSU in August 2024 and now serves as Progress Energy Distinguished University Emeritus Professor.

Prof Baliga has authored 28 books and over 750 publications in international journals and conference digests. He was honoured with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2011 by President Barack Obama at the White House; the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2014 (its highest recognition); the Global Energy Prize in 2015; and the Millennium Technology Prize in 2024 by the President of Finland. He holds 124 US patents and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame as the sole inventor of the IGBT in 2016.