When President Obama this past week named 7 researchers as recipients of the National Medal of Science and 5 more as winners of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (shown above), innovators in networking technology didn’t make the cut.
The National medal of Technology and Innovation in the past has gone to big names in networking such as the late packet switching pioneer Paul Baran (2007), David Cutler for his work with DEC and Microsoft, and Ethernet creator Robert Metcalfe (2003).
This year’s winners included those making major accomplishments in fields such as energy efficiency, flight safety and rocket propulsion.
A couple of researchers whose work does involve computing/electronics were among those recognized this time around as well. They are B. Jayant Baliga of North Carolina State University (For development and commercialization of the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor and other power semiconductor devices that are extensively used in transportation, lighting, medicine, defense, and renewable energy generation systems) and Michael F. Tompsett of TheraManager (For pioneering work in materials and electronic technologies including the design and development of the first charge-coupled device (CCD) imagers).
