Rambus Inc. , one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed memory architectures, today announced that Craig Hampel, a Rambus Fellow, has been named Inventor of the Year by the Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association (SVIPLA). This recognition reflects the impact Mr. Hampel and Rambus have had in advancing the performance of consumer and computing products.
“Craig Hampel has great foresight into future consumer electronics devices and how we will use them,” said Steven Cahill, president of the Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association. “Today’s products wouldn’t have the speed and performance that we’ve come to expect without his innovative memory solutions.”
During his distinguished career, Mr. Hampel has received 134 U.S. patents. These inventions and associated memory solutions have played a fundamental role in advancements in 3D realism across a number of gaming platforms, including the Nintendo 64, Sony PlayStation2, and PlayStation3 game consoles.
“I am proud to work alongside some of the best minds in the industry at Rambus,” said Craig Hampel, Fellow at Rambus. “Together, we have designed three generations of memory architectures that increased bandwidth nearly 100 fold and helped enable the rapid rise in performance of computing and consumer products.”
Mr. Hampel, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering from the University of Illinois, developed an interest in engineering, design and invention while growing up and observing the workings of farm machinery in rural Illinois. His appreciation and curiosity of how things work, as well as why they don’t, led to his work in electronics and computing.
Mr. Hampel was honored last night during an SVIPLA ceremony at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, Calif. Every year, the SVIPLA recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions in the technical arts. Past Inventors of the Year include: Robert N. Noyce for his development of integrated circuit technology, Herbert W. Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen for their discovery of gene splicing methods used to create the first genetically engineered organism, and Charles R. Trimble for his development of automobile navigation systems.
