Dr. Lucio Lanza, the 2014 recipient of the Phil Kaufman Award for Distinguished Contributions to the electronic design automation (EDA) industry. Dr. Lanza, a noted investor in early-stage EDA, IP and semiconductor companies has been a part of the Silicon Valley fabric since he left Olivetti Corporation in Italy after 10 years (1968-1977) to join Intel in 1977. He is being recognized with the Phil Kaufman Award from the EDA Consortium and IEEE Council for EDA (CEDA) for his substantial impact on EDA through his strategic and financial assistance to innovative EDA companies.
Early in his career, he held positions of increasing responsibility for strategy and innovation at Intel, including chairman of the microprocessor Strategic Business Segment (SBS). Dr. Lanza moved to Daisy Systems Corp, an early EDA company, where he served as vice president of marketing and later as general manager of the EDA division. From 1986 to 1989, he was chief executive officer of EDA Systems, Inc. After EDA Systems was acquired by DEC, he became an independent consultant to companies in the electronics, communications and EDA industries from 1990 to 1995, including Cadence Design Systems. Simultaneously, he served as a venture partner and a general partner at U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) from 1990-2000.
Currently, in addition to being managing director of Lanza techVentures, he is chairman of the board of PDF Solutions, a position he’s held since 2004, and serves on the board of directors of several private companies. He holds a doctorate in electronic engineering from Politecnico of Milano.