Munich, Germany (Marketwired). Following a recent Global Semiconductor Alliance meeting, Michael H. Freeman, CEO and CTO of Semitrex, announced the appointment of Dr. Andrea Baschirotto, Ph.D., and Dr. Piero Malcovati, Ph.D., to the company’s newly created International Technical Advisory Board (ITAB). Semitrex’s ITAB is tasked with guiding the company’s overall technical strategy and implementing its global product roadmap with a special focus on the European integration of its TRONIUM Power Supply System(s) on a Chip (PSSoC) products. Baschirotto will serve as the ITAB chairman and Malcovati will serve as its vice-chairman; both reside in Italy’s Milano metropolitan area.
“The appointment of these two distinguished global experts to the ITAB demonstrates Semitrex’s commitment to solving the problem of energy waste worldwide and builds on our efforts to help solve Europe’s $15 billion per year vampire load crisis,” noted Freeman. “Leveraging the thought leadership of trusted, well-respected experts such as Dr. Baschirotto and Dr. Malcovati is invaluable to Semitrex as we embark on our mission to disrupt the power conversion status quo.”
The 2012 European Commission Energy Efficiency Directive established a set of binding measures to help the EU reach its 20% increased energy efficiency target by 2020. Under the directive, all EU countries are required to use energy more efficiently at all stages of the energy chain—from production to final consumption.
Semitrex is addressing EU energy efficiency goals by improving the way that power conversions are made. The company’s first chip, the highly energy-efficient TRONIUM PSSoC, is based on its patented Muxcapacitor technology and has been tested with efficiencies over 90% across all load ranges (down to 50 mA) with only 0.5 mW standby power draw in the U.S. and 1 mW of standby power draw in Europe. This technology includes capacitor cascading voltage reduction, gate timing technologies, capacitor gate sharing, and low conversion ratio capacitive voltage conversions, all of which set the Semitrex approach apart from traditional methods and enable high energy efficiencies. Semitrex says it is the first in the industry to utilize a capacitive pre-regulation technology as a method to reduce voltages down from the mains with high efficiencies.
Baschirotto and Malcovati bring decades of expertise, knowledge, and practical experience in the semiconductor and power-supply fields to Semitrex. Key responsibilities include the further development, maintenance, and evolution of the Semitrex technical strategy, along with providing technical guidance to help shape the company’s technology into a global solution.
“This is an important position and an honor,” said Baschirotto, a comment which was echoed by Malcovati. “Instilling the utmost confidence in everyone from governments to manufacturers to end users is extremely important to Semitrex. The ITAB’s contributions to continuing advancements in our game-changing technology will ensure that Semitrex maintains the leadership position we’ve staked out in the field of power supply conversions,” Baschirotto stated.
Baschirotto brings decades of teaching, research, and industrial design in the field of microelectronics to his role as the ITAB chairman. In January of 2014, he was distinguished by being selected as an IEEE Fellow, joining an elite group of other international IEEE experts who have significantly contributed to the advancement of engineering, science and technology. Baschirotto has authored or coauthored more than 30 U.S. patents in the analog field. He is the current leader of the Microelectronics Group at the University of Milan-Bicocca. His expertise is in the design of CMOS mixed analog/digital integrated circuits, particularly low-power and/or high-speed signal processing, and he has been active in developing custom analog/mixed-signal solutions for telecom, smart sensor, power management, and audio applications. He has authored or coauthored more than 190 papers in international journals and presentations at international conferences, and six book chapters. Baschirotto received his Ph.D. in electronics engineering from the University of Pavia.
Currently an associate professor at the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering of the University of Pavia, Malcovati is an expert in the field of microsensor interface circuits, high-performance data converters, and power management systems. He is the author or co-author of more than 70 papers published in IEEE and international journals, with more than 250 presentations at international conferences, 25 book chapters, and six industrial patents. Dr. Malcovati serves on the technical committees of numerous international conferences, including ISSCC, ESSCIRC, SENSORS, ICECS, and PRIME. An IEEE senior member, Malcovati received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from ETH Zurich.
With corporate headquarters in Laguna Beach, CA, Semitrex is a fabless semiconductor company focusing on energy-efficient power solutions. Applications addressed by Semitrex’s power-conversion technology include the billions of devices in the consumer, computer, telecom, medical, and industrial markets.
