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Website of Eric R. Fossum
Born and raised in Connecticut, he attended public school in Simsbury and
spent Saturdays at the Talcott Mountain Science Center in Avon. He received
his B.S. in Physics and Engineering from Trinity College in Hartford and the
Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale University in New Haven.
He was a member of Columbia University’s Electrical Engineering faculty and
then joined the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of
Technology where he managed JPL’s image sensor and focal-plane technology
research and advanced development. While at JPL, he invented the CMOS
camera-on-a-chip technology and led its development and subsequent transfer
of the technology to US industry. Its initial purpose was to miniaturize and
improve cameras on NASA interplanetary spacecraft. This invention combined
the low noise of the charge-coupled device (CCD) with the low power and small
form-factor of CMOS integration by using intra-pixel
charge transfer and an active pixel architecture, making cameras 100x smaller
in size and needing far less energy to operate. Nearly all
of the approx. seven (7) billion or more CMOS cameras made each year
use the intra-pixel charge transfer invention. Dr. Fossum co-founded Photobit Corporation to
commercialize the technology and served in several top management roles
including Chairman and CEO. Photobit was acquired
by Micron Technology Inc. He served as Chairman and CEO of Siimpel Corporation developing MEMS-based camera modules
with autofocus and shutter functions for cell phones. He was then a
consultant with Samsung Electronics working on 3D image sensors and strategic
issues for several years before joining Dartmouth. He co-founded Gigajot Technology Inc. with his former Dartmouth PhD
students to commercialize the photon-counting Quanta Image Sensor (QIS)
technology and served as Chairman. Dr. Fossum received the Queen Elizabeth Prize from HRH Dr. Fossum
has published over 340 technical papers and holds 185 US patents. He
co-founded the International Image Sensor Society (IISS), was its first
President and Chaired the IISS Board of Directors. He is a Life Fellow member
of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow
member of Optica (OSA), a Charter Fellow of the
National Academy of Inventors (NAI), an Honorary Fellow of the Royal
Photographic Society, and a member of the Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS). He
volunteers for the IISS Governance Advisory Committee, the NIHF Selection
Committee and Selection Board, and the NAE Council (Board). He has served on
the Board of Trustees of Trinity College, the Board of Directors of the
National Academy of Inventors, and the Board of Trustees for the Talcott
Mountain Science Center, as an AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassador, on the
Leadership Council of the Yale University School of Engineering and Applied
Science, the Peer Selection Committee and Committee on Membership for the
NAE, and the Fellow Selection Committee of the NAI. He also actively supports
Camp Invention and the Collegiate Inventors Competition, two programs
operated by NIHF. For relaxation, he and his wife enjoy their hobby farm in
New Hampshire. |
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Site Links Curriculum Vitae /
Resume ♦ Publications ♦ Patents ♦ NIHF Video Media Interviews
♦ Some Presentations ♦ Some Articles of Interest External Links Profile at Dartmouth ♦ Profile at Google Scholar Thayer School of
Engineering at Dartmouth IISS ♦ NAI ♦ NAE ♦ NIHF
♦ Trinity ♦ Yale
Updated 18-October-2026 |
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