Benedetto Vigna, STMicroelectronics EVP, Wins Prestigious European Semiconductor Award

STMicroelectronics announced that Benedetto Vigna has won the European SEMI Award 2013, in recognition of his contribution to the MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) industry.

Vigna is executive vice president and general manager of ST’s Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group. Under his leadership, the group again delivered strong results in 2012 despite the difficult market conditions. In fact, during 2012, ST’s share in the MEMS mobile and handset market increased to 48%, more than twice as large as that of its closest competitor (18%), according to research firm IHS. Another research firm, Yole Développement, in 2013 recognized ST as the first company to exceed $1 billion in MEMS revenue.

MEMS technology allows tiny sensors that measure parameters such as acceleration, angular velocity and pressure to be built at low cost and manufactured in high volumes. This has revolutionized industries as varied as mobile phones (gesture-based user interfaces), laptops (impact protection), photography (optical image stabilization) and health and fitness (e.g. remote heart monitoring, concussion monitoring, glaucoma detection).

“Vigna’s insight and drive remain critical to the MEMS revolution; he exemplifies the leadership qualities needed to move the industry forward,” said Heinz Kundert, president of SEMI Europe. “It is an honor to recognize him for his outstanding contributions to the European semiconductor and microsystems industry.”

Vigna joined STMicroelectronics’ R&D Labs in 1995, and launched the company’s technical development efforts in MEMS. Six years later, he became director of the MEMS Business Unit, responsible for design, manufacturing and marketing of ST’s MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes. In 2007, Vigna’s scope was enlarged to include management of Sensors, RF, High-Performance Analog and Mixed Signal, Interface, Audio for Portable, and General-Purpose Analog products.

Vigna has filed more than 170 patents on micromachining to date, authored numerous publications in this field, and delivered many invited speeches at international conferences. He has served as industrial consultant for the president of the Italian Scientific Research Center and sits on the industrial board of several EU-funded programs.

The European SEMI Award was presented at the SEMICON Europa Executive Summit Oct. 8, 2013 in Dresden, Germany.