INDUSTRY

HP has named Prith Banerjee, dean of the college of engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), as senior vice president, research, and director of HP Labs, effective Aug. 1. Banerjee will report to Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer. He replaces Richard H. Lampman, who is retiring after 35 years of service with HP, including 25 years in HP Labs. Lampman will remain at HP Labs through Banerjee’s starting date to ensure an orderly transition. “Prith’s energy, vision and combination of high achievement in scientific, academic and entrepreneurial settings make him an outstanding choice to lead HP Labs,” said Robison. “Technology is at the core of HP, and Prith’s mandate is to ensure that HP Labs continues to be one of the world’s leading research organizations.” Banerjee, 46, has a 23-year record as a research scientist, professor and administrator. He has served since 2004 as UIC Distinguished Professor and dean of the engineering college, where he leads more than 100 faculty in six departments and eight research centers. Previously, Banerjee was the Walter P. Murphy Professor and chairman of electrical and computer engineering at Northwestern University. Prior to that, he was the founding director of the computational science and engineering program and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “It’s a great privilege for me to become director of HP Labs, with its strong reputation for transferring technologies from the lab into the hands of its customers,said Banerjee. “I’m looking forward to joining a world-class research organization focused on creating exciting new opportunities for HP.” Banerjee’s research interests are in parallel and distributed computing, compilers and VLSI computer-aided design. He is extensively published, has been granted several patents and has supervised a wide range of Ph.D. students. In the commercial area, Banerjee in 2000 founded AccelChip, Inc., a developer of software for building digital-signal processing systems, which was sold last year to Xilinx, Inc. In 2004, he founded BINACHIP, Inc., which produces software to enable embedded systems developers to design and implement high-performance applications. Banerjee received his bachelor’s degree in electronics and electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and has master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. HP Labs delivers breakthrough technologies for HP’s businesses, creates new market opportunities and pursues fundamental scientific research. Much of its focus is aligned with HP’s strategic growth areas – the next-generation data center, always-connected mobile computing, and the imaging and printing experience. It also pursues advances for IT services, disruptive technologies such as nanoscale electronics, and new opportunities tailored to the needs of growing economies. In addition to its Palo Alto headquarters, HP Labs operates research facilities in six other locations, including Bangalore, India; Beijing, China; Bristol, England; Haifa, Israel; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Tokyo, Japan. HP Labs, established in 1966, is one element of HP’s annual $3.6 billion program in technology research and development, which is also conducted extensively in the company’s business units. More information about HP Labs is available at its Web site.