Biography of Dr. Roberto Padovani

(Term expires April 30, 2017)

Dr. Roberto Padovani recently retired from Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. where he served as executive vice president and Fellow from 2011 to 2017. He also served as the company's chief technology officer from 2002 to 2011.

Dr. Padovani joined Qualcomm in 1986, after two years at M/A-COM Linkabit where he was involved in the design and development of satellite communications systems, secure video systems and error-correcting coding equipment.

Over the past 25 years at Qualcomm, Dr. Padovani has been involved in the research and development of digital communication systems with particular emphasis on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) wireless technology systems. He was involved in the initial design, development, and standardization of IS-95 CDMA systems. His research and inventions in this field have led to the worldwide standardization and commercialization of CDMA technology for second- and third-generation cellular systems. He has led the design and development of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, an IP-based, high-speed wide-area wireless data technology, which has led to the deployment of multiple broadband wireless networks and services across the globe.

Dr. Padovani holds more than 80 patents on wireless systems. He has published numerous technical papers in the digital communications field and was the co-recipient of the 1991 IEEE Vehicular Technology Society Best Paper Award for a fundamental paper on the capacity of CDMA cellular systems. In 2009 he received the IEEE Eric. E. Sumner Award "for pioneering innovations in wireless communications, particularly to the evolution of CDMA for wireless broadband data" and in 2016 he received the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal "for innovations enabling efficient, wideband, wireless access to the Internet, that is central to all third-generation cellular networks."

In addition, Dr. Padovani has received the Innovators in Telecommunications, 2004 award from the San Diego Telecom Council, and the Executive of the Year, 2006 from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006.

Dr. Padovani received a laureate degree from the University of Padova, Italy and master of science and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, all in electrical and computer engineering. He is an IEEE Fellow and an Affiliate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of California, San Diego.