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B Jayant Baliga President Barack Obama has awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to PELS member Dr. B. Jayant Baliga.

Baliga was honored for inventing, developing, and commercializing the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT). The IGBT improves energy efficiency by more than 40 percent in an array of products, from cars and refrigerators to light bulbs, and it is a critical component enabling modern compact cardiac defibrillators. The impact of the improved efficiency of IGBT-enabled applications has been a cumulative cost savings of $2.7 trillion for U.S. consumers and $15.8 trillion for worldwide consumers over the last 20 years. At the same time, the improved efficiency produced by IGBT-enabled applications has produced a cumulative reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 35 trillion pounds in the U. S. and 78 trillion pounds worldwide over the last 20 years. In addition, IGBT-based compact portable defibrillators are projected to have saved nearly 100,000 lives in the United States.

The medal, which is awarded annually, recognizes outstanding contributions to America’s economic, environmental and social well-being. Established by the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, the medal was first awarded in 1985.

Baliga, who has been a faculty member at NC State since 1988, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the IEEE. He received PELS Newell Award in 1991.

With this recognition, power electronics is moving to be a top-tier technology that can be even more prominent as we move to a more sustainable society.

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