TDK Corporation today announced two personnel award wins at the 2021 MEMS and Sensors Executive Congress in San Diego. Dr. David Horsley, Co-Founder and CTO of Chirp Microsystems, a TDK Group Company, was named as an inductee into the 2021 MEMS and Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) Hall of Fame while Omar Abed, Vice President and General Manager of TDK InvenSense’s Microphone Business Unit, received the Emerging Leaders Award. Both awards further cement TDK as an established, impactful leader in MEMS and sensors.
Presented annually, the MSIG Hall of Fame recognizes new, cutting-edge products and industry leaders that have left a substantial mark on the MEMS and sensors markets. Horsley’s recognition as a Hall of Fame member marks the third time a TDK employee received this recognition, with Yoshio Sekiguchi, InvenSense’s Senior Strategic Advisor inducted in 2018 and Peter Hartwell, InvenSense’s CTO, inducted in 2019.
“I feel honored to be named as a leader in the MEMS and sensors industry alongside such a talented roster of innovators,” shared Horsley. “This award is really a recognition of the whole Chirp team’s contributions to the MEMS industry.”
Horsley is also a faculty member at the University of California and recently became a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in recognition for his contributions to the field of ultrasonic MEMS, including the invention and commercialization of the ultrasonic MEMS fingerprint sensor and the ultrasonic MEMS time-of-flight sensor. Horsley holds a PhD from UC Berkeley and has 22 issued patents.
“I am honored and humbled to be awarded by MSIG for my work leading teams to bring disruptive technology to the market,” shared Abed. “I am proud to have been a part of the development of many rising stars through my personal mission of driving innovation forward while helping to build the next generation of leaders in the sensor industry."
The Emerging Leaders Award recognizes innovative emerging leaders under 40 years old who are a driving force behind the creation of products, methods, and materials of the future. Abed received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis on Analog and RF Circuit Design from University of Southern California. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development and holds five patents for his work on MEMS pressure sensors.