Noted electronics educator and researcher Dr. Franco Maloberti, who most recently served as a chaired professor at Texas A&M University, has joined the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) as Microelectronics Distinguished Chair professor.

Dr. Franco Maloberti

Dr. Franco Maloberti

Dr. Franco Maloberti Maloberti will build a research laboratory at UTD to continue his studies in analog and mixed-signal circuits for communications and sensors, technology utilized extensively in the telecommunications and electronics industries, among others.

“Attracting a researcher of Dr. Maloberti’s stature to UTD is a coup for the Jonsson School,” said Dr. Andrew Blanchard, the school’s senior associate dean. “His contributions to his field are significant and equally well-known in the halls of academia and industry.”

“The successful universities of the future will possess an advantageous combination of location and attitude,” Maloberti said. “UTD’s location in an advanced industrial environment, combined with its emphasis on excellence and can-do spirit, make it a prime institution to educate tomorrow’s leaders in the engineering and computer sciences and create knowledge essential for sustaining industries at the front edge of innovation.”

The Jonsson School is now the fastest-growing engineering school in the United States, and it ranks second nationally in the number of computer science degrees awarded. In addition, the university ranks 14th in the country in the number of master’s degrees awarded in electrical, electronics and communications engineering and 25th in the country in the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in those disciplines.

This summer, UTD is scheduled to complete a 152,000-square-foot addition to the Jonsson School, effectively doubling its capacity to approximately 6,000 students.

Maloberti came to UTD from Texas A&M University in College Station, where he was the TI/J. Kilby Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Prior to that, he was a member of the faculty of the Engineering School of the University of Pavia in his native Italy. He was also appointed by the Italian Foreign Ministry to serve as a lecturer in physics and electronics at the University of Mogadishu, Somalia.

He earned the Laurea Degree in Physics from the University of Parma, Italy, in 1967 and the Doctorate Honoris Causa degree in Electronics from the Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica, Puebla, Mexico, in 1996.

Maloberti has written three books and more than 240 published papers and holds 14 patents. He was the 1992 recipient of the XII Pedriali Prize for his technical and scientific contributions to national industrial production in Italy.

He has conducted major research initiatives for governmental entities in Europe and corporations around the world, including Texas Instruments in Dallas and Siemens in Italy. He has held a number of leadership positions in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., and is president of the IEEE Sensor Council.

The Jonsson School’s Microelectronics Distinguished Chair to which Maloberti was appointed was established in 1991 by a gift from the Excellence in Education Foundation, a Texas non-profit corporation.