Decades before the world carried supercomputers in its pockets, a young researcher from Chennai was already solving the problem that would make the mobile revolution possible: how to keep the batteries from dying.
Anantha P. Chandrakasan, now the Provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is one of three winners of the 2025 IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSC) Test of Time Award.
The honor recognizes his 1992 paper, “Low-Power CMOS Digital Design,” a work so foundational that it remains one of the most cited documents in the history of the semiconductor industry.
The award, established by the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society, honors technical excellence that has demonstrated sustained impact for at least a decade.
In Chandrakasan’s case, the impact has spanned more than thirty years. His research provided the blueprint for reducing power consumption in integrated circuits, allowing for the development of energy-efficient devices ranging from high-performance laptops to the ubiquitous smartphone.
Chandrakasan’s journey to the pinnacle of American academia began in Chennai, India. Born into a family that deeply valued education, his mother was a noted biochemist and a Fulbright Scholar, he moved to the United States during high school.
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His Indian roots remained a cornerstone of his identity as he pursued his education at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering and computer sciences.
His early fascination with how science could solve real world problems led him to join the MIT faculty in 1994, where he rose through the ranks to become the Dean of Engineering and eventually the Institute’s 14th Provost.
In the early 1990s, the industry’s focus was almost entirely on speed. Chandrakasan’s work pivoted the conversation toward “energy-per-operation.” By proving that chips could run on significantly lower voltages without sacrificing essential performance, he paved the way for the “always-on” world of the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable medical technology.
Beyond his technical brilliance, colleagues describe Chandrakasan as a “people centered” leader. At MIT, he has been a staunch advocate for diversity in STEM, launching the “Rising Stars” program to support women in engineering and spearheading major initiatives in artificial intelligence and climate sustainability.
Today, as he oversees MIT’s academic and research enterprise, the Test of Time Award serves as a reminder of a career defined by foresight. While the gadgets of 1992 are now museum pieces, the logic Chandrakasan built into them continues to power the future.