At the Spring, 1998 banquet, C. Rinn Cleavelin received the Physics Department Distinguished Alumnus Award. Dr. Cleavelin has had a distinguished career in the semiconductor industry. He received the MS and PhD from TTU in 1969 and 1973. His advisor was the late Dr. Bill Marshall. Currently, he is Director of the Front End Processing Division of SEMATECH, Inc., in Austin.

After his PhD, Dr. Cleavelin remained in the department for four years. He taught courses, managed undergraduate labs, and continued research. In 1977, he began his career at Texas Instruments (TI). For TI, he has worked in a variety of assignments. From 1977-90, he was located at the Lubbock TI facility. In 1990, he became the Worldwide Technology Manager in the Manufacturing and Technology Center at TI-Dallas. In 1998 he accepted his position with SEMATECH, a consortium of technology companies. He is "on loan" from TI to this consortium. His organization directs SEMATECH's technical projects in doping, thin films, defect reduction, silicon materials, and advanced process control. He also serves the Semiconductor Research Corporation as manager of an initiative in sub-100 nanometer processes. He holds four patents and has five pending. He has published numerous articles on semiconductor processing and equipment technology. In 1989, he and collaborators received a Research &Development (R&D) 100 Award for the development of the Excalibur anhydrous HF vapor processor.

In addition to his TI and SEMATECH activities, Dr. Cleavelin has served and is serving on numerous TTU, State of Texas, and National Boards and Committees. He has served as member and Chair of the Technical Working Group on the update of the National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductor Materials and Processes. He is a member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Research Advisory Committee, which advises the THECB on their biennial funding of $60M for research at Texas universities. He is on the TTU Engineering Industrial Advisory Committee.

Dr. Cleavelin's outstanding success in his field should be an inspiration to Physics students and an indication that the applications of a Physics education extend well beyond the academic environment!

This page was last modified on December 21, 1999