2007 Simon Karecki Award Presented to Nelson Felix

Professor Farhang Shadman (second from right) presents 2007 Simon Karecki Award to Nelson Felix while Ana and Richard Karecki look on

The 2007 Simon Karecki Award was presented to Nelson Felix, Cornell University, at the CEBSM Review at the University of Arizona on February 23 , 2007. Ashok Muthukumaran and Yasa Adi Sampurno from the University of Arizona were also recognized as finalists in the competition.

The following is the text from presentation made by Dr. Shadman.

This is the sixth presentation of the Simon Karecki Award. This Award is given in memory of Dr. Simon Karecki who was a student in this Center and an SRC Fellow. Friends and colleagues of Simon have come together to create the Simon Karecki Fellowship Fund in memory of an outstanding young man and researcher and as a way to encourage other talented young researchers in the pursuit of environmental research.

Before I present this year's Simon Karecki Award, I would like to recognize those members of the Advisory Board who are present today: Reed Content, AMD, Ken Aitcheson, BOC Edwards, Walter Worth, SEMATECH, and from SRC Tim Wooldridge and Ginny Wiggins. Rafael Reif, MIT, and Tim Dalton, IBM, also serve on the Advisory Board but were unable to be here today. I would also like to take this opportunity to urge you as individuals to participate in the building of the Simon Karecki Fund. And we especially need the help of those of you representing companies to strongly encourage corporate donations. Any member of the Advisory Board will be glad to discuss possibilities with you and tell you how to direct your funds. Further information is also available from SRC.

There were finalists in the 2007 competition that the selection committee felt strongly should be recognized. Ashok Muthukumaran and Yasa Adi Sampurno from the University of Arizona are outstanding students, involved in research projects with great promise, and display a strong concern for the earth's environment. It is a great please to present certificates to both Ashok and Yasa as finalists for the 2007 Simon Karecki Award.

On behalf of the CEBSM, SRC, and the Karecki Advisory Board, it is a great pleasure to present the 2007 Simon Karecki Award to Nelson Felix.

Nelson is pursuing his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Cornell University. His thesis project focuses on the use of environmentally friendly supercritical (sc)CO(2) in semiconductor processing. He has made numerous important contributions in understanding how to use this benign solvent to develop photoresists and process semiconductors. Recently he has made some important research breakthroughs in discovering how to develop photoresists using only scCO(2) to produce images with feature sizes as small as 50 nm.

As part of Chris Ober's research group at Cornell, Nelson has collaborated with Karen Gleason's group at MIT to make CVD deposited, scCO(2) developable all dry photoresists. He has also been involved in an international collaboration with a laboratory at the University of Bayreuth on research involving the PVD deposition of molecular glass resists. This work has been extremely productive and may change the way photoresists are deposited and processed. Nelson has authored and co-authored an impressive list of publications, illustrating his ability to work with others and share his dedication to research in environmentally benign semiconductor processing.

In addition, Nelson has led efforts in training others doing research in supercritical CO(2), working with five undergraduate researchers. He has also worked with two REU programs and other undergrads during the school year.

Nelson's talent for research, leadership skills and strong interest in environmental issues make him an ideal recipient of the Simon Karecki Award.

It is the decision of the Advisory Board that Nelson Felix is eminently well qualified to receive the 2007 Simon Karecki Award. We are very fortunate to once again have Mr. and Mrs. Karecki with us today; it is a distinct honor for us to have them here, and we would like to ask them to present the 2007 Simon Karecki Award.