UPWARDS Seminar in Semiconductor
Started from 2023, we've provided a specialized platform aimed at enriching the knowledge of Virginia Tech students in semiconductor integrated circuits (IC). This series serves as a dynamic space for discussing innovative research and developments in the field of semiconductors and IC design.
Our seminars feature presentations from renowned academics, industry professionals, and Ph.D. students, all designed to foster professional growth and collaboration in this rapidly evolving sector.
Recent Seminars
“Achieving Health Equity through Diagnostics Real-time Detection in Underserved Populations”
by Dr. Jennifer Blain, Professor at Arizona State University
An overall 43 attendees(13 attendees from Blacksburg Campus and 30 attendees from NoVA campus Attendees List Available Here) including professors, PhD students joined the seminar.
Dr. Jennifer Blain Christen’s talk focuses on developing low-cost, real-time diagnostic technologies to improve health equity in underserved populations. Drawing from her decade-long collaboration with AIIMS in New Delhi, she will discuss innovations in nucleic acid-based detection using LAMP technology for rapid HPV and infectious disease screening in remote medical settings. The presentation will highlight how challenging environments shape device design, lessons learned from field deployment, and the process of translating research into scalable commercial solutions through her startup, FlexBioTech.
on November 19, 2025
"Power Ellectronics Packaging and Integration: Extracting the Full Potenti al of Advanced Semiconductors"
by Dr. Chrstina DiMarino, Associate Professor at Virginia Tech
An overall 55 attendees(25 attendees from Blacksburg Campus and 30 attendees from NoVA campus Attendees List Available Here) including professors, PhD students joined the seminar.
Power electronics underpin everything from smartphones to the grid, and surging demand from data centers and electrified transport calls for smaller, lighter, higher-power, more efficient systems. Wide-bandgap devices like SiC and GaN enable this with faster switching, lower losses, and higher voltage capability than silicon—but unlocking their full benefits requires new packaging and integration. This talk introduces electronics packaging, key drivers and industry trends in advanced packaging, and showcases current research examples.
on October 29, 2025
"The Cat-and-Mouse Game of GPS Security: From Stealthy Spoofing to Scalable Defenses"
by Dr. Yaling Yang, Professor at Virginia Tech
An overall 42 attendees(10 attendees from Blacksburg Campus and 32 attendees from NoVA campus Attendees List Available Here) including professors, PhD students joined the seminar.
on September 24, 2025
"From Nano to Neuron: My Scientific Adventure"
by Dr. Xiaoting Jia, Professor at Virginia Tech
Professor Jia shared her unique career journey—from her time at MIT to her current interdisciplinary research—offering valuable insights into building a successful career path.
on April 30, 2025
"Nevigating Challenges in Academia and Industry: A Personal Journey of Resilience"
by Dr. Yang "Cindy" Yi, Professor at Virginia Tech
on March 26, 2025
"From Fumbles to Feats: My Career Chronicles, Pro Tips, and Why I Still Get Out of Bed Excited!"
by Dr. Christiana Chamon Garcia, Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech
on Feb 26, 2025
"Impact of Advanced CMOS Technology on Analog Design"
by Dr. Alvin Loke, Intel
on Jan 31, 2025
"The Road to Gate-All-Around CMOS"
by Dr. Alvin Loke, Intel
on Dec 13, 2024
"Evolution Towards Low Phase Noise Signal Generators"
by Dr. Fariborz Lohrabi Pour, Postdoc at Virginia Tech
on Nov 01, 2024
"Circuits and Systems for Next Generation Communications"
by Dr. Jeffrey Walling, Associate Professor at Virginia Tech
on Sep 20, 2024
"Learning at the Speed of Wireless: Algorithm, Theory, and Prototype"
by Dr. Lingjia Liu, PhD, Director of Wireless@Virginia Tech
on May 03, 2024
"Compute-in-Memory Paves the Way for Sustainable AI"
by Dr. Hechen Wang, Research Scientist, Intel Research Labs
on Mar 22, 2024
"Terahertz and Millimeter-Wave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces"
by Dr. Suresh Venkatesh, Professor at NCSU
on Mar 15, 2024
"Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer (SWIPT) Technology"
by Dr. Fariborz Lohrabi Pour, Postdoc at Virginia Tech
on Feb 16, 2024
"Exploring the future of Liquid State Machine for Wireless Applications"
by Muhammad Farhan Azmine, Ph.D at Virginia Tech
on Feb 2, 2024
"Moore’s Law Beyond the Process Technology Advancement: Era of Extending Moore’s Law Through Chiplet Heterogeneous Integration"
by Dr. Zhen Zhou, from Intel Research Lab
on Oct 6, 2023
Past Seminars
- "Exploring the future of Liquid State Machine for Wireless Applications", presented by Prof. Thinh Doan at Virginia Tech, on Dec. 1st, 2023
- "H6 Progam - Atomic Clock", presented by post-doc Goker and Ph.D. student Jungmin at Virginia Tech, on Nov 17th, 2023
- "Accelerating Next-Generation Wireless Communications with FPGA-based AI Accelerators", presented by Ph.D. Chunxiao Lin at Virginia Tech, on Oct. 20th, 2023
- "Training for Analog IC", presented by Prof. Jeff Walling at Virginia Tech, on Sept. 22nd, 2023
- "How To Be a Better Graduate Student ", presented by Prof. Dong Sam Ha at Virginia Tech, on Sept. 8th, 2023