Ron Reedy

{{short description|American businessman, scientist and researcher}} {{Infobox person | name = Ron Reedy | honorific_suffix = | image = | caption = | birth_name = Ronald E. Reedy | birth_place = Long Island, NY | birth_date = 1948 | death_date = 2025 | occupation = Technology executive<br>Electrical Engineer<br> Entrepreneur | education = UC San Diego<br>US Naval Academy | known_for = Peregrine Semiconductor<br>Silicon on sapphire }}

'''Ronald Reedy''' was an American businessman, scientist and researcher. In the semiconductor industry, he advanced silicon on sapphire (SOS) and CMOS technology.<ref name="EE Times">{{cite news|last=Love|first=Janine|title=What's up with silicon on sapphire?|url=http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1278815|accessdate=25 January 2014|newspaper=EE Times|date=May 31, 2011}}</ref><ref name=UCSD>{{cite news|last=Stephens|first=AnnaMaria|title=Sapphire and Silicon|url=http://alumni.ucsd.edu/s/1170/emag/emag-interior-2-col.aspx?sid=1170&gid=1&sitebuilder=1&pgid=3852|accessdate=13 November 2013|newspaper=Triton}}</ref> Reedy died in 2025.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ron Reedy Obituary |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/obituaries/ron-reedy-long-island/ |website=www.sandiegouniontribune.com |publisher=San Diego Union Tribune |access-date=28 October 2025 |date=21 September 2025}}</ref>

== Education ==

In 1969, Reedy graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis with a BSEE. He then earned a MSEE degree from Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. In 1983, he received his Ph.D. in EE & Applied Physics from UC San Diego.<ref>{{cite web|title=Perfecting RF CMOS: How Peregrine Pioneered RF SOI|url=http://www.sdieee.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/ieee.woa/wa/YICal/event?eventPK=e1e7eba5-db53-4a0e-9550-98ef8362c134|work=San Diego IEEE Website|accessdate=10 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Gordon Engineering Leadership Forum - Ronald Reedy|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0bO5g_s07E|work=Gordon Center UCSD YouTube Channel|publisher=Gordon Center UCSD|accessdate=10 February 2014}}</ref>

== Career ==

Reedy began his career at the NOSC (US Naval Ocean Systems Center) where he worked on silicon CMOS processing. In 1988, Reedy along with NOSC colleagues Mark Burgener and Graham Garcia published a research paper in IEEE Electron Device Letters that proved that SOS films thinned to 100 nm were suitable for application to high-performance down-scaled CMOS circuitry.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Burgener|first1=Graham|last2=Reedy |first2=Ronald E. |last3=Burgener |first3=M.L. |s2cid=33232225|title=High-quality CMOS in thin (100 nm) silicon on sapphire|journal=IEEE Electron Device Letters|date=Jan 1988|volume=9|issue=1|pages=32–34|bibcode=1988IEDL....9...32G|doi=10.1109/55.20404|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1232179}}</ref> It was with this advancement that Reedy decided to commercialize the technology. Their research findings were instrumental to the industry and have since been cited in 13 IEEE research papers and 58 patents.<ref>See 'Cited by' section of {{harvnb|Burgener|Reedy|Burgener|1988}}</ref>

In 1990, Reedy co-founded Peregrine Semiconductor to commercialize the advanced technology. Peregrine became a fabless chip designer<ref>{{cite news|last=Bigelow|first=Bruce|title=Peregrine Semiconductor Files for IPO|url=http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2010/11/22/peregrine-semiconductor-files-for-ipo/|accessdate=13 November 2013|newspaper=Xconomy|date=Nov 22, 2010}}</ref> that was publicly traded on the NASDAQ<ref>{{cite news|last=Bigelow|first=Bruce|title=After Persevering for 22 Years, Peregrine Semiconductor Marks IPO|url=http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2012/08/07/after-persevering-for-22-years-peregrine-semiconductor-nears-ipo/|accessdate=13 November 2013|date=August 7, 2012}}</ref> until the company was acquired by Murata in December 2014 for $471 million.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Scouras|first1=Ismini|title=Murata to Buy RF IC Vendor Peregrine for $471M|url=http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323645|accessdate=7 March 2015|work=EE Times|date=25 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Murata Completes Acquisition of Peregrine|url=http://www.compoundsemiconductor.net/article/95934-murata-completes-acquisition-of-peregrine.html|accessdate=7 March 2015|work=Compound Semiconductor|date=12 December 2014}}</ref> Reedy served as the company's founding CEO and the company's CTO <ref>{{cite news|last=Gokey|first=Malarie|title=Mobile.Pro Exclusive: Peregrine's Ron Reedy Talks Radio Chips and Smartphones|url=http://www.mobile.pro/index.php/the-radio-chip-and-the-smartphone-interview-with-peregrines-ron-reedy/|accessdate=14 November 2013|newspaper=Mobile.Pro|date=Oct 16, 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026030857/http://www.mobile.pro/index.php/the-radio-chip-and-the-smartphone-interview-with-peregrines-ron-reedy/|archivedate=26 October 2013}}</ref> before retiring in early 2015. Reedy now holds the title of CTO emeritus of Peregrine Semiconductor.<ref>{{cite news|title=Co-Founder Ron Reedy Retires|url=http://www.psemi.com/newsroom/blogs/187853-co-founder-ron-reedy-retires|accessdate=7 March 2015|publisher=Peregrine Semiconductor Newsroom|date=28 January 2015}}</ref>

In 2016, Reedy came out of retirement and founded [http://www.Skeyeon.com Skeyeon], the first company based on placing a satellite constellation in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) for the earth imaging market. There are numerous benefits to operating in VLEO that are not available in higher altitude LEO and GEO orbits, where most satellites and the International Space Station operate, including inherently higher satellite performance; substantially lower launch and operating costs; and creating self-cleaning orbits essentially solving the significant problem of space debris. Skeyeon has developed technology enabling VLEO operation for many different applications, and is actively developing its first satellites for launch.

Reedy sat on the Council of Advisors for UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering and its Gordon Leadership Center.<ref name="UCSD" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Council of Advisors|url=http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/about/about_leadership/coa.shtml|work=UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering|accessdate=13 November 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928165609/http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/about/about_leadership/coa.shtml|archivedate=28 September 2013}}</ref>

Over the course of his career, Reedy has been listed as an inventor on dozens of patents.<ref>{{cite web|title=Results of Search in US Patent Collection db for: Reedy-Ronald-E|url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&f=S&l=50&d=PTXT&Query=Reedy-Ronald-E|work=US Patent & Trademark Office, Patent Full Text and Image Database|accessdate=13 November 2013}}</ref> Many of those patents are related to advancements in silicon on insulator, silicon on sapphire and CMOS.

== Awards and recognition ==

In 2011, Reedy and co-founder Mark Burgener were awarded the IEEE Daniel E. Noble Award for Emerging Technologies for their contribution<ref>{{cite web|title=Mark L. Burgener and Ronald E. Reedy, Champions of Sapphire {{sic|Inter|grated|nolink=yes|expected=integrated}} Circuit Technology, to Receive 2011 IEEE Daniel E. Noble Award for Emerging Technologies|url=http://www.ieee.org/about/news/2011/23may_2011.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123031526/http://www.ieee.org/about/news/2011/23may_2011.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 23, 2014|work=IEEE News Release|accessdate=10 February 2014}}</ref>"to make silicon on sapphire (SOS) technology commercially feasible for wireless communications."<ref name=IEEE>{{cite web|title=IEEE Daniel E. Noble Award for Emerging Technologies Recipients|url=http://www.ieee.org/about/awards/bios/noble_recipients.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408000343/http://www.ieee.org/about/awards/bios/noble_recipients.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 8, 2010|work=IEEE website|accessdate=13 November 2013}}</ref> The IEEE Noble award is presented annually to individuals who made a significant contribution to emerging technologies.<ref>{{cite news|last=Blyler|first=John|title=Noble Award Honors Low-Power RF Technology|url=http://chipdesignmag.com/display.php?articleId=4977|accessdate=28 January 2014|newspaper=Chip Design|date=Summer 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Peregrine's co-founders to receive IEEE award for Emerging Technologies|url=http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2011/MAY/PEREGRINE_310511.html|accessdate=10 February 2014|newspaper=Semiconductor Today|date=31 May 2011}}</ref>

== References ==

== External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0bO5g_s07E UCSD Gordon Center] Ron Reedy speaking at the Gordon Engineering Leadership Forum

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reedy, Ron}} Category:American electrical engineers Category:United States Naval Academy alumni Category:University of California, San Diego alumni Category:Naval Postgraduate School alumni Category:Engineers from California Category:1948 births Category:2025 deaths