Chief Technical Officer at Photronics Inc. Named Alumnus of the Year
Chris Progler was working at IBM in the mid-1990s when he decided he wanted to delve further into the optics of semiconductor manufacturing while getting a Ph.D. at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science at UT Dallas.
And he’s never regretted it.
No wonder. Within a few years, research he conducted at UTD and with his employers had a major impact on semiconductor manufacturing. Then in 2004 he was named the chief technology officer at Photronics Inc., a $455 million supplier of optical technology to chip makers.
2007 JONSSON SCHOOL AWARDS
STAFF
Emily Bryant, Communications Associate
Lin Maute, Dean’s Administrative Associate Barbara Parker, Degree Plan Evaluator, Student Services
Rosanna Green and David Pierce, EE Lab TechsSTUDENTS
Michelle Berger, Matt Dempsey and Jack Lindamood, Computer ScienceTEACHING ASSISTANTS
Ajay Kulkarni, Computer Science
Balkan Kececioglu, Electrical EngineeringFACULTY TEACHING AWARD RECIPIENTS
Haim Schweitzer, Associate Professor, Computer Science
P.K. Rajasekaran, Senior Lecturer, Electrical EngineeringALUMNUS
Chris Progler, Chief Technical Officer, Photronics Inc.
And on April 28 he was named the Jonsson school’s 2007 distinguished alumnus of the year.
“Chris is an outstanding example of exactly what this school is all about,” said Bob Helms, the school’s dean. “It’s about people who are dedicated to research and education and to producing discoveries and innovations that benefit the school, our research partners and indeed the world.”
Some of Progler’s fondest memories of the Jonsson school involve establishing one of the school’s first optics labs while he was working on his degree.
“That was a great experience for me,” he said. “I had the opportunity to set things up from scratch, and it’s amazing how much you can learn by doing this from the ground up rather than by just walking into an existing setup.”
Indeed he can hardly say enough good things about the school, calling his dissertation committee “fantastic;” crediting his adviser, Dale Byrne, one of the school’s first faculty, with encouraging him to approach his work with the seriousness and rigor necessary to ensure it stood the test of time; and attributing his UT Dallas experience with giving him the knowledge and skills that have won him repeated recognition from his peers over the years.
“That acknowledgement has been the most gratifying element in my career,” he said. “I had a wonderful educational experience at UTD, and it’s great to see how the school has continued its march toward world-class status.”
In recognition of his contributions to semiconductor lithographic sciences, Progler was subsequently elected a fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering. Many of those contributions came together in his UTD dissertation, he noted, and yet his years at the Jonsson school weren’t just about research and study, he added.
“I really appreciated the diversity of the school and the sense of there being important work to accomplish, but I also liked the camaraderie among the students and faculty,” he said. “I made a lot of friends who I still stay in touch with today.”
