Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering Symposium Honoring Kurt Petersen: “Small Tech, Big Impact: The Development and Commercialization of MEMS Sensors & Actuators:
April 30 at 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM
For two centuries, The Franklin Insitute has honored pioneering achievements in science, engineering, and industry. As the oldest comprehensive science awards program in the United States. The Franklin Insitute Awards celebrates Benjamin Franklin’s legacy by honoring the Franklins of today. Through their remarkable contributions, our laureates inspire the Franklins of tomorrow.
The 2025 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering is awarded to Kurt Petersen, Co-Chair at the HardTech Group of the Silicon Valley Band of Angels. This Symposium celebrates Kurt for his pioneering research and development of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology – microscopic systems that merge mechanical and electrical functionality and which have wide ranging applications such as medical devices, inkjet printers, IoT, optical projectors, and automotive sensors.
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Kurt Petersen
Member of the Silicon Valley Band of Angels and Co-Chair of the HardTech Group
Kurt Petersen received his BS degree cum laude in EE from UC Berkeley in 1970. In 1975, he received a PhD in EE from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Petersen established a micromachining research group at IBM from 1975 to 1982, during which he wrote the review paper “Silicon as a Mechanical Material,” published in the IEEE Proceedings (May 1982). This paper is the most frequently referenced work in the field of micromachining and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).
Since 1982, Dr. Petersen has co-founded six companies in MEMS technology, Transensory Devices Inc. in 1982, NovaSensor in 1985 (now owned by Amphenol), Cepheid in 1996 (acquired by Danaher in 2016), SiTime in 2004 (now listed as SITM on NASDAQ), Profusa in 2008 (still private), and Verreon in 2009 (acquired by Qualcomm).
In 2011, Dr. Petersen joined the Silicon Valley Band of Angels, where he now co-chairs the HardTech group. The Band is an angel investment group which mentors and invests in early stage, high-tech, start-up companies. Today, he spends most of his time helping and mentoring such companies.
Dr. Petersen has published over 100 papers, and has been granted over 35 patents in the field of MEMS. He was awarded the prestigious IEEE Medal of Honor in 2019 as well as the IEEE Simon Ramo Medal in 2001 for his contributions to MEMS. Dr. Petersen is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a Life Fellow of the IEEE in recognition of his contributions to “the commercialization of MEMS technology”.