Dr. Bantval Jayant Baliga '71, '74 is the Winner of the 2024 Millennium Technology Prize for his innovation that has enabled dramatic reduction in worldwide electrical energy and petrol consumption.
The award recognizes Baliga’s leadership in the invention, development, and commercialization of the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT). Since its development in the 1980s, the IGBT has been the most important semiconductor device for making electrical energy use and petrol consumption more efficient and less polluting during the last 40 years.
The Millennium Technology Prize is one of the world's largest technology prizes. It is awarded once every two years by Technology Academy Finland, an independent foundation established by Finnish industries, academic institutions, and the government of Finland. The prize was inaugurated in 2004.
Dr. Baliga received his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1969, and his MS (1971) and PhD (1974) in Electrical Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Dr. Baliga worked for 15 years at the General Electric Research and Development Center in Schenectady, New York. He invented the insulated gate bipolar transistor in the early 1980s. It is a transistor switch that is now in use in most machines and devices using electricity, from kitchen appliances, medical devices, and electric cars to the electric power grid itself. It has resulted in estimated cost savings of over $15 trillion. He joined North Carolina State University in 1988 as a Full Professor, was promoted to Distinguished University Professor in 1997, and is currently the Progress Energy Distinguished University Emeritus Professor.
Dr. Baliga gave the Millennium Technology Prize Lecture on his groundbreaking innovation, IGBT, at the University of Helsinki on October 31, 2024.
Millenium Prize press release.