UNC Charlotte Professor Awarded First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal

April 11, 2002

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Dr. Rafic Zein Makki is the recipient of UNC Charlotte's 2002 First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal.

Makki is honored for his research, which is revolutionizing the testing process for microchips. He is professor and director of computer engineering and graduate programs in UNC Charlotte's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Makki received the award at a ceremony Wednesday, April 10, at the First Citizens Bank Plaza on the corner of South Tryon and Fourth streets in Charlotte. The annual award, the 18th in the series, is UNC Charlotte's highest honor for faculty scholarship and intellectual inquiry.

"First Citizens Bank takes pride in presenting this year's Scholars Medal to Dr. Makki," said Bill Elder, area executive for First Citizens in Charlotte. "For more than a century, First Citizens has been helping people turn their financial goals into amazing achievements. It's appropriate that we honor a pioneering researcher and a well-respected teacher who helps students do amazing things with their lives."

Makki also will be honored at a campus reception scheduled for 4-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, in the gallery of the Storrs Architecture Building. The reception, open to the campus community, will include a brief program at 4:30 p.m.

Since joining the UNC Charlotte faculty in 1984, Makki has developed a research program that is recognized and respected on an international level. His current work, involving the testing of integrated circuits (ICs) or micro-chips, will not only revolutionize that process but also will have a major positive impact on UNC Charlotte's emergence as a research university.

More than half of the current product cost of ICs is due to testing. Makki's work will ultimately change testing in both quality and cost. In addition to determining if an IC is defective, Makki's process can determine how fast the IC can operate.

Dr. Charles Stroud of UNC Charlotte's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering compares Makki's research to the equivalent of a groundbreaking medical discovery.

"The best analogy to illustrate the impact that Dr. Makki is having would be a person with a heart condition going to a doctor for a diagnosis," Stroud said. "Current testing techniques would be comparable to the doctor diagnosing the condition by checking the pulse, while the testing technique by Dr. Makki would be equivalent to an EKG."

Makki's most recent achievements are a continuation of a lengthy research career. Projects in which he has been involved have received in excess of $2.7 million in funding from government agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Air Force's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency and from companies such as Intel, Lucent and IBM.

In summing up Makki's research record, Dr. David Wu of Intel said, "I have always felt that if someone is willing to fund a given research project, then this is a good indication that the project is of high quality. In this regard, Dr. Makki's research has been heavily funded by both industry and the government, which speaks volumes for the quality and impact of his research."

Makki also has compiled a stellar record as a teacher. He has served as academic and research adviser for more than 40 M.S. degrees in electrical engineering and two doctoral degrees, including the first Ph.D. granted by UNC Charlotte. Of those graduates, two are directors of engineering at major corporations, and one is the head of an international standards committee.

Most significantly, Makki has received the ALCOA Outstanding Faculty Award at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in UNC Charlotte's William States Lee College of Engineering. He developed the new undergraduate and graduate computer-engineering curriculum at UNC Charlotte and is the UNC Charlotte coordinator for a coalition of eight universities sponsored by a National Science Foundation grant to improve undergraduate education in engineering.

Makki is the co-holder of three patents related to his research and is co-author of the book, "Digital System Design," published by Prentice Hall. He served as president of the UNC Charlotte faculty during the 1995-96 academic year. Makki earned bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Youngstown State University and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Tennessee Technological University.

First Citizens Bank has served the people and businesses of Mecklenburg County for more than 40 years. First Citizens operates 348 branches in 204 cities and towns in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. The bank's mission is to provide superior financial services to individual customers and small to mid-sized businesses.

For more information, contact:
Frank Smith
(919) 716-4121
First Citizens Bank