Dwight Streit Delivers Keynote Address at Engineering Commencement Ceremony

In 1976, Dwight Streit left his hometown of Oak Park, Illinois, birthplace of Hemingway and land of the Frank Lloyd Wright house, and came to California in pursuit of an engineering degree. Ten years later he had laid claim to both an M.S and Ph.D in electrical engineering from UCLA and he had begun a relationship with UCLA's engineering school that has remained strong to this day.

Streit, who was named 2003 Alumnus of the Year by the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science in October, will give the commencement address before approximately 6,000 students and guests at graduation ceremonies June 14.

Dwight C. Streit, 2003 Alumnus of the Year

Streit is vice president of microelectronics technology at Northrop Grumman Space Technology, where he is responsible for the development and production of microelectronic products for communication and space systems.

Just prior to joining Northrop Grumman via the acquisition of TRW in late 2002, Streit was president of Manhattan Beach-based Velocium, a TRW company that manufactures high-performance chips for fiber-optic and wireless communication systems.

Streit has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science since becoming an alumnus. He has supported professors with research grants and offered summer internships to students, many of whom went on to join TRW and Northrop Grumman.

"I like to maintain a healthy relationship with UCLA," said Streit. "It gives me access to some of the best researchers in the nation and on a personal level it's satisfying to be associated with such a great school."

As he prepared for his appearance at this year's commencement ceremony, Streit recounted some of his experiences as a student at UCLA.

"I shared a lab on the top floor of Boelter Hall," Streit recalled. "One year, the lab roof developed a serious leak during a winter rainstorm, threatening to destroy our equipment and ruin the group's research projects."

Rather than wait for the School's maintenance staff to patch the roof, Streit and his lab mates bought their own roofing materials and repaired the area on their own.

"I always remember that time when I watch Tim Robbins together with his fellow inmates spreading tar on the roof of the prison in 'The Shawshank Redemption,'" said Streit.

Frederick Allen, an expert in semiconductor physics and professor emeritus in UCLA's electrical engineering department, was Streit's advisor in the early 1980s. Some of Streit's favorite memories while at UCLA involved research with Allen, particularly one high-flying adventure in a pick-up truck.

"A large fire occurred in Santa Barbara as a result of a box kite that had become entangled in high-voltage power lines," Streit recalled. "Fred Allen was hired as a consultant to prove the kite was at fault and he needed to measure the forces on such a kite as a function of wind velocity."

What began as an innocent beach trip to Santa Monica soon turned unexpectedly hair-raising.

"I drove a small pick-up truck down the beach at high speeds while Fred sat bouncing in the back holding a large kite tied to a scale," Streit said. "I watched him go airborne behind this powerful kite at 50 miles per hour, while another graduate student held on to him for dear life to keep him in the truck bed."

Since Streit graduated with his Ph.D in 1986, he has achieved a number of personal and professional accomplishments.

Streit spent 15 years at TRW Space and Electronics, where he received the TRW Chairman's Award for Innovation six times and the TRW Distinguished Patent Award five times, setting company records. He was also elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2001 for contributions to the development and production of hetero-junction transistors and circuits.

Earlier this year Streit was elected into the NASA Space Technology Hall of Fame for developing a new class of integrated circuits called monolithic microwave integrated circuits, or MMICs, which employ the semiconductor materials gallium arsenide and indium phosphide rather than traditional silicon.

The new chips' high performance and efficient use of electricity make them ideal for devices that operate at high frequencies and depend on limited battery power. Today, MMIC chips are found in satellites, cell phones, fiber-optics communications systems and radio telescopes.

Perhaps Streit's most important achievement, however, is a little more personal. "My daughter Christina Kinane will be a freshman at UCLA this fall," said Streit. "My daughters Laura and Alison are 14 and 12, and I hope they decide to attend UCLA too."

Commencement ceremonies begin Saturday, June 14 at 12:30 p.m., at Pauley Pavilion.

-Christopher Sutton
06/07/03