Senior Director, Global ASIC Design, Knowles Corp.
Jorge Grilo received a book from his father entitled “My First Book of Electricity,” at age 7. He devoured it and soon was experimenting with electricity. He built an electric chair for flies, and experimented further with electrocution using his cousins as subjects. Fortunately, fuses were quick to react, and no harm was done to his cousins. The flies were not so fortunate, after a 220-volt zap.
Grilo went on to learn electronics on his own, and by age 11 was building FM transceivers, audio amplifiers, music synthesizers, infrared sensors, and a plethora of gadgets for use around the house. The path ahead and his future vocation were unequivocal.
He completed his undergraduate studies in Portugal in 1992, then came to Oregon State with a scholarship from the Portuguese government and a research assistantship from Professor Gabor Temes to work towards his master’s and Ph.D. degrees. Temes had a wealth of life experiences and sense of humor that Grilo found inspiring.
Grilo adds that Oregon State provided a form of sanctuary. The calm environment and beautiful campus promoted a healthy lifestyle and exposure to intellectual stimulus that was essential to his integration. Coming from a foreign country, he found the university to be supportive, soothing and welcoming.
“Nurture your relationships and build a network based on trust and compassion early in your career. I have worked with, and hired, many Oregon State alumni who were outstanding individuals, both personally and professionally. Some of my best work was inspired by many of them.”
Grilo’s career path eventually led him to the Chicago area, where in 2020 he joined Knowles to lead a talented global ASIC organization in the design of low-noise, high dynamic range ICs for MEMS-based microphones and sensors.
Grilo notes that the technologies he works with develop applications that make our lives simple and seamless - including mobile communications, self-driving automotives, facial recognition, and gaming. These rely on the continual development of hardware infrastructure.
Degrees
- Ph.D. Electronics and Semiconductor Devices, 1997
- M.S. Electronics and Semiconductor Devices, 1994