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Raytheon engineering manager and principal engineer Adrian D. Williams, Ph.D., has been selected to receive the 2019 Outstanding Technical Contribution in Industry Award.
The Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) recognizes William's efforts in the area of semiconductor device manufacturing.
Innovation and intellectual property generated from his work have had a wide impact across Raytheon’s technology portfolio in integrated defense systems.
Williams was nominated by Colin S. Whelan, vice president, advanced technology, Raytheon Integrated Systems. In his nomination letter, Whelan wrote that Williams's "work was instrumental... to bringing in billions of dollars of new programs for Raytheon, and providing a distinct advantage to the US warfighter on the battlefield."
"As a technical expert and functional manager, he supports the processes he has created and shaped as the yield and product engineer manager for Raytheon's semiconductor foundry with his team of fifteen engineers delivering on promises. He spends time to share his knowledge with employees, mentoring and advocating for them," Whelan wrote.
Williams joined Raytheon in 2007 after earning his doctorate. By 2009, his work resulted in Raytheon becoming the first company to have a Gallium Nitride (GaN) foundry.
In 2013, Williams was an integral part of the team that gave Raytheon a lead on a go-to-market technology resulting in Raytheon being selected as the first GaN insertion into a major Department of Defense program. GaN provides over five times power than legacy integrated circuit technology resulting in leap-ahead capabilities for defense radar systems. Raytheon won Aviation Week's prestigious Innovation Award for leading the world' s defense industries in 2015.
Williams earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Brown University and a master's degree, also in electrical engineering, at Brown. In 2007, he completed his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Boston University and joined Raytheon Company in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Growing up in a single parent household in Brooklyn, New York, young Williams retreated into his home for safety and walked in his neighborhood afraid to make eye contact with drug dealers.
Winning a scholarship to a private school his mother could never afford, opened the door to new opportunities and was the beginning of his track record in academic excellence.
The Black Engineer of the Year Award for Outstanding Technical Contributions in Industry recognizes scientists and engineers who make outstanding contributions to technical development in industry and government.
The award will be bestowed upon Williams during the 33rd annual BEYA STEM Conference in Washington DC. February 7-9, 2019