Employment History:
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rhode Island (1991-1998); Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rhode Island (1985-1991); Research Assistant, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland (1981-1985); Teacher Assistant, Full-Time Teaching Assignment, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (1978-1980)

Published Works:
Dr. Fischer started his professional career designing and implementing analog sampled data filters, a very novel technique, which enabled the integration of precision analog filters together with conventional digital circuitry. His research interest has widened significantly, and the excerpts of his scholarly activity can be found in many professional journals including the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, the IEEE Transaction on Circuits & Systems and the IEEE Electronics Letters. Dr. Fischer has contributed to the ‘Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering’ with a tutorial on sigma-delta modulators. He wrote a chapter on analog-to-digital converter applications in the text, ''''''''Multirate Systems: Design & Applications'''''''' in 2001. He has authored and co-authored approximately 100 scientific publications. Dr. Fischer is also the owner of two U.S. patents. Over his teaching career of more than 20 years, he taught close to a dozen different college courses on the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Public Speaking Experience:

Why He is an Expert:
Over Dr. Fischer’s teaching career of more than 20 years, he taught close to a dozen different college courses on the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has contributed to more than 100 conference papers and journal articles. As the owner of two U.S. patents, he has consulted for and collaborated with industrial partners and government labs in the area of underwater acoustics. In 2001 and 2004, Dr. Gottfried was the recipient of the University of Rhode Island Faculty Excellence Award.

Best Advice:
“Perseverance is the most important ingredient to success. Make the best of whatever happens. As an engineer, you always have to take things at face value. You cannot have a make-believe system as an engineer.”

Passionate about:
“Teaching and research are my passions, but I have other interests. Right now, there is an excitement in the physics world because they have this big machine – a particle accelerator – in Europe (CERN in Geneva) built to explore the realm of the microcosmos. In other words, they are trying to find the smallest subatomic particles that make up matter and ultimately change the universe. They are just starting to carry out the first experiments. This is something I am very excited about. I also like sports and (classical) music.”

Biography Excerpt:
Gottfried Fischer, Ph.D. is a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Rhode Island. He began his professional career in the early 1980s by working on the design and implementation of analog sampled-data filters, i.e., switched-capacitor filters. At the time, the process was a very novel technique which enabled the integration of precision analog filters together with conventional digital circuitry. Since his early work, Dr. Fischer’s research interests have broadened and now cover mixed-signal integrated circuit design, low-power CMOS circuits, analog and digital filters, amplifiers, data converters and phase-locked loops.

     

Cambridge Who's Who: You work with low-power CMOS circuits, right?  
GOTTFRIED FISCHER :  Low-power integrated circuits are becoming increasingly important in biological and medical applications. Just recall implantable devices such as pacemakers or more complex regulatory and sensing devices. In addition, reducing power extends the battery life of portable devices such as laptops or cell phones and allows them to become lighter and more compact.

How do you remain current in your profession? How do you stay up-to-date?
There’s the reading of journals; the other thing is in teaching. You have to stay current to tell the students how things happen in the field. The advantage of teaching is that students will ask questions and you better have an answer.

What were some drastic changes in the past 10-20 years for which you have had to adjust your research or work on analog and digital mixed-signal circuit design?
Microelectronics is arguable one of the fastest growing and fastest changing fields. Therefore, there is an ongoing need to adapt.