Kamlapati Khalsa

Luckily born left-handed to an internationally blended family that esteemed the value of education, I spent eight of my first sixteen years living in Europe, immersed in museums, castles, battlefields and the love of reading, music, and knowledge. My interests in math and science were encouraged from my earliest years, and as soon as I discovered the slide rule and physics I was hooked for life. From my physics degree at beautifully rural Washington State University, to my grad school research at dangerously urban University of Pennsylvania, to today in my adopted home of the Santa Clara Valley, I have been fortunate to grow up and live in a time of exciting technological change and advancement.

In the early years of the semiconductor industry, very few college programs adequately prepared students for the fast changing technology, so qualities of basic understanding and adaptability were favored above others. To my great surprise, my physics education prepared me perfectly for a first job at Intel. My technical knowledge grew with the industry as I worked on semiconductor manufacturing, product development, Flash memory, micro-controllers, programmable arrays, and software development environments. Benefitting from my technical education as well as my communications skills, I was eventually able to contribute as a manager of complex projects. The lessons there were simple: good teams are based on sharing joy, kindness, and respect as much as they are on based on technical acumen.

While at Penn, I tutored at-risk middle school students in math and science. I found that all students have great strengths, and if you can access their strengths, they can overcome any obstacle. I truly believe that anyone with the desire can excel at math and science. I have benefited from great teachers and mentors all my life, showing me what is possible and where to start. I want to share what I have with others, in the hope that not only can others benefit from the power of reason, math and science, but that we all move forward as a society based on our knowledge.

Outside of work I can always find time for hacking my Linux server, desktop, and laptops, and doing scientific and numerical programming in SciLab and Python. But one of the great passions of my life is music. I am currently working on the jazz repertoire, the Great American Songbook, playing jazz guitar, and singing. You might see me out at a local jam or open mic. Thanks to my beautiful, loving wife, and all my family for helping me in such a rich life!

I was not born in California but I got here as fast as I could. And having lived here since 1980, can you believe the Giants have won three World Series? And the Warriors are NBA Champs?