Kurt Keutzer received his B.S. degree in Mathematics from Maharishi International University in 1978 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from Indiana University in 1981 and 1984 respectively.
In 1984 Kurt joined AT&T Bell Laboratories where he worked to apply various computer-science disciplines to practical problems in computer-aided design. In 1991 Kurt joined Synopsys, Inc. where he continued his research in a number of positions culminating in his position as as Chief Technical Officer and Senior Vice-President of Research. Kurt left Synopsys in January 1998 to become Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley. From 1998 until 2002 he served as the Associate Director of the Gigascale Silicon Research Center (GSRC). The GSRC currently funds over thirty faculty and dozens of graduate students across a dozen academic institutions.
Kurt has researched a wide number of areas related to synthesis and high-level design and his research efforts have led to three Design Automation Conference (DAC) Best Paper Awards, a Distinguished Paper Citation from the International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD) and a Best Paper Award at the International Conference in Computer Design (ICCD). He co-authored the book entitled Logic Synthesis published by McGraw-Hill in 1994 and the book entitled Closing the Gap Between ASIC and Custom , currently a best-seller.
From 1989-1995 Kurt served as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems and he currently serves on the editorial boards of three journals: Integration - the VLSI Journal; Design Automation of Embedded Systems and Formal Methods in System Design. Kurt has served on the technical program committees of DAC, ICCAD and ICCD as well as the technical and executive committees of numerous other conferences and workshops. Kurt is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Since leaving Synopsys
Kurt has participated in numerous industial activities as well.
He is currently a consultant to Cadence Design and
serves on the Technical Advisory Boards of
0-in Design Automation, Catalytic Inc., Co-Ware,
Reshape, Stretch Inc., and Tensilica.
He has also been active private investor,
investing in 0-in Design Automation,
Cadabra (acquired by Numerical Technologies),
Catalytic,
Everest Design Automation (acquired by Synopsys),
Right-Track CAD (acquired by Altera),
Stretch,
and Tensilica.