Eric R Fossum

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT ERIC R FOSSUM

Eric R. Fossum is best known for the invention of the CMOS image sensor “camera-on-a-chip” used in billions of cameras, from smart phones to web cameras to pill cameras to DSLRs. Its initial purpose was to miniaturize and improve cameras on NASA interplanetary spacecraft. This invention combined the low noise of the CCD with the low power and small form-factor of CMOS integration by using intra-pixel charge transfer and an active pixel architecture. In 2017, Fossum was a co-recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, the world\'s top engineering prize (and considered by many as equivalent to the Nobel Prize) for the invention of digital imaging sensors. In 2025 he received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at the White House. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and is member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is a solid-state image sensor device physicist and engineer, and his career has included academic and government research, and entrepreneurial leadership of several startups (Photobit, Siimpel, Active Pixel Associates and the non-profit Int. Image Sensor Society). He is the John H. Krehbiel Sr. Professor of Emerging Technologies at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. He also serves as Vice Provost of Dartmouth College for Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer, and directs Dartmouth\'s PhD Innovation Programs. He recently co-founded another startup with his former students, Gigajot Technology, Inc.Specialties-Image sensor R&D (CCD, CMOS, QIS). Primary inventor of CMOS active-pixel image sensor and camera-on-a-chip technology. Over 330 technical publications-Executive management of high-tech startup companies from inception to acquisition. CEO of several successful start-up companies including Photobit, Siimpel, and leadership of Active Pixel Associates, and a new startup, Gigajot-Government funded R&D leadership and management. NASA/JPL and SBIR program management-Intellectual property expert consultation for strategic value and infringement. Inventor on 185 US patents.See Prof. Fossum\'s personal website for more information.