Biography

Early Years Leading to the Ph.D. Degree

José E. Franca was born in Lisbon in 1955. He completed his general secondary education at Liceu Nacional de D. João II in São Tomé and Príncipe, and later at Liceu Camões in Lisbon, graduating in 1972. That same year, he entered Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), beginning his studies in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

In June 1978, he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering (specializing in Telecommunications and Electronics) from IST. The following academic year (1978/79), he joined the faculty as a Junior Assistant in the Section of Systems and Computers, under the mentorship of Professor José Manuel Fonseca de Moura. In 1979/80, he transitioned to the Section of Electronics, joining the Applied Electronics Center of the Technical University of Lisbon (CEAUTL), at the invitation of Professor Manuel de Medeiros Silva.

From 1979 to 1980, he held a part-time research grant from the National Institute for Scientific Research (INIC), initiating his scientific research under Professor Medeiros Silva in the field of RC- active filters.

In 1980, he joined the Central Laboratory of Electricidade de Portugal (EDP), working with the Telecommunications Project and Maintenance Team. The following year, he moved to EDP!s

Central Technology Department, where he coordinated various projects related to the utility!s radio communications network.

Concurrently, he maintained his academic ties to IST as a 60% Guest Assistant in the Electronics Section and continued his research activities in Line 3 of CEAUTL. During his vacation in 1981, he undertook a one-month research internship at Imperial College London under Dr. David Haigh, working on switched-capacitor filters. This experience would prove decisive in shaping his future academic career, ultimately leading to his difficult decision to resign from EDP in 1982.

At the beginning of 1982, Dr. David Haigh invited him to join a research project at Imperial College in collaboration with British Telecom, which also opened the door to pursuing a Ph.D. In June of that year, he completed his Scientific Research and Pedagogical Aptitude Examinations at IST, and by September was granted a leave of absence with a full research fellowship.

In January 1983, he formally joined Imperial College as a research student and began work on the joint project with British Telecom, focusing on analog systems with multirate signal processing for high-selectivity filtering — the subject of his doctoral dissertation.

He was awarded the prestigious Overseas Research Student Award in both 1983 and 1984, a competitive scholarship granted to exceptional international postgraduate students in UK universities.

He completed his Ph.D. at Imperial College in June 1985 and returned to IST in September. In December 1985, his doctorate was officially recognized by the Technical University of Lisbon, and he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at IST.

Academic Career and International Recognition (1985–1997)

After completing his Ph.D. at Imperial College in 1985, José E. Franca resumed his academic career at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), where he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His return marked the beginning of a prolific period of teaching, research, and institutional development.

Between 1985 and 1996, he was actively involved in undergraduate and graduate teaching at IST, contributing to both the Electrical and Computer Engineering and Engineering Physics programs. He played a central role in developing and modernizing the Electronics Section laboratories — enhancing infrastructure, upgrading equipment, and designing new experimental projects to support hands-on learning. Much of this foundational work remains in use today, testifying to its lasting pedagogical value.

He supervised and mentored numerous final-year students, master!s candidates, and doctoral researchers, including:

24 final-year theses involving 47 students
5 completed Ph.D. theses
4 co-supervised international Ph.D. theses
1 Ph.D. pending defense
7 Ph.D. students in progress
13 completed Master’s theses

To support this academic activity, he built a high-quality laboratory and computing environment for analog microelectronics research. As early as 1986, he negotiated partnerships between IST and European semiconductor manufacturers to gain direct access to integrated circuit fabrication — a critical step toward ensuring international credibility for the research and training programs being developed.

From 1986 onward, he led the establishment of what would become the Integrated Circuits and Systems Group at IST, with the goal of creating a nationally and internationally recognized center of excellence in analog microelectronics. His research spanned a wide range of topics, including integrated analog filters (both continuous-time and sampled, with self-tuning), A/D and D/A converters (including oversampled and auto-calibrated architectures), multirate signal processing systems, fundamental analog circuit blocks (amplifiers, comparators, etc.), testability, and circuit synthesis and modeling — including nonlinear circuits. He played a key role in national and international research projects, particularly under European scientific cooperation programs, and built strong collaborations with universities and companies across Europe, the U.S., Brazil, and Asia.

Between 1985 and 1997, he contributed to:

31 research and development projects, including:
- 12 ESPRIT projects (4 as consortium leader)
- 1 EUREKA project
- 1 EUCLID project
- 1 ERASMUS project
- 4 national R&D programs
- 1 major initiative under the PEDIP program
- 8 industry collaborations with international partners
- 3 with Portuguese companies
Publications and contributions:
- 4 edited international books
- 8 book chapters, including a 1999 entry in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
- 48 articles in international journals, including:
  - IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (7)
  - IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems
  - IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks
  - IEEE Transactions on Education
  - Electronics Letters (20)

146 international conference papers, including:
- 52 at IEEE ISCAS
- 9 at ESSCIRC
- 17 at IEEE MWSCAS
49 invited talks and seminars in Europe, the Americas, and Asia
5 international patents

In 1996, during a sabbatical, he served as Visiting Full Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he contributed to the development of new academic and research programs in analog microelectronics. Upon concluding his stay, he was named Adjunct Professor of the Department of Electronic Engineering — the first time this honorary title was awarded to a European.
That same year, he was elected Fellow of the IEEE (effective January 1997) for his “contributions to multirate analog signal processing and engineering education.”
His international recognition continued to grow:

Appointed Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society for 1997– 1998 (renewed for 1999–2000)
Awarded the Golden Jubilee Medal of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society in 1999

In parallel with academic and scientific work, he led intensive training programs in Portugal and abroad — including courses at the Imperial College and Oxford, as well as professional development seminars for companies such as AMS (Austria) and DSP Communications (Israel).

He also taught master’s courses at:

University of A veiro (1993–1995)
University of Macau (1995–1996)
Chinese University of Hong Kong (1996–1997)

Institutional Leadership, Research Impact, and Entrepreneurial Ventures (1997–2000)

From the late 1990s onward, José E. Franca expanded his impact beyond academia, contributing significantly to scientific policy, institutional development, and technology-based entrepreneurship — all while maintaining his leadership in advanced research.

As a senior professor at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), he was deeply involved in institutional affairs. Between 1988 and 1991, he had already served on the IST Governing Board and held leadership roles in two of its affiliated organizations — ADIST (Associação para o Desenvolvimento do Instituto Superior Técnico) and ITEC (Instituto Tecnológico para a Europa Comunitária). These experiences laid the groundwork for his future involvement in academic policy and national R&D strategy.

In the realm of research, the Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, which he had established and led since 1986, became one of Portugal!s foremost research units in analog microelectronics. Integrated within the Instituto de Telecomunicações since its founding under the national CIÊNCIA program, the group!s work remained largely self-funded through competitive European R&D projects. In 1996, it was the only research group at the Instituto de Telecomunicações to receive a perfect score of 5/5 (Excellent) in the international evaluation panel!s assessment — a testament to its scientific excellence and international standing.

Professor Franca also contributed actively to academic and scientific governance. He served as:

Member of 11 Ph.D. committees in Portugal and 8 internationally (including the UK, Spain, Belgium, and the U.S.)
Member of 21 master’s thesis committees
Examiner in a Habilitation (Agregação) process at IST
Member of editorial boards (e.g., Kluwer Journal of Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing)
Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems – Part I
Elected member of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Board of Governors (1996–
1999)
Member of the Executive Council of the European Circuits Society (1998–2001)
Member of over 20 international conference technical committees
Organizer of 12 special sessions at international conferences
President of the IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems held in Lisbon in 1998
Member of the Steering Committee for ESSCIRC/ESSDERC (1999–2003)
Reviewer for multiple journals, books, and national/international funding agencies, including the ESPRIT program and the UK’s EPSRC

Beyond academia, he was invited by Professor Abreu Faro to collaborate with the Fundação das Universidades, taking part in the external evaluation of engineering programs at the University of Minho and the University of Aveiro. In 1998, he joined the Scientific Advisory Board of INESC Porto and, in 1999, contributed to the Strategic Planning Group for the Technical University of Lisbon, convened by Rector Lopes da Silva.

His commitment to public service culminated in a brief but meaningful tenure in the Portuguese government: from November 1991 to April 1992, he served as Secretary of State for Educational Resources under Minister Diamantino Durão, bringing his academic perspective to national education policy.

Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship

Alongside his academic and public roles, Professor Franca recognized the importance of fostering innovation beyond university walls. In 1989, anticipating the need to transform engineering expertise into industrial value, he co-founded SITAF – Investigação de Tecnologias Avançadas para a Formação, a company focused on developing technologically advanced educational equipment. Backed by a consortium including IST, INETI, and UNISYS, SITAF introduced Portuguese-designed solutions to both domestic and international markets — beginning its export journey in 1999 with advanced equipment sales in Spain.
The most significant entrepreneurial milestone came in 1997, when, in partnership with two IST colleagues and the company Atmel ES2, he co-founded Chipidea Microelectrónica. The vision was bold: to establish a high-tech company in Portugal capable of retaining and professionally integrating highly qualified talent in the field of microelectronics design.
By 1999, Chipidea had grown to employ 28 young engineers — 21 trained at IST and 4 from foreign universities. At the time, it was Portugal’s only company operating globally in the
semiconductor industry at the level of integrated circuit design. The company’s founding marked a turning point in the national innovation ecosystem, setting a precedent for deep-tech entrepreneurship and positioning Portuguese engineering talent on the global stage.
That same year, Professor Franca was invited by Professor Valadares Tavares to coordinate the sectoral foresight study on the Electronics Industry, part of a broader national strategic assessment of engineering and technology in Portugal for the 2000–2020 horizon.

Scaling Innovation and Industry Engagement (2000–2010)

The decade from 2000 to 2010 marked a phase of expansion, consolidation, and global recognition in José E. Franca’s career — as both an academic leader and a technology entrepreneur.

The company he co-founded in 1997, Chipidea Microelectrónica, rapidly evolved from a pioneering startup into a world-class provider of analog and mixed-signal intellectual property (IP) for integrated circuits. Under his continued strategic guidance and vision, Chipidea expanded internationally, establishing design centers and customer relationships across Europe, Asia, and North America. Its portfolio grew to include high-performance analog IP blocks for applications ranging from mobile communications to consumer electronics, automotive systems, and broadband.

Chipidea’s success was emblematic of what Portugal could achieve in deep-tech innovation. It proved that a semiconductor IP company, rooted in local academic excellence and international collaboration, could compete globally in one of the most sophisticated and capital-intensive sectors of technology.

In 2007, Chipidea was acquired by MIPS Technologies, a leading U.S.-based processor IP company. The acquisition validated the global relevance of the company!s technology and talent and positioned Portugal on the map of the international semiconductor design ecosystem. It also paved the way for the subsequent integration of Chipidea!s IP portfolio into Synopsys, one of the world!s largest electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP companies. This marked one of the most significant success stories in Portuguese high-tech entrepreneurship.

Parallel to this entrepreneurial achievement, Professor Franca remained committed to education, research, and policy:

He continued to mentor doctoral students and guide advanced research projects in analog and mixed-signal design.
He contributed to discussions on engineering education reform and the role of universities in fostering innovation ecosystems.
He acted as an advisor and evaluator in multiple national and European R&D programs, helping shape strategic funding decisions in microelectronics and information technologies.

Throughout this period, he also maintained strong engagement with professional societies. His longstanding relationship with the IEEE and the Circuits and Systems Society continued to expand through editorial work, conference leadership, and community-building efforts in Europe and beyond.

Later Years and Legacy

In the years following the acquisition of Chipidea, José E. Franca increasingly devoted his efforts to mentoring, strategic advising, and ecosystem building — both in academia and industry.

He became a respected voice in European technology policy, actively contributing to discussions on how to bridge the gap between research and innovation, and how to strengthen Europe’s position
in semiconductors and deep tech. His experience — grounded in both academic excellence and entrepreneurial success — positioned him uniquely to advise governments, institutions, and investment bodies.

He was appointed to multiple scientific and strategic advisory boards, including:

INESC Porto, where he contributed to guiding one of Portugal!s leading research institutes
University of Macau, where he maintained ties since his earlier teaching role
Emerging ventures and technology transfer initiatives in Europe

His contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including:

The title of IEEE Fellow, one of the highest distinctions in electrical and computer
engineering
The Golden Jubilee Medal from the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society
Various national acknowledgments for his role in advancing Portuguese technology and education

Throughout his career, he remained deeply committed to educational integrity, scientific excellence, and the belief that engineering can — and must — play a transformative role in society.

He mentored generations of engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs, many of whom have gone on to build successful careers in academia, industry, and public service. His legacy lives on not only in the institutions he helped build and the innovations he led, but in the people he inspired.

As he turns to reflecting on this journey through his memoirs, Professor Franca continues to
champion the values that have defined his life’s work: curiosity, rigor, collaboration, and the courage to build.