Prize Recipient

Billy Ward
ALIS Corporation

"For innovative developments in the physics of field ion microscopy and the invention and commercial introduction of the Helium Ion Microscope."

Bill, Ward, a self-professed serial entrepreneur, is considered one of the premier scientists and business leaders in the charged particle microscope community.  He was founder, president, and chief executive officer of ALIS Corporation, a developer and supplier of a new generation of focused-ion-beam (FIB) microscopes for the semiconductor, materials and life sciences industries until the acquisition of ALIS by Carl Zeiss Corporation in 2006.  Formerly, Bill was a founder of Micrion Corporation (NASDAQ: MICN), a global leader in FIB systems, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for eighteen years.  Prior to his experience at Micrion, he founded Ion Beam Technologies, the first ion microscope company in the U.S.  Earlier, Bill was on the founding team and R&D manager at Varian's E-beam Lithography division. Contributions in his field also include the automation design efforts of the early Ion Implanters at Extrion Corporation.  He has authored numerous scientific articles and patents for his breakthroughs in microscopy which are still considered some of the most important innovations in his field. Bill continues his efforts in the scientific community as mentor and advisor to several high-tech startups in the semiconductor and life sciences arenas.

Gregory P. Meisner, Chair; A. Bratkovski; L. Schwartz; P. Wyatt; M. Yeganeh