Ed Swenson earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Portland in 1960 and his master’s degree in electrical engineering from ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓin 1967. He joined Electro Scientific Industries (ESI) in 1961, where he quickly became a driving force behind the company’s emergence as a leader in laser systems. In his early career, he supervised the development and marketing of ESI’s trimming and scribing technologies, establishing the company’s reputation in precision laser applications. Working later in cooperation with Bell Labs, Swenson pioneered the laser redundancy process, a breakthrough that significantly increased the yield of dynamic random access memories and ultimately became an industry standard. His technical leadership and vision helped propel ESI’s growth from a small company with roughly $2 million in annual sales to a major industry player. Over the course of his career at ESI, Swenson served as product manager, vice president of the Advanced Research Group, and senior vice president of research and development. In his later years, he semi-retired while continuing to contribute as a consultant to ESI’s Interconnect and Micro‑Machining business unit. A life member of IEEE and an active member of SPIE and IMAPS, he also served as chairman of the Industrial Advisory Board for Electrical and Computer Engineering at OSU.
Degrees
- MSEE 1967 - EECS