Presented by: The Honorable Francesco Cossiga, President of the Republic of Italy at the Campidoglio, Rome.

Federico Faggin, Chairman Emeritus of Synaptics, Inc., was Chief Executive Officer of Foveon, Inc., co-founder and CEO of ZiLOG, Inc., Cygnet Technologies, Inc., and Synaptics, Inc.

Mr. Faggin is credited with developing the Self Aligned MOS Silicon Gate Technology, which enabled the creation of semiconductor memories and microprocessors. Building on this invention, he designed and co-invented the world’s first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, as well as many follow-on microprocessors.

He is the recipient of many honors and awards, including the 1988 International Marconi Fellowship Award, the 1994 IEEE W. Wallace-McDonald Award and the 1997 Kyoto Prize.