Distinguished Engineer
Hometown: Ipswich
Engineering Physics,
While at South Dakota State University, Francis “Fritz” Kub was awarded the Stephen F. Briggs Scholarship and the Schultz-Werth Research Award. He went on to earn a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1976 and a doctorate from the University of Maryland in 1985. Kub worked from 1974 to 1985 at Westinghouse Electric Corporation (now Northrop) in Baltimore developing very large scale integration (VLSI) integrated circuits and advanced photodetector arrays. In 1985, he became a manager at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He then served as the Branch Head of the Power Electronics Branch at the Naval Research Laboratory. In that role, Kub directed research in developing new semiconductor material and devices for power electronic applications. Under Kub’s guidance, researchers in his Branch achieved innovation research results and transferred these results to industry where their impact created new capabilities for the U.S. Navy, the nation and the international community. His awards include five NRL Technology Transfer Awards and two NRL Best Paper Awards. In addition, Kub developed 37 patents with nine of the patents licensed to commercial companies. He had over 100 journal publications. He served on numerous conference technical committees and was the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Circuit and Systems from 1997 to 1999. Kub’s wife, Joan, was a 1973 graduate of the SDSU School of Nursing.