Derek Cheung

Dr. Cheung was Vice President of Research at Rockwell International. From 1998 through 2006, he also served as President and CEO of Rockwell Scientific Company, a for-profit, highly successful research company transformed from Rockwell’s corporate research lab. He retired in 2007 to focus on R&D transition strategies and founded the Institute for Technology Advancement (ITA) at UCLA to implement such concepts. Several successful startups based on UCLA research were launched within 2 years.

Dr. Cheung received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. From 1969 to 1972, he worked at Fairchild Semiconductor R&D Lab, which was the cradle of modern electronics industry, and where he personally experienced the early days of the Silicon Valley and participated in the development of the integrated circuit technology. He spent the next 32 years with the corporate research center for aerospace conglomerate Rockwell International, through a series of positions with increased responsibilities: from a researcher in infrared imaging technology to CEO of the transformed Rockwell Scientific Company.

Dr. Cheung is a techno-business person, well experienced in managing the innovation process for applied R&D for value creation and impact. He has served on many advisory boards, including as consultant to the Army Science Board, USAF Advisory Board on Electronics and Photonics technology, Visiting Committee member of Caltech, and industrial advisory board member for UCLA, UCSB and Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was also on the board of several high tech startups and R&D institutions.

After his retirement, Dr. Cheung authored a book on the history of mankind's harnessing of the power of electrons and electromagnetic waves, focusing on the linkage of major inventions. The book was awarded the Golden Bookmark prize as the best original Chinese Language popular science book. The English version, “The Conquerors of the Electron”, co-authored with Eric Brach, was published in 2014.

Dr. Cheung resides in Thousand Oaks, California.