Technology 2005 Awards Portland, Oregon November 17, 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award Dr. William W. Lattin ---------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Lattin is proof that nice guys can finish first when it comes to lifetime achievement in the technology industry. Lattin's career includes key positions at Motorola, Intel and Logic Modeling at times when those companies were making tremendous contributions to the advancement of technology. He now serves on seven boards of directors, but his commitment to youth and other community activities are what people mention most. "The title 'Lifetime Achievement' fits Bill very well, because he's spent a lifetime achieving things," says FEI Co. CEO Vahe Sarkissian. "He's also touched the lives of many people and many companies. He's nurtured them and guided them to success, spreading his wisdom and his wealth." "Bill Lattin is a great guy," adds Keith Thompson, former director of Oregon's Intel Operations. "Anyone who tells you different isn't giving you the straight story." Lattin's story begins in Nebraska, where he was born in 1940. At the age of 3, Lattin's father moved to take a construction job at Richland, Washington, home of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and at the time a key player in the Manhattan Project, the race to produce the world's first atomic bomb. A small, dusty agricultural town, Richland at one point became Washington's fourth-largest city as it was inundated with as many as 50,000 construction workers, along with many scientists and engineers. Differences among new residents created a clearly defined. two- tier caste system says Lattin. There was no doubt which side of the tracks the Lattins were living on, Richland's south side was dominated by a sewer treatment plant euphemistically known as the Rose Bowl. Lattin and his extended family grew up in an 800-square-foot home. Richland's scientific industry didn't capture Lattin's imagination at a young age. "I wasn't a good student through middle school and the first half of high school. Then I began to take and interest in math, physics and chemistry," he recalls. Lattin now holds seven patents and remains passionate about technology and embraces the concept of lifelong learning. But early on, a career in science didn't seem likely, even though he joined the navy and served as an electronic technician. "At that time, I had what I guess some people would call a religious conversion," says Lattin. He attended Multnomah School of the Bible. "I was looking to gain a better world view, although we didn't call it that in those days," he says. Lattin gained focus and attended University of California- Berkeley, where he earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in electrical engineering. He received his Ph.D. at Arizona State University while working for Motorola's semiconductor division. Bill Richardson, founder of Ncube in Beaverton, remembers joining Motorola's training program in 1969. One of his fellow classmates was Lattin. "We took a liking to each other," Richardson says. At the time the computer industry was just beginning to abandon bipolar integrated circuitry, which functioned much the same as a '60's-era transistor radio, and embracing metal oxide semiconductors, says Richardson. Circuit designers didn't have the luxury of computer-aided design to plan the arrangement of transistors. Designers instead were using a crude and time-consuming combination of photographs, pencil drawings and Mylar cut-outs to represent various configurations. With metal-oxide semiconductor technology, the number of transistors jumped from a few hundred to thousands, making the existing mechanical system to design circuitry much more untenable. "It was crazy." says Richardson. Enter Lattin, who took the revolutionary initiative to adopt automated design, despite offending the engineering old guard at Motorola, says Richardson. "We got blasted. We had all these PhDs saying, 'Hey, you can't do that without us.' " Lattin prevailed and the result was a significant milestone in the history of integrated circuitry, the Motorola 6800. It had an eight-bit microprocessor and could be operated on a printed circuit board with only five volts of power. Taking initiative was a hallmark of Lattin's leadership skills, says Richardson. "He was a natural leader. He had charisma," he says. "He had a way of getting the best results out of people." Richardson and Lattin moved to Intel together. The company was much smaller, Richardson says. Among many other initiatives at Intel, Lattin started an off- campus personal computer operation that eventually became a $1 billion business. He also got Intel into the motherboard business. Lattin then proved he could take a start-up to fruition when he started Logic Automation Inc. in Hillsboro. The company simulated how other software would work, and in 1992 merged with Logic Modeling Co., a California company that modeled how hardware such as electronic boards and computing systems would work. The combined company had more that 200 employees at one point. Sitting on seven boards requires about 35 hours a week, compared with 60 hours a week during his early career. That seems about right, Lattin says. "He's very knowledgeable, very experienced in technology, very well networked, very active and very approachable," says Radisys Corp. CEO Scott Grout. "He's a significantly valuable board member." Lattin invests in start-up companies and contributes to the University of California, the Oregon Robotics Tournament and other youth education organizations. "It gets them involved in technology in at an early age, in a fun way," says Lattin. "I want kids in Oregon to have the same opportunities I had." ---------------------------------------------------------------- "The Portland Business Journal"