Physicist Steven Hillenius has been named vice president of Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC),  a Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based consortium for university research in semiconductors and related technologies. Hillenius has served SRC as a university liaison and a member of its science advisory groups, technical advisory board and board of directors. He has been involved in high-performance semiconductor structures and devices research for more than 20 years, and his eight patents cover techniques used in virtually every integrated circuit, according to SRC. Before joining SRC, Hillenius headed influential technology development and collaborative interactions for Agere Systems and Bell Laboratories. Hillenius and his team at Bell Labs were the first to produce 60-nm transistors, conducting much of the early materials innovation on high-k gate dielectrics and demonstrated novel three-dimensional device structures. He managed partnerships and joint development programs for companies including NEC, ST Microelectronics, TSMC and Chartered Semiconductor. Hillenius replaces Ralph Cavin, who is retiring from the SRC leadership team at the end of this year.