Virantha Ekanayake
About Virantha Ekanayake
Virantha Ekanayake serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Achronix Semiconductor, where he has worked since 2009. He has significant experience in FPGA design, silicon yield modeling, and asynchronous logic, holding multiple patents and publications in these areas.
Current Role at Achronix Semiconductor
Virantha Ekanayake serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Achronix Semiconductor, a position he has held since 2009. He has been instrumental in leading the development of advanced FPGA technologies, including the design of the Speedster22i HD1000, which is a million LUT FPGA built on Intel’s 22nm process node. His role involves overseeing the company’s technology strategy and innovation efforts in the semiconductor industry.
Education and Expertise
Ekanayake holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Dartmouth College, where he studied from 1995 to 1999. He furthered his education at Cornell University, obtaining a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, focusing on Asynchronous VLSI, from 1999 to 2005. His academic background provides a strong foundation for his expertise in electrical and computer engineering.
Research and Development Contributions
Ekanayake has conducted significant research and development in the field of reconfigurable circuits, particularly focusing on next-generation 14nm and 16nm technologies. He has addressed critical challenges such as self-heating and NBTI mitigation. His work includes the creation of a static power and performance silicon yield model using R and NumPy/Pandas/IPython, showcasing his proficiency in data analysis and modeling.
Previous Academic Positions
Before joining Achronix Semiconductor, Ekanayake was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from 2005 to 2007. He also served as a Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant at Cornell University from 1999 to 2005. His academic roles involved leading research initiatives and teaching courses related to electrical and computer engineering.
Patents and Publications
Ekanayake holds numerous patents and has published extensively in the field of asynchronous logic. His contributions to the development of multi-GHz custom and reprogrammable asynchronous logic span over 12 years. He has also headed the Asynchronous VLSI and Architecture group at Johns Hopkins University, further establishing his influence in the field.