Lasting Memories

Nick Moll
Oct. 4, 1946-Aug. 6, 2011
La Honda, California

Nicolas J. Moll died Saturday, Aug. 6, at the age of 64 in Palo Alto, California. He was born Oct. 4, 1946, in Columbus, Ohio, the oldest child of three born to John and Isabel Moll. He graduated from Palo Alto High School and studied engineering the University of Louvain in Belgium, then went on to get his BSEE, MSEE and PhD at Stanford University.

Nick was a visionary industrial scientist at the forefront of semiconductor research at Hewlett Packard Labs and Agilent Labs. He held 13 patents in transistor materials and methods, and was honored as both an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Fellow and an Agilent Fellow. He authored over 30 articles on semiconductors, in fields as diverse as fiber optics and LEDs. Nick served for six years as the editor on compound semiconductor devices for "IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices." In 2006 he received the Agilent Labs Barney Oliver Award, which recognizes outstanding technical contributions that demonstrate creativity, innovation, technical depth, synergy, and business value.

Nick began his career working as a technician at Hewlett Packard in the late 1960s while an undergraduate at Stanford. In 1970 he joined the technical staff at Hewlett Packard Labs where he eventually became a project manager. Nick's profound theoretical insight coupled with the practical experience of having been a technician formed the foundation for his ground-breaking contributions in industrial research. In addition he was an inspiring team leader who enabled team members to give their best. "Nick accepts our ideas, our problems, and even our errors with serious, thoughtful attention, with constructive guidance, and without being judgmental. Consequently, we feel free to take risks with Nick, to bring Nick our crazy ideas, and to seek Nick's counsel."

The Barney Oliver Prize was awarded to Nick for development of the device design and fabrication methods for a Gallium Arsenide Antimonide (GaAsSb)/Indium Phosphide (InP) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT). "The performance of gallium arsenide HBT technology was good, but it wasn't going to get much better," said Nick when he won the award. "I was looking around for some sort of technology for ICs (integrated circuits) that would make a really big difference in a variety of ways and improve performance by at least a factor of two."

"He was also one of the first in the industry to recognize the value of an unconventional choice for the material used to create the base of the transistor," said Jim Hollenhorst, Director of Agilent's Molecular Technology Lab. Don D'Avanzo, Project Manager at Agilent's High Frequency Technology Center in Santa Rosa adds, "The technologies that Nick initiated in Labs and transferred to Santa Rosa now leverage a major fraction of Agilent's Electronics Measurement Group revenue, which totaled $2.4 B in 2010. Nick had a rare blend of theoretical smarts that could foresee technology needs well into the future and an appreciation of the practical barriers that must be overcome to transfer a technology to manufacturing. I had the privilege of working closely with Nick on several of these transfers. It was a pleasure to collaborate with him and experience his exceptional knowledge, patience and wit."

An avid outdoorsman, Nick was passionate about land conservation. His keen perception and deep appreciation of the natural world were an inspiration. He enjoyed hiking, mushroom hunting, trail running, skate skiing and backpacking in the Sierras and Uinta Mountains. Self-taught in construction, he built his own cabin at Serene Lakes in 1990, and recently enjoyed improving his home in the Santa Cruz Mountains. His delight in gardening led to epic battles with gophers and moles, worthy of the film "Caddyshack." His broad reading belied his image as a button-down engineer, and his self-effacing sense of humor made for delightful conversation with his family, friends and colleagues to the very end.

Nick is survived by his wife Barbara Bekins of La Honda, California, Benjamin Moll of Davis, California and Diana Moll of Santa Cruz, California.