Professor Christofer Toumazou
Winston Wong Chair in Biomedical Circuits
Director and Chief Scientist, Research Director Bionics
Professor Toumazou has made outstanding contributions to the fields of low power analogue circuit design and current mode circuits and systems for radio frequency and biomedical applications. Through his extensive record of research he has invented innovative electronic devices ranging dual mode cellular phones to ultra-low power devices for both medical diagnosis and therapy. Toumazou was made a Professor at Imperial College at 33, one of the youngest ever, in recognition of his outstanding research.
His recent pioneering research has shown how the natural analogue physics of silicon technology can be used to replace biological functions. This has enabled, for the first time, the development of the world's first totally implantable cochlear prosthetic. Work is also ongoing on the development of an artificial retina using nano-watts of power. The core technology base has an international patent and is centred around Advanced Mixed Signal Processing (AMx) invented by Toumazou.
He has published over 320 research papers in the field of RF and low power electronics. He holds 23 patents in the field many of which are now fully granted PCT.
Toumazou has been involved with a number of commercial ventures, including the invention and development of the world's first analogue and digital mobile phone for the largest mobile phone Cellular Operator in Thailand. The mobile phone was FCC approved in 2001 and mass produced for Thailand in 2001. The core technology was later applied to a totally implantable analogue cochlea prosthesis, which underwent clinical trials in September 2001. He is the founder of four technology based companies with applications spanning ultra low-power mobile technology and wireless glucose monitors (Toumaz Technology Ltd, UK), biomedical devices (Applied Bionics PTE, Singapore), Digital Audio Broadcasting (Future-Waves Pte Taiwan) and DNA Sequencing (DNA Electronics Ltd, UK). These companies employ over 50 RF low power engineers worldwide many of whom are Toumazou's ex graduate students.
Professor Toumazou is an advisor to many healthcare panels, including the Singapore Government in the field of medical devices. He is a senior Advisor to the Board of Grace Semiconductor in Taiwan, one of the largest Semiconductor Foundries in the World and Senior Advisor to Advanced Nanotech Inc. He is a member of the UK foresight committee on a report for infectious diseases as well as a member of the UK MOD Defence Strategic Advisory Committee on critical technologies. In order to realize the enormous potential of this technology, Toumazou led a campaign to raise £26 million in order to create an Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London focusing on Personalised Medicine and Bionanotechnology. This was achieved in 2003 and he became the founding Director of the new Institute.
As a result of this work, Toumazou was invited to deliver the 2003 Royal Society Clifford Patterson prize Lecture, entitled "The Bionic Man", for which he was awarded The Royal Society Clifford Patterson bronze medal. He was recently awarded the IEEE CAS Society Education Award for pioneering contributions to telecommunications and biomedical circuits and systems.
