The SPIE, a international society for optics and photonics, has announced Shilong Zhang as the recipient of the 2026 Nick Cobb Memorial Scholarship Award. Zhang, a graduate student at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), will receive $10,000 towards his M.S.-PhD in Electrical Engineering. The award is jointly funded by Siemens EDA and SPIE, and is given to an outstanding graduate student studying advanced lithography or a related field.
Zhang is an SPIE Student Member who has attended SPIE conferences and has received several awards, including the Photronics Best Student Award and the ISE President Best Paper Award. He will be presenting his research on “Etch proximity correction for curvilinear layout: Curve sampling with ML etch bias model” at the SPIE Advanced Lithography and Patterning conference.
The Nick Cobb Memorial Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding graduate student who is studying advanced lithography or a related field. The award is named after Nick Cobb, an SPIE Senior Member and Chief Engineer at Mentor Graphics (now Siemens EDA), who made groundbreaking contributions to optical and process proximity correction for IC manufacturing.
The award funding can be used to support tuition and fees, textbooks, supplies, and equipment required for courses of instruction. Along with the $10,000 scholarship, recipients are also provided travel support by Siemens EDA to receive the award at the SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning conference.
The collaboration between Siemens EDA and SPIE brings together industry leadership and the global lithography research community to honor the legacy of Nick Cobb through a meaningful investment in future talent. The award aims to attract and retain top talent to the field of advanced lithography, reinforce the importance of strong industry-academia collaboration, and provide recipients with visibility and connections in the global lithography community.
Siemens EDA is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services, and award-winning support for the world’s most successful electronic, semiconductor, and systems companies. SPIE, on the other hand, is a international society that brings engineers, scientists, students, and business professionals together to advance light-based science and technology.
The Nick Cobb Memorial Scholarship is a prestigious award that recognizes outstanding graduate students in the field of advanced lithography. Previous winners and eligibility for future applicants can be found on the SPIE website. The award is a testament to the importance of investing in future talent and promoting collaboration between industry and academia.