Biography

Avesta Sasan is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Davis. He received the B.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of California, Irvine in 2005, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UC Irvine in 2006 and 2010, respectively.

From 2010 to 2014, he was with Broadcom (Office of the CTO), contributing to the physical design and implementation of ARM processors, including timing signoff and signal/power integrity signoff. In 2014, he joined Qualcomm’s VLSI Technology organization, where he developed methodologies and in-house EDA tools for accurate signoff and analysis of hardened ASIC solutions. From 2016 to 2021, he served as an Associate Professor at George Mason University. He joined UC Davis in 2021 and has been a Professor since 2024.

His research interests include hardware security and trust, hardware for machine learning, energy-efficient learning and inference, and system-level optimization for resource-constrained and high-performance platforms.

Teaching

Scheduled Teaching
Previous Teaching
  • Winter 2026

    EEC 116 — VLSI Design

  • Winter 2026

    EEC 175A — IoT Senior Design A

  • Spring 2026

    EEC 175B — IoT Senior Design B

  • Spring 2026

    EEC 289Q — Hardware for Machine Learning

  • Spring 2025

    EEC 118 — Digital IC Design

  • Winter 2025

    EEC 116 — VLSI Design

  • Winter 2025

    EEC 175B — IoT Senior Design B

  • Fall 2024

    EEC 175A — IoT Senior Design A

  • Fall 2024

    EEC 289Q — HW for Machine Learning

  • Winter 2024

    EEC 175B — IoT Senior Design B

  • Fall 2023

    EEC 175A — IoT Senior Design A

  • Fall 2023

    EEC 289Q — HW for Machine Learning

  • Spring 2023

    EEC 289Q — Computer Engineering (Hardware Security)

  • Winter 2023

    EEC 193B — Senior Design Project

  • Fall 2022

    EEC 193A — Senior Design Project

  • Spring 2022

    EEC 193B — Senior Design Project (IoT Part 2)

  • Spring 2022

    EEC 289Q — Computer Engineering (Hardware Security)

  • Winter 2022

    EEC 193A — Senior Design Project (IoT Part 1)

  • Winter 2022

    EEC 289Q — Computer Engineering (IoT)

  • Fall 2020

    ECE 505 — Hardware Security and Trust / IoT

  • Spring 2019

    ECE 508 — Internet of Things

  • Fall 2018

    ECE 511 — Microprocessors

  • Spring 2018

    ECE 445 — Computer Organization

  • Fall 2017

    ECE 499 — Internet of Things

  • Spring 2017

    ECE 611 — Advanced Microprocessors

  • Spring 2016

    ECE 611 — Advanced Microprocessors

  • Fall 2013

    EECS119 — Digital Integrated Circuits (UCI)

  • Fall 2012

    EECS170D — VLSI (UCI)

  • Fall (year N/A)

    EECS112L — Computer Architecture Lab (UCI)

Work History

2024–PresentProfessorUC Davis · ECE
2021–2024Associate ProfessorUC Davis · ECE
2016–2021Associate ProfessorGeorge Mason University · ECE
2014–2016Sr. ScientistQualcomm · VLSI Technology
2012–2014Senior ScientistBroadcom · Office of CTO
2010–2012ScientistBroadcom · Office of CTO

Selected Professional Appointments

  • 2026–2027

    Tutorial Chair

    ISEDA

  • 2023–Present

    Steering Committee

    IEEE Dallas Circuits and Systems Conference

  • 2022–2023

    Program Chair

    IEEE Dallas Circuits and Systems Conference

  • 2022–Present

    Steering Committee

    Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI

  • 2022

    General Chair

    Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI

  • 2021

    Technical Program Chair

    Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI

  • 2021

    Associate Chair of Research

    ECE Department, George Mason University

  • 2017–2021

    Technical Program Committee

    Hardware Oriented Security and Trust (HOST)

  • 2018–2021

    Organizing Committee

    Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI

  • 2016–2019

    Organizing Committee

    Hardware Oriented Security and Trust (HOST)

  • 2018–2020

    Technical Program Committee

    Design Automation Conference (DAC)

  • 2016–2019

    Technical Program Committee

    International Conference on Computer Design (ICCD)

  • 2016

    Industry Panel Chair

    IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM)

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