About

Goal

The goal of the Foundation is to contribute to the fusion of scientific and engineering research. To provide a concrete paradigm, it fosters university cross-disciplinary research projects in which at least one discipline is related to analog or mixed analog-digital integrated circuit design and analysis. Preference is given to projects that help diffuse such work geographically. The research support provided by the Foundation is in the form of grants.

History

The Catalyst Foundation was established on November 4, 1992 under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code in the State of Texas. Since its inception as a private foundation in which the endowment was donated by Dr. Kunio Suyama, a co-founder of OYO Corporation in Japan, the Catalyst Foundation has been actively engaging in the decompartmentalization of scientific and engineering research through funding activities to university projects that are cross-disciplinary in nature. The mission was first drafted by Professor Yannis Tsividis of Columbia University whose inclusionary vision resonated with Kunio Suyama and appealed to his philanthropic nature.

The Foundation’s initial mission has been faithfully implemented through various research projects. In 1998, the Board of Trustees expanded the Foundation’s scope slightly to include charitable contributions to GeoHazards International (GHI). GHI was established in 1993 as a nonprofit organization whose mission is to reduce death and injury caused by earthquakes in the world’s most vulnerable communities by employing cross-disciplinary scientific and engineering means.

The Foundation continues to retain the original mission while it is actively adjusting its focus to ever-changing society needs.

Officers

　Ken Suyama　

President

Yoshihiko Horio

Vice President

William H. Caudill

Secretary

Hatsumi Suyama

Treasurer

Board of Trustees

Ken Suyama

President, Epoch Microelectronics, Inc.

Ken Suyama is the President and co-founder of Epoch Microelectronics, Inc. Prior to founding Epoch, Dr. Suyama served Columbia University as a Research Scientist and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Dr. Suyama’s technical interests covers all facets of analog and radio frequency (RF) integrated circuitry including RF integrated circuits, data converters, CAD for switched-capacitor circuits, RF MEMS, etc.

Dr. Suyama is also President of the Board of Trustees for the Catalyst Foundation, which fosters doctoral level inter-disciplinary university research that incorporates the area of electrical engineering. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE).

Ken Suyama holds both M.S. (’82) and Ph.D. (’89) degrees in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Davis in 1980.

Yoshihiko Horio

Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University

Yoshihiko Horio is currently a Professor with Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University.

He was a Professor with the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Technology at Tokyo Denki University until March 2016.

During April 1992 through March 1994, he was a visiting professor at Center for Telecommunications Research, Columbia University, New York, U.S.A.

His current research interests are in the area of mixed analog/digital VISI circuit design, brainware, chaos computation and engineering, nonlinear dynamics, and neural networks.

Yoshihiko Horio holds M.E. (’84) and Ph.D. (’87) degrees in Electrical Engineering from Keio University, Yokohama, Japan.

William H. Caudill

Partner of the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., Houston, Texas

Bill Caudill, who practices in Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.’s Houston office, has a general tax practice, involving partnerships, oil and gas, real estate and tax-exempt organizations and work with the Internal Revenue Service.

Mr. Caudill has chaired the State Bar of Texas’ Section on Taxation and the ABA Tax Section’s Committee on Partnerships and LLCs. He has served as a member of the Council of the ABA Tax Section, and he is nominated to serve as Vice Chair (Professional Services) of the ABA Tax Section. He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.　Listed in Who’s Who in America, The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers and Partners USA. He was named as a “Top 100 Houston Region Super Lawyer” in Law & Politics in 2003 and 2004. Mr. Caudill has also been named a “Texas Super Lawyer” in Tax Law from 2003 to present.

Mr. Caudill received a B.S.B.A. in 1973 from the University of Arkansas and an M.P.A. in 1977 and a J.D. in 1978 from The University of Texas, where he was a member of the Texas Law Review, Chancellors and the Order of the Coif. He was admitted to practice law in Texas in 1978.

His civic involvement includes General Counsel, Greater Houston Community Foundation; Board Member, Sam Houston Council; Boy Scouts of America; Board Member, First Methodist Church Foundation, Elgin, Texas.

Shigeko K. Woolfalk

Financial & Operations Manager and Legal Assistant at Law Offices of H. B. Woolfalk & Associates, PC

Financial & Operations Manager at Passing Lane Sports Management

Shigeko K. Woolfalk is the Financial & Operations Manager and Legal Assistant at Law Offices of H. B. Woolfalk & Associates, PC, and the Financial & Operations Manager at Passing Lane Sports Management.

From 1983 to 1996, she was a Media Consultant to WNYC telecasting division of WNYC Foundation. From 1978 to 1981, she was with Law Offices of Anderson, Mori & Rabinowitz, Tokyo, Japan as a Foreign Associate Attorney.

Ms. Woolfalk is currently serving on the Board of Trustees of the Frost Valley YMCA and the Advisory Board of the Tokyo-Frost Valley YMCA Partnership. She served various other volunteer positions such as two 2-year terms on the Advisory Council on Cable Television for the Village of Scarsdale 1997-2001; two 2-year terms on the Advisory Council on Human Relations for the Village of Scarsdale 1992-1996; Steering Committee member, Scarsdale Japan Festival 1995; various PTA committee positions at Scarsdale School District, including After School Programs, Cultural Arts, International Families and Safety.