Distinguished Engineer Citations

                 

Harry L. Tredennick, III

Distinguished Engineer

1997

Degree

Electrical Engineering – 1968

 

Citation

At Time of Nomination in 1997

"Nick" Tredennick graduated from Texas Tech University in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He received a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1970 from Texas Tech University; and received his doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering in 1976 from the University of Texas–Austin.

In 1970, Dr. Tredennick was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on active duty in the United States Air Force and entered Undergraduate Pilot Training. He graduated at the top of his class academically and was assigned as a pilot in a C130 squadron. In 1972, he left active duty to return to school, but continued to serve as a pilot with the Air Force Reserve, and later with the Air National Guard. He was awarded an Air Medal while flying ski-equipped C–130s out of Schenectady, New York on Arctic resupply missions in Greenland. In 1986, he transferred to the Naval Reserve, where he became an Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer. He was recently selected for promotion to Captain and is currently the Commanding Officer of a Naval Air Systems Command unit.

Dr. Tredennick joined Motorola’s Integrated Circuits Division as a senior design engineer in 1977. While at Motorola, he did the logic design and microcode for the MC68000 microprocessor, which became the central processing unit for Apple’s Macintosh computer and numerous workstations. In 1979, he joined IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center as a research staff member, where he designed the Micro/370 microprocessor. While on sabbatical leave from IBM to teach at the University of California at Berkeley, he wrote Microprocessor Logic Design, a textbook used at several major universities. In 1987, he left IBM to become a founder and Director of Product Development for Nexgen Microsystems, a company that went public in 1995. He was later Chief Scientist at Altera Corporation, and has held various positions at several startup companies.

Dr. Tredennick is a member of the prestigious Army Science Board, a federal advisory board which counsels the Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Army on science and technology matters. He is a contributing editor for Microprocessor Report and on the editorial board of Microprocessors and Microsystems. He also serves on the committee for the Asilomar Mircrocomputer Workshop. He is a computer engineering accreditation visitor for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and serves on the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Eta Kappa Nu, and other professional organizations, and was elected a Fellow of the IEEE for his contributions in microprocessor design. He was elected a member of the Texas Tech Electrical Engineering Academy in 1994. He holds nine patents in microprocessor design and reconfigurable computing and has published dozens of technical papers. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Texas.

His interests include: microprocessors, technology trends, reconfigurable computing, public speaking, nerd humor, military vehicles, and engine rebuilding.

Dr. Tredennick is married to the former Sue Muneoka who hails from Honolulu, Hawaii.

It is in recognition of his achievements that Texas Tech names Nick Tredennick a DISTINGUISHED ENGINEER.

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