Paul Jacobs, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Qualcomm Inc., will join JPL Director Charles Elachi in sharing their vision for the future of telecommunications in Caltech’s Beckman Institute Auditorium.

Jacobs has been a leader in the field of mobile communications for nearly two decades and a key architect of Qualcomm's strategic vision. He joined Qualcomm as a full-time employee in 1990. He became CEO in July 2005 and was appointed chairman in 2009, and his responsibilities include leadership and oversight of all the company's initiatives and operations. Jacobs chairs the World Economic Forum's Future of Mobile Communications council and serves on the advisory boards of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering and the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Jacobs received his bachelor's (1984) and master's (1986) degrees, as well as his doctorate (1989), in electrical engineering from UC Berkeley.

Qualcomm was born in July 1985, when seven industry veterans, including JPL employees, came together in the den of Dr. Irwin Jacobs' San Diego home to discuss an idea. Those visionaries decided they wanted to build “Quality Communications” and outlined a plan that has evolved into one of the telecommunications industry's greatest start-up success stories: Qualcomm Inc. Qualcomm believes that research and development is the key to harnessing the power of imagination.

Following the presentations, Babak Hassibi, professor of electrical engineering and executive officer for electrical engineering, and associate director of information science and technology at Caltech, will lead the group discussion.

<B>Presented by Caltech’s Division of Engineering and Applied Science</B>