Hans R. Camenzind

Who was Hans R. Camenzind?

Hans R. Camenzind was a Swiss electronics engineer best known for designing the 555 timer IC in 1970. He was an inventor on 20 US patents,. Hans wrote numerous books and technical articles, and lectured at the University of Santa Clara.

Hans Camenzind was born and raised in Switzerland. After college there in 1960 Camenzind moved to the United States. He received an MSEE from Northeastern University and an MBA from the University of Santa Clara. After several years doing research in the Boston area, he moved to the West Coast to join Signetics and later started his own company, Interdesign. After heading it for seven years he sold Interdesign to Ferranti. Following the sale of Interdesign, Hans was an independent design consultant in analog IC design.

During his career he wrote three textbooks, designed the first integrated class D amplifier, introduced the phase-locked loop concept to ICs, invented the semicustom IC and created the 555 timer. He had designed 140 standard and custom ICs as of 2006.

Camenzind's last book, Much Ado About Almost Nothing, a general audience book on the history of electronics, was published in February 2007. Other books in publication include Designing Analog Chips.