March 29, 2021 At GlobalFoundries, the title of Master Inventor is reserved for colleagues with at least 20 issued U.S. patents and who have a demonstrated track record of technical accomplishments and intellectual property (IP) asset creation. The program is a powerful platform for honoring prolific employees as well as motivating other employees who may have been thinking about submitting their inventions for patenting. Along with inspiring and mentoring their colleagues, Master Inventors serve as advisors and are a resource for GF’s technology leaders and legal team on a range of technical, strategic, and IP topics. We spoke with GF Master Inventor Yan Ping Shen, on our Malta team, to learn about the process of inventing and get a closer look at the spirit of innovation at GF. Q: Yan Ping, please give a brief introduction about yourself. Yan Ping: I am currently a Senior Member of the Technical Staff with the Integration Team. I have been with GlobalFoundries for 16 years. I started with GF in Singapore in 2005. I moved to Dresden for a one-year training and then came to Malta in 2011. Since being with GF, I have always been in Process Integration. How did you feel when you found out about becoming a Master Inventor? It is my honor to be one of the Master Inventors! It certainly motivates me to work harder. What role does patenting play in your career? How has it changed you? My technical leadership. It motivates me to think more about generating more ideas. I am also a patent reviewer on GF’s FinFET Patent Development Committee. Since joining, I think about why and how submitters come up with these ideas. Different people have different and brilliant ideas to resolve the same issue. How do you come up with ideas? I am actively involved in discussions with fellow inventors and think about alternative technical solutions. We find issues, and form a team to discuss alternative solutions. What do you think is a critical component of being an inventor? Having novel ideas, willing to have active discussions with peer inventors, encouraging others to participate in discussions. Everyone needs to be involved. The more experienced inventors can encourage juniors to be involved also. What advice would you give to new inventors? No matter what stage of your career you are in, don’t be afraid to speak up, lack of experience doesn’t mean anything. Be involved, no matter what. Take an active role in discussions. Also, it helps to do lots of article research, to try to solve a problem. When you are not submitting patents or reviewing patents, what do you do for fun? I enjoy marathon running. I train every day and look forward to being able to race in marathons again.
