"The ones who succeed are the ones who persevere...

"

Diosdado Banatao, Computer Chips

Diosdado’s life story exhibits perseverance, hope,

determination, and the power of self-belief. The son of a farmer in
Cagayan, Diosdado would walk barefoot just to complete his high
school education. His resilience made him a Magna Cum Laude
graduate in electrical engineering.
His excellence in the academe paved the way for Diosdado
to become a pilot-trainee at the Philippines Airlines or PAL, which
would eventually open doors for a design engineer position at
Boeing Co. The opportunity brought Diosdado to the US where he
completed a master’s degree in electrical engineering and
computer science at Stanford University.
Diosdado’s experience working with the top technology
companies led to his design of the first single-chip 16-bit
microprocessor calculator. By 1981, Diosdado was commissioned
by Seeq Technologies to assist the Ethernet to find an efficient
way of linking computers. Disodado designed the single- chip
controller that provided data-link control and the transceiver in
the first 10-bit Ethernet CMOS.
His success opened doors to build his own company,
Monstroni, in 1985 and Chips and Technology, which made US$ 12
million in the first quarter alone. By 1996, Diosdado sold Chips and
Technology to Intel for US$ 430 million!
Throughout his success, Diosdado never forgot his roots
and Filipino heritage. He set up the Banatao Filipino American
Fund to lend support to Filipino American students in Northern
California who aspire to become electrical engineers.