COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND N308 Engineering Building I, Houston TX 77004

COMPUTER ENGINEERING
PHONE: (713) 743-6096
FAX: (713) 743-4444

May 25, 2016

Dear Scholarship Selection Committee,

It is my great pleasure to support the application of Mr. Praveen G. Pendyala for the “Jack and D'Ann Burke
International Scholarship" and the "Cecelia Eichenberg Memorial Scholarship” programs for 2016-2017
academic year, as a professor and Faculty Advisor at the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of
Houston.

Since Praveen joined our program in Fall 2015. He took two courses I taught, ’CMOS Analog IC Design’
and ‘RF and Microwave Electronics’. Praveen demonstrated his dedication to the profession of VLSI circuit
design through his outstanding academic performance and diligent working attitude. His sincere efforts to
get involved with professional development along with his impressive academic competency and respectful
working attitude enabled him to be selected as a Master’s Thesis student in my Integrated Circuits and
Microsystems Laboratory. He is now working on the design of a high speed optical data link circuits in
CMOS technology as his Master’s thesis. From observation of him working in the lab and interacting with
students outside of class, it is clear that he is a great team player and can build and maintain an effective and
beneficial rapport with students as well as his colleagues. He has been a really active contributor in my
classes, and constantly helped other students understand the concepts after my class. These are good
examples of worthy communication skills and talk volumes about his levels of understanding of the
coursework. Also, he has been working as a volunteer Lab Assistant in the Senior Design Lab, College of
Technology over the last semester, his work in which led him to secure a graduate assistant position during
the summer there. Finally, his ability to convince fellow students, peers, and supervisors based on data and
rational reasoning has always impressed me.

Praveen is an outstanding graduate student. He has exceptional skills in collaborating with people, including
those outside his local expertise. His communication skills, both oral and written, are excellent. He is very
dedicated to graduate studies and thesis research. I am deeply impressed by his flair and breath, his
intensity, intellect, and ability to deliver. I believe that he will become an active and contributing member of
our future electrical engineering industry and an example for other students and potential electrical engineer
professionals. I strongly recommend him for the “Jack and D'Ann Burke International Scholarship" and the
"Cecelia Eichenberg Memorial Scholarship” programs. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to
contact me.

Sincerely,

Jinghong Chen, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Director, Integrated Circuits and Systems Research Lab
Cullen College of Engineering
University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204
Tel: (713) 743-6069
Email: jinghong@uh.edu