Visionary tech innovator Dado Banatao dies at 79

Diosdado ‘Dado’ Banatao, a key determine within the semiconductor revolution, leaves behind a legacy of innovation and dedication to uplifting Filipino expertise

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino know-how pioneer Diosdado “Dado” Banatao died on Christmas Day, December 25, his son Rey confirmed in a Fb put up on Friday, December 26.

He was 79. 

Rey Banatao mentioned the Silicon Valley engineer and entrepreneur “handed peacefully…surrounded by household and pals.” He was 5 months shy of his eightieth birthday and died as a result of “problems from a neurological dysfunction” that emerged later in his life.

“We’re mourning his loss, however take consolation from the time spent with him throughout this Christmas season, and that his struggle with this illness is over,” the household mentioned, including that particulars of a celebration of Banatao’s life might be shared within the coming weeks.

Banatao’s passing was earlier publicly acknowledged by former Division of Finance secretary Cesar Purisima, who described him as “a superb engineer, visionary tech entrepreneur, and a real pleasure of the Philippines,” and emphasised that his best legacy went past know-how and into his perception in Filipino expertise.

Banatao was born on Might 23, 1946, within the municipality of Iguig in Cagayan province, to a farmer and a housekeeper. He typically spoke of rising up poor in a farming city, strolling barefoot to high school and seeing training as his method ahead.

He graduated cum laude in electrical engineering from Mapúa Institute of Know-how, and obtained his masters from Stanford College earlier than constructing a profession in the US that positioned him within the coronary heart of the semiconductor and private computing revolution.

Banatao was among the many engineers whose work helped make computer systems smaller, cheaper, and commercially viable. 

Over his profession, he contributed to main advances in semiconductors, networking, and graphics, together with early Ethernet-related chips, PC system logic, and graphics acceleration applied sciences that turned foundational to fashionable computing. 

He went on to co-found a number of influential Silicon Valley corporations, together with Mostron, Chips & Applied sciences, and S3 Graphics — whose improvements, to place it merely, made computer systems extra inexpensive and simpler to make use of, accelerating adoption.

His work at S3 Graphics was a significant affect on the event of PC graphics {hardware} that emerged within the early ‘90s. The corporate was the third most worthwhile tech firm in 1993. 

He’s credited for key improvements together with the primary single-chip, 16-bit microprocessor-based calculator; first enhanced graphics adapter chip set; pioneered native bus idea for PC; and the primary Home windows graphics accelerator chip. 

In a 2013 Rappler article, Banatao mentioned he didn’t contemplate himself an inventor however somewhat an innovator. “Innovation is extra necessary as a result of innovation implies you might be placing collectively a complete bunch of different components past that one invention. Innovation implies business,” he mentioned.

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That mindset, amongst different causes, is maybe why colleagues and profiles typically in contrast Banatao’s affect to that of Silicon Valley’s most well-known names comparable to Invoice Gates or Steve Jobs. He had a mindset that mixed engineering, programs considering, and market realities to construct merchandise that really shipped and scaled.

That philosophy formed his demanding work ethic. In a 2016 Medium interview, Banatao described pushing groups by means of lengthy hours when deadlines had been tight, insisting that leaders keep alongside their engineers somewhat than handle from a distance. 

In that interview, he mentioned: “Because the founder, I’m going round and nonetheless handle the corporate and inform the engineers, ‘Thanks for working laborious, however are you able to doing this?’ ‘Sure, I believe I can.’ ‘What do you imply I believe? This reply of ‘I believe’ doesn’t work. You higher ensure as a result of we now have a schedule to fulfill.’ The share of success could be very excessive because of this. As a CEO, inform them you’ll be there with them. That’s what builds the Valley.”

Later, Banatao transitioned into enterprise capital as a founding companion of Tallwood Enterprise Capital in 2000.

In 2011, Dado and his spouse Maria established the Philippine Growth Basis (PhilDev) and the Dado Banatao Instructional Basis, which help science, know-how, engineering, and arithmetic or STEM training, and scholarships for Filipino college students and entrepreneurs.

Banatao had been outspoken concerning the Philippines’ know-how hole. In a 2015 interview, he mentioned that many native IT applications had been less than world requirements, arguing that the nation wanted deeper engineering and innovation capabilities — not simply know-how customers, however know-how builders. And thru PhilDev, he sought to deal with that hole by creating entry to world-class training and mentorship.

“I need to see the Philippine tech business thrive earlier than I die. That’s what we’re doing with PhilDev,” he as soon as mentioned. 

The Silicon Valley pioneer additionally established the Asian Institute of Administration–Dado Banatao Incubator in 2017, and funded the Middle for Data Know-how Analysis within the Curiosity of Society and the Banatao Institute on the College of California, Berkeley, wrote Newsbytes. 

Banatao is survived by his spouse Maria and their three kids, Rey, Desi, and Tala.

His household invitations the general public to share recollections and messages by means of a memorial web site devoted in his honor.

From rural Cagayan to Silicon Valley, Banatao’s life traced a path of persistence, rigor, and perception in individuals — an affect that continues by means of the applied sciences he helped form and the generations he labored to uplift. – Rappler.com