September 19, 2024
Sehat Sutarca, a pioneer of the modern semiconductor industry, has passed away at the age of 63. The co-founder of Marvel Technology helped foster a culture of innovation at Berkeley Tech through his generous support.
Born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sutarja showed an engineering talent from an early age. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State University and a master’s degree (1985) and doctorate (1988) in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1995, Sutarja founded Marvell with his wife, Weili Dai (BA’84 CS), and his brother, Pantas Sutarja (BS’83, MS’85, Ph.D.’88 EECS), and the company has since grown into one of the world’s largest chipmakers.
Sutjara has been a passionate supporter of Berkeley Tech for nearly two decades, serving on the Engineering Advisory Board since 2006 and dedicated to advancing the university’s academic and research excellence. He has also made significant donations to Berkeley Tech, leaving a deep and lasting impact.
The construction of Starja-Dye Hall, a 141,000-square-foot building that currently houses CITRIS as well as laboratories, faculty offices, a nanofabrication lab, an auditorium, conference rooms and state-of-the-art classrooms, was made possible thanks to the generous support of Starja, Pantas Starja and Dye. Starja also contributed to the new Engineering Center, scheduled to open in spring 2025.
A more detailed obituary can be found here.
