Illinois ECE Explorations

Join us for a new Explorations that will include an alumni panel covering Engineering Careers in Law.

Panelists:
Sharon Hwang, BSEE '90 
Shareholder, Buchanan
https://www.bipc.com/sharon-hwang

Joseph Barich, BSEE '94, MS '96
President, Barich IP Law Group
Adjunct Professor, Illinois College of Law | Lecturer, Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC)
https://www.barichip.com/profiles.html

Michael Anderson, BSEE '06, MS '09, MBA '19
Vice President, Legal & Deputy General Counsel, indie Semiconductor
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andersonmichaeld

PANELIST BIOS:

Sharon Hwang
Sharon is a skilled and sophisticated intellectual property attorney with more than 30 years of experience. She practices in all areas of IP law with a particular emphasis on patent litigation. 

A dedicated and hands-on courtroom advocate for clients, Sharon has tried and litigated dozens of cases and briefed and argued numerous appeals. She has successfully represented parties in high-stakes patent litigation in federal district courts, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. Notably, Sharon led a team of attorneys in securing one of the largest enhanced damages awards in patent history, a $254 million judgment in favor of her client following appeals to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Sharon has also successfully briefed and argued numerous inter partes reviews before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. 

Sharon helps clients maximize the value of their intellectual property and protect their investments in research and development. In her full-service IP practice, she offers training on IP protection issues and how to mitigate risk. She supports clients in IP strategy and the development of patent programs. She also supports clients on trade secret and copyright matters. She has extensive experience in a range of technologies, from medical devices, electronics, and cellular telephony to food & beverages and biosimilars. 

Joe Barich
Joe has been a patent attorney for more than 25 years.  He practiced at a large IP specialty firm for 15 years before founding Barich IP Law Group 13 years ago.  Joe also enjoys teaching students in at the U of I, where he has taught in the law school since 2005 and the college of engineering since 2010.

Michael Anderson
Michael Anderson (Illinois BS ’06, MS ’09, MBA ’19, non-Illinois JD ‘13) is currently Deputy General Counsel at indie Semiconductor.  At indie, he oversees the intellectual property, commercial, export control, and cyber security legal functions.  indie develops semiconductor and phonics devices for the automotive and adjacent industries.  Indie’s product offerings include automotive radar and computer vision chipsets as well as laser light sources.

Prior to indie, he ran the intellectual property function at Ubiquiti Networks.  His legal career began in Chicago at McDonnell, Boehnen, Hulbert, and Berghoff LLP.  Michael worked as an engineer at Motorola between his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.