Dr. Lao received his B.S. degree in Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles, with Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa Honors, as well as the Kinsey award for outstanding senior in Physics. He received his M.A. and Ph.D in Physics from Princeton University in 1971. Dr. Lao serves as technical advisor and program manager for many Sierra Monolithics programs.

Prior to founding Sierra Monolithics, from 1980 to 1986, he served as manager of the Microelectronics Department at Magnavox. He directed development programs for GaAs ICs and ultra-stable surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) oscillators for satellite communication and navigation applications.

Prior to Magnavox, Dr. Lao was involved in sensor development and instrumentation at Bendix/Allied Signal and Dow Chemical. He has authored scores of articles and patents on solid-state physics, sensors, and circuits.