Noren Pan’s journey from UND to global tech leader.
Noren Pan, ’82, HON ’25, cofounder and president of MicroLink Devices, has built a
career advancing technologies that shape how the world navigates, communicates, and
connects. His company’s semiconductor components power everything from smartphones
to satellites.
In recent years, MicroLink has also made breakthroughs in lightweight, flexible solar
cells – technology that could revolutionize unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), spacecraft,
and terrestrial systems. These advances have the potential to improve disaster monitoring,
expand internet access to remote areas, produce cleaner energy, and enable longer
missions in space.
Noren’s Path
Originally from Cambodia, Noren came to the United States with his mother and siblings
in 1974, shortly before its government collapsed and Cambodia fell under communist
rule.
Then-UND President Tom Clifford knew Pan’s father, who was Cambodia’s Secretary of
Education before the communist takeover. He invited Pan’s family to settle in Grand
Forks in 1975.
Pan graduated from Grand Forks Central High School and earned his Electrical Engineering
degree from UND before completing a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
He worked as a scientist at Raytheon Research and Kopin Corporation. At both companies,
he helped develop transistors for cell phone applications. He launched MicroLink Devices
in 2002.
In the decades since, MicroLink has grown into a leader in both semiconductor and
solar cell technology.
Connected to UND
Pan maintains ties to UND. In 2023, he helped the University launch the annual Stratospheric
Operations and Research Symposium, which brings together global aerospace and government
leaders to advance high-altitude platforms and technologies. The event focuses on
developing the technology to further advance long-duration aerial operations in the
stratosphere.
In May 2025, Pan received an honorary Doctor of Letters from UND and told graduates:
“There’s always somebody that will make a difference to your life—we just don’t know
where that person comes from… You have to go out and meet that person, and meet the
decision maker, in order to be successful.”
Pan follows his own advice. While attending a UND hockey game with President Andrew
Armacost, he asked for an introduction to the U.S. Space Development Agency. That
interaction eventually led to SDA funding for a MicroLink manufacturing facility.
A senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a 2007
inductee into the Chicago Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame, Pan shows no signs of slowing
down—still pursuing the next breakthrough.
