Dr. Valdes-Garcia is the winner of the 2005 Best Doctoral Thesis Award presented by the IEEE Test Technology Technical Council (TTTC), the recipient of the 2007 National Youth Award for Outstanding Academic Achievements, presented by the President of Mexico, a co-recipient of the 2010 George Smith Award presented by the IEEE Electron Devices Society, a co-recipient of the 2017 Lewis Winner Award for Outstanding Paper, presented by the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, and a co-recipient of the 2017 IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits Best Paper Award. In 2013, he was selected by the National Academy of Engineering for its Frontiers of Engineering Symposium and in 2015 for its German-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium.

He currently serves in the Inaugural Editorial Board of the IEEE Journal of Microwaves and is the Chair of the IEEE MTT-S Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Integrated Circuits Committe.