Marking the 50th anniversary of the integrated circuit (IC), Dallas-based semiconductor giant Texas Instruments Inc (TI) launched it’s new "Kilby Labs," to be a center of innovation for fostering creative ideas for breakthrough semiconductor technology and built on IC inventor Jack Kilby's legacy of revolutionizing our lives through chip innovation.

The labs will be built on TI's Dallas North Campus and is inspired by the original TI lab, where Kilby first designed the chip that opened the door to 3G cell phones, portable ultrasound machines and automotive antilock braking systems, the company noted.

The facility aims to bring university researchers and leading TI engineers together to discover and develop life-changing opportunities for semiconductor technology, ranging from new ways to make health care more mobile to harnessing new power sources to enabling more fuel-efficient vehicles

Researchers at the Kilby Labs will focus on developing chip advances that make a difference, TI said in a statement today.

"All of us at TI believe that technologies that significantly impact our lives are the right technologies for our business. The power to help make the world healthier, safer, greener and more fun is what gets us excited about chip innovation, and why we come to work every day at TI. It's what motivated Jack Kilby to build the first IC and why he was able to transform the world through his ideas and inventions,” commented Rich Templeton (pictured right), TI chairman and CEO, during the launch celebration held today at the Semiconductor Building on TI's North Campus.

Further, Gregg Lowe, TI senior VP and the project's executive sponsor said, "Our vision for Kilby Labs is that it will combine TI's experience in developing new chip technologies and our understanding of customer needs with the dreams of a new generation of innovators. Technology springs from imagination, and we want to create an environment where people can both imagine a better world and help build it. The best way we can celebrate Jack's contributions is by providing people with the opportunity to carry on his work and find new ways for a tiny chip to dramatically improve millions of lives around the world."

To serve as director of its Kilby Labs, TI has named Ajith Amerasekera as director. Amerasekera is a TI Fellow who joined the company in 1991 and holds a PhD in electrical engineering and physics. He previously served as CTO for TI's ASIC division, holds 28 issued patents and is author of four books on semiconductors.

TI is also honoring Kilby's life and legacy with a variety of events meant to showcase his unique vision within the world of engineering and his creative expression through photography:

• Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University, Dallas: Jack Kilby: The Eye of Genius - Photographs by the Inventor of the Microchip will run through September 21. The exhibit displays several artifacts, such as a collection of Kilby's photography, his original notebook of sketches and ideas for the integrated circuit, his Nobel Prize in Physics, the world's first microchip and the first handheld calculator.

• The Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas: A microchip mini-exhibit will run through October 19. The display features items from the TI archives in contrast to their modern form, along with video footage.

• TI Headquarters: The original lab where Kilby worked and made his significant discovery of the first integrated circuit has been recreated onsite. The recreated lab will inspire future inventors and serve as a visual reminder of the power of science and technology combined with creativity.

• Great Bend, Kansas: TI has made a donation toward Jack Kilby's memorial statue in his hometown of Great Bend, Kansas.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) also lauded the 50th anniversary of the IC today. George Scalise, president of the SIA said in a statement, “Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first public demonstration of Jack Kilby’s integrated circuit – a critical milestone for an industry that will surpass $265 billion in sales this year.”

“Fifty years ago, Jack Kilby was a young engineer working in a Texas Instruments research lab in Dallas, Texas. As a recent hire, Kilby had little accrued vacation time and was working virtually alone through the summer months while most of his colleagues were on vacation. Kilby used the relative quiet of the nearly empty lab to address a problem that had long plagued the electronics industry: how to interconnect the thousands of tiny transistors on virtually every circuit board in every electronic system. Kilby’s solution was simplicity itself. He connected a transistor and other components on a tiny sliver of germanium less than inch in length. He called the device an integrated circuit,” he continued.

“In the ensuing half century since Kilby’s invention, the integrated circuit has proved to be the single most important driver of increased productivity and economic growth in history. The integrated circuit provides the critical technology for countless electronic devices that enable people everywhere to lead more productive lives,” Scalise went on.

Jack Kilby’s contribution was recognized in 2000 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

“Always a modest and generous man, Kilby took the opportunity of receiving his Nobel Prize to recognize the contributions of the late Robert N. Noyce for his invention of the planar integrated circuit in 1959. Our world owes a great debt of gratitude to Jack Kilby for a brilliant invention that has enhanced the standard of living of people everywhere,” Scalise concluded.

Kilby passed away in June 2005.

By: DocMemory
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