| Table of Contents | About Engineering Outlook | Write to Us | Next Article |
|
Engineering
Outlook |
|
|
"I’m
pleased to have had even a small part in helping turn the potential of
human creativity into practical reality." |
Award Winning Performances |
 |
|
Give an inventor time to think about an interesting problem, and the results might change the world. In 1958, when summer vacations emptied the Texas Instruments building, Jack Kilby (BS ’47) took advantage of the quiet period to tackle what was commonly termed the "tyranny of numbers" problem. Although people were beginning to envision electronic equipment, the vacuum tube technology that dominated the electronics industry made building that equipment impractical: it would require too many parts, be too big, too heavy, too expensive, and use too much power. Over the next few weeks, Kilby developed an idea for a small, integrated circuit. Ideas became sketches, which were turned into test units. By September, he demonstrated a working unit with one transistor and other components on a slice of germanium about 7/16 by 1/16 inch. For this idea and invention, Kilby was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics. Sharing the prize with Kilby were Zhores Alferov, A. F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Herbert Kroemer, University of California at Santa Barbara. The Nobel Assembly at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited the researchers for laying "the foundations of modern information technology, IT, particularly through their invention of rapid transistors, laser diodes, and integrated circuits (chips)." Kilby maintains ties with the College of Engineering and has credited the university with providing a foundation for his work. The high standards, rigorous coursework, and state-of-the-art research programs that make life challenging for students also ensure that they are prepared to be successful. They learn from some of the top minds in the world. For instance, two-time Nobel Prize winner John Bardeen, a professor in electrical engineering and physics from 1951 until his death in 1991, was considered one of the 20th century’s greatest minds. Bardeen’s 1956 Nobel Prize, shared with two other scientists, was for work at Bell Laboratories that led to the development of the transistor. A second Nobel Prize in 1972, awarded to Bardeen and colleagues Leon Cooper and J. R. Schrieffer, acknowledged his work at the University of Illinois to elucidate and develop the theory of superconductivity. A testament to a continued commitment to quality, nearly 50 College of Engineering faculty members have been named to the national academies, one of the highest honors that can be accorded a scientist or engineer. National Academy of Engineering National Academy of Arts and Sciences National
Academy of Engineering,
www.nas.edu (announced in late February) National
Academy of Sciences,
www.nas.edu (elected in April)
American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, www.amacad.org *Retired or emeritus status. |
||
Produced
by the Engineering Publications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Material may not be reproduced without permission.
Please email the editor or phone
217-244-4438.
| Next Article |
College
of Engineering
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign