Microchip pioneer Jack Kilby dies

[Analog]

Edit: I still think Bob Noyce should be credited with IC discovery, since he invented the planar process - Kilby is still a great innovator and most gracious person. Sad to see him go.

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The discovery that transistors could be shrunk on to a single block of silicon paved the way for personal computers, mobile phones and microwave ovens.

Experts rank his contribution to invention alongside those of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.

It spawned a multi-billion dollar industry and earned him a Nobel Prize.

Jack Kilby grew up in Kansas and fulfilled his ambition to become an engineer at the University of Illinois.

He joined Texas Instruments soon after and made his discovery working alone in the laboratory while his colleagues enjoyed a summer vacation.

Space race

Kilby and Texas Instruments were the first to patent the new transistor but his rival Bob Noyce is widely credited with making it possible to mass produce it.

Mr Noyce went on to co-found Intel with Gordon Moore.

The first circuit built by Mr Kilby was about half the size of a paper clip. It is now possible to squeeze about 100 million transistors in the same space.

Part of the drive to develop an integrated circuit was the space race with the Soviet Union.

The invention led Texas Instrument to win a contract to supply chips for the Minuteman rocket.

Mr Kilby retired from Texas Instruments in 1983 although he continued to be a consultant and the firm's research complex is named after him.

During his career Mr Kilby earned more than 60 patents, won the National Medal of Science and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4118874.stm

 

[sohcrates]

They both apparently give credit to each other as "co-inventors" (at least now), so it's cool.

He was a good man

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

i'd like to see more recognition go to modern scientists/engineers for their great inventions. People grow up learning that Einstein, Edison, and Ford and a few others are the only people who have contributed to the technological advancement of society.

So many kids grow up these days with their computers, cell phones, fast cars, etc. that they have no idea of the work that went into them, no respect for the people who spend their lives making the world a better pace through technology, and will grow up to be over-consuming bums that don't do anything but make money off of the hard work of others, like America is already full of.
\rant

 

[jalaram]

Originally posted by: yellowfiero
Edit: I still think Bob Noyce should be credited with IC discovery, since he invented the planar process - Kilby is still a great innovator and most gracious person. Sad to see him go.

According to your BBC link:

Kilby and Texas Instruments were the first to patent the new transistor but his rival Bob Noyce is widely credited with making it possible to mass produce it.

He will be missed.

 

[jalaram]

Originally posted by: iwantanewcomputer
i'd like to see more recognition go to modern scientists/engineers for their great inventions. People grow up learning that Einstein, Edison, and Ford and a few others are the only people who have contributed to the technological advancement of society.

So many kids grow up these days with their computers, cell phones, fast cars, etc. that they have no idea of the work that went into them, no respect for the people who spend their lives making the world a better pace through technology, and will grow up to be over-consuming bums that don't do anything but make money off of the hard work of others, like America is already full of.
\rant

How many people know who invented the TV? How many know the impact of Tesla to everyday life?

 

[Analog]

In 1959 both parties applied for patents. Jack Kilby and Texas Instruments received U.S. patent #3,138,743 for miniaturized electronic circuits. Robert Noyce and the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation received U.S. patent #2,981,877 for a silicon based integrated circuit. The two companies wisely decided to cross license their technologies after several years of legal battles, creating a global market now worth about $1 trillion a year.

 

[sixone]

Mr. Kilby grew up in Great Bend, Kansas. He's quite a local hero, since he won the Nobel prize.

 

[Heisenberg]

I saw him talk at a convention I was at back in 2000. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to meet him.

 

[PottedMeat]

i think he spoke at UT austin ~3 years ago at the ACES building, i caught a bit of his talk televised on the flatscreen in the ENS lobby