Carver Andress Mead

Carver A. Mead is the Gordon and Betty Moore Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering. Mead is also a recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2002). Mead's pioneering work in the fields of solid-state electronics and the management of complexity in the design of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits, was a leading force in the development of a design methodology for VLSI. This field has seen a merger of semiconductor and computer technologies. His later work emphasized the construction of silicon models of neural systems. Mead and Lynn Conway co-wrote the landmark text Introduction to VLSI systems in 1980, an important spearhead of the Mead & Conway revolution. A pioneering and well-written textbook, it has been used in VLSI integrated circuit education all over the world for decades. Mead is credited by Intel's Gordon Moore of coining the term Moore's Law. Mead's 40-year academic and industry career touches all aspects of microelectronics, from spearheading the development of tools and techniques for modern integrated circuit design, to laying the foundation for fabless semiconductor companies, to catalyzing the electronic design automation field, to training generations of engineers, to founding more than twenty companies, including Actel Corporation, Silicon Compilers, Synaptics, and Sonic Innovations. Halfway through his career he switched direction, teaming with John Hopfield and Nobelist Richard Feynman to study how animal brains compute. The trio catalyzed three fields: Neural Networks, Neuromorphic Engineering, and Physics of Computation. Carver created the first neurally inspired chips, including the silicon retina and chips that learn from experience, and founded the first companies to use these technologies. Mead has received numerous awards, including honorary doctorates from the University of Lund in Sweden and the University of Southern California.