The Future of Computing Event

Dr. Williams is Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, holder of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chair, and Director of the Center for Computer Architecture Research at Texas A&M University.  Prompted by his exploration of the fundamental limits of information and computing, Dr. Williams has done extensive research in nano-electronics, -ionics and -photonics, and how to utilize the nonlinear properties of matter to perform computation efficiently. Before A&M, he was an HP Senior Fellow and Director of Information & Quantum Systems at Hewlett-Packard Labs, where he led a group that developed the first intentional solid state version of Leon Chua's memristor. Prior to this, he worked at Bell Labs before joining the faculty at UCLA, where he served as a chemistry professor for 15 years. Dr. Williams has been awarded more than 230 US patents, published more than 450 peer-reviewed papers, and presented hundreds of invited plenary, keynote, and named lectures at international scientific, technical, and business events.

Dr. Paul D. Franzon is currently the Cirrus Logic Distinguished Professor and the Director of Graduate programs in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Carolina State University.  He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia. He has also worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories, DSTO Australia, Australia Telecom, Rambus, and four companies he cofounded, Communica, LightSpin Technologies, Polymer Braille Inc. and Indago Technologies. His current interests include applying machine learning to EDA, building AI accelerators, neuromorphic computing, RFID, advanced packaging, 2.5D and 3DICs and secure chip design. He has led several major efforts and published over 300 papers in these areas. In 1993, he received an NSF Young Investigators Award, in 2001 was selected to join the NCSU Academy of Outstanding Teachers, in 2003, selected as a Distinguished Alumni Professor, received the Alcoa Research Award in 2005, and the Board of Governors Teaching Award in 2014. He served with the Australian Army Reserve for 13 years as an Infantry Soldier and Officer. He is a pilot in the Bandit Flight Team, a formation flying unit. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.