Congratulations to Intel Senior Fellow Dr. Ian A. Young on his well-deserved retirement after an illustrious 40-year career at Intel Corporation. Dr. Young has made an indelible impact on the industry, authoring hundreds of papers, securing numerous patents, and receiving several prestigious awards. Among his early achievements were the research and development of the world’s first CMOS 1MB dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and the first CMOS 64kbit static random access memory (SRAM) with 1-micron technology, which led to the design of three generations of SRAM products. He pioneered the first generation of analog Phase Locked Loop (PLL) based clock generator circuits for microprocessors. This innovation revolutionized microprocessor clocking circuitry, enabling Intel's PC processors to accelerate from 50 MHz to over 3 GHz, significantly contributing to the success of the Intel Pentium lines. We recommend watching Dr. Young's 2024 ISSCC presentation to students for a great historical recounting of IC design through decades of technology evolution: ISSCC 2024 SRP Opening - Ian Young (Intel).

Dr. Young's collaboration with SRC researchers spanned over three decades. In the early 1990s, Dr. Young began mentoring SRC research led by Jerry G. Fossum from the University of Florida, Gainesville. During this period, he supported the development of a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) model with enhancements to the saturation region for use in BJT CMOS logic circuit design, which was important for Intel's Bipolar+CMOS process used in their microprocessors throughout the 1990s. This SRC transistor modeling research work also eventually led to the creation of the silicon on insulator (SOI) MOSFET model.

In recent years, Dr. Young led a circuit design team at Intel focused on the research and development of analog/digital mixed-signal serial high-speed I/Os for multiple technology applications. He also spearheaded the beyond-CMOS research group at Intel's Components Research Group (now Technology Research Group). In particular, he has championed novel spintronics device concepts at Intel and the industry, such as Intel's Magneto-Electric Spin-Orbit (MESO) device, which has the potential for more energy-efficient computing than is possible with CMOS. As a contributor to the 2030 Decadal Plan for Semiconductors, Dr. Young emphasized the importance of energy-efficient computing. Indeed, in 2024 an updated version of the ITC Energy Chart highlighted that the world’s total compute energy consumption is growing even faster than predicted in 2021, primarily due to the widespread use of artificial intelligence. Beyond-CMOS research is one important research vector to try and address the critical need for more energy-efficient computing.

Perhaps the most impactful aspect of Dr. Young's career is his gracious humility and dedication to mentorship. His passion for student education and mentoring was evident throughout his career. As a liaison on SRC Research, Dr. Young provided invaluable career guidance and industry perspective to both undergraduate and graduate students and was subsequently awarded the Mahboob Kahn award twice for his outstanding mentorship as a liaison for numerous SRC-DARPA programs.

We extend our heartfelt wishes to Dr. Young for a fabulous retirement. We deeply appreciate his numerous contributions to the industry over the past 40 years and his collaborative leadership and energy, which have been integral to SRC for the past 30 years.