MENU 
Dennis Sylvester: News
ECE faculty design chips for efficient and accessible AI
Faculty specializing in architecture, hardware, and software innovation accelerate machine learning across a range of applications.University of Michigan team partners with Semiwise to tackle cryogenic control electronics technology
Prof. Dennis Sylvester and PhD student Qirui Zhang are working with UK-based company Semiwise Ltd. to design cryogenic circuitry and improve the efficiency of quantum computing.Science: March 12, 2024
This tiny swimming robot can think for itself
With the help of the Michigan Micro Mote, researchers at U. Pennsylvania have developed programmable microscopic autonomous robots. David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester were collaborators on the paper presented at an American Physical Society meeting in March 2024.A look back at 25 years of University of Michigan innovation in computer architecture
Nine papers by EECS researchers have been highlighted as among the most significant of the last 25 years in an ISCA retrospective.Dennis Sylvester named Interim Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sylvester is a pioneer in low-power IC design, a serial entrepreneur, and a leader in the professional community.Open-source hardware: a growing movement to democratize IC design
Dr. Mehdi Saligane, a leader in the open-source chip design community, was among the first researchers to fabricate a successful chip as part of Google’s multi-project wafer program.Dennis Sylvester Elected to National Academy of Inventors
Sylvester’s inventions in low-power chip design have led to multiple startup companies and products found in hundreds of millions of devices.Dennis Sylvester named Edward S. Davidson Collegiate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
[Watch the lecture] Sylvester’s innovations in ultra-low-power computing led to the Michigan Micro Mote, the world’s smallest computer.
EE Times: November 1, 2022
4 Schools Seek to Help Intel, SkyWater Staff New Fabs
EE Times highlights how the Midwest is becoming a hub for semiconductor research and manufacturing, and what ECE at the University of Michigan is doing to advance quantum education in our undergraduate programs.CHIPS and Science Act: Implications and Opportunities
The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 promises to revitalize the U.S. semiconductor industry. Dennis Sylvester offers his perspective on what it means for ECE.Entrepreneur Dr. Scott Hanson awarded 2020 ECE Alumni Rising Star Award
Hanson is founder and CTO of Ambiq Micro, a startup semiconductor company that works to advance ultra-low power electronics for next generation Internet of Things.
Advancing the future of circuit design with Intel’s Dr. Eric Karl
Karl (BSE MSE PhD EE) talks about how his time at Michigan helped prepare him for his dream job at Intel and a career advancing embedded memory technology and circuits.
Two ‘U’ researchers receive Distinguished University Innovator Award
The Michigan Daily profiles Professors David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester, who are this year’s recipients of the 2019 Distinguished University Innovator Award.Blaauw, Sylvester are 2019 Distinguished University Innovators
Pioneering computer technology that is spurring innovation and disruption across industries has earned David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester, professors of electrical engineering and computer science, this year’s Distinguished University Innovator Award.
Three papers chosen as IEEE Micro Top Picks
Top Picks is an annual special edition of IEEE Micro magazine that acknowledges the 10-12 most significant research papers.
SLAM-ming good hardware for drone navigation
Researchers built the first visual SLAM processor on a single chip that provides highly accurate, low-power, and real-time results.
IEEE Spectrum: March 12, 2019
ECE professors help robots better navigate the world
IEEE Spectrum highlights the work done by Professors Dennis Sylvester, David Blaauw, and Hun-Seok Kim improving SLAM technology.IEEE Spectrum: March 7, 2019
3 New Chips to Help Robots Find Their Way Around
Intel and academic groups, including the team of Blaauw, Kim, and Sylvester, are designing specialized hardware to speed path planning and other aspects of robot coordinationBeyond Moore’s law: $16.7M for advanced computing projects
DARPA’s initiative to reinvigorate the microelectronics industry draws deeply on Michigan Engineering expertise.
Michigan chips will be first to test next-generation hardware design tools
U-M team will serve as model for nimble and innovative system-on-chip design.
Enabling anyone to design hardware with a new open-source tool
Six-month hardware design process will be turned into 24-hour automated task.
Popular Mechanics: July 5, 2018
The Smallest Computer in the World Fits On a Grain of Rice
The University of Michigan just defeated IBM in creating this tiny computing device designed by ECE Professors David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester.Popular Mechanics: June 30, 2018
The Smallest Computer in the World Fits On a Grain of Rice
The University of Michigan just defeated IBM in creating this tiny computing device.An even smaller world’s smallest ‘computer’
The latest from IBM and now the University of Michigan is redefining what counts as a computer at the microscale.
June 18, 2018
Chip designer Ambiq Micro raises $11M of planned $20M offering
Ambiq Micro is a U-M startup based on microchip technology co-founded in 2009 by Scott Hanson (BSE MSE PhD EE ’04 ’06 ’09) and his thesis advisors, Prof. Dennis Sylvester and Prof. David Blaauw.EE Times: May 17, 2018
Startup Maps AI into Flash Array
EE Times profiles Mythic, an AI accelerator chip startup founded in 2012 at U-M by EECS alumnus Mike Henry and Dave Fick mentored by Professors David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester.VentureBeat: March 21, 2018
Mythic snags $40 million to advance AI chips
Mythic is an AI accelerator chip startup founded in 2012 at U-M by EECS alumnus Mike Henry and Dave Fick mentored by Professors David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester.COMBAT team receives Ted Kennedy Family Faculty Team Excellence Award
The group brought together experts in radar and remote sensing, integrated circuits, imaging, navigation, power, communications, and nano-fabrication.
Seed-sized U-M computers pumped into oil wells featured at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
Millimeter-sized computers log the temperature and pressure from deep within oil wells.
Michigan’s millimeter-scale computers featured at ISSCC2017, and in IEEE Spectrum
Professors Blaauw and Sylvester showcase capabilities of tiny computing
CubeWorks: Solving problems with the world’s smallest and lowest-power computers
Cubeworks receives its first external funding to manufacture millimeter-scale computing devicesTwo Michigan papers win top awards at IEEE Security and Privacy Symposium
One of the paper describes and demonstrates a malicious hardware backdoor. The other demonstrated security failings in a commercial smart home platform.
MBus is the missing interconnect for millimeter-scale systems
The M3 is a fully autonomous computing system that acts as a smart sensing system.
3 ECE companies make the Silicon 60 List – again!
Ambiq Micro, Crossbar, Inc., and PsiKick, are leading the way in ultra-low power chip design, pioneering computer memory, and ultra-low power wireless sensor platforms.
CBS News: April 16, 2015
This is the world’s smallest computer
Computers used to consume whole rooms, but now one computer can fit on the edge of a nickel. At just one millimeter cubed, the Michigan Micro Mote (M^3) is the smallest autonomous computer in the world.Michigan Micro Mote (M3) makes history as the world’s smallest computer
A brief history of what led to the technical feat known as the Michigan Micro Mote, a tiny speck of a computer that does it all.Scott Hanson receives 2014 Arbor Networks Ph.D. Research Impact Award
Dr. Hanson is the co-founder of a startup semiconductor company that plans to lead the low-power revolution in electronics by powering the Internet of Things.
Forbes: September 17, 2014
These Energy-Saving, Batteryless Chips Could Soon Power The Internet Of Things
Leaders in ultra low power cicuits and systems presenting at VLSI Circuits Symposium
All of the research being presented focuses on getting the absolute best performance from the tiniest circuits, sensors, and electronic devices.
Six ECE Faculty Selected for 2013-14 College of Engineering Awards
Congratulations to the following ECE Faculty recipients of 2013-14 College of Engineering Awards:2013 Design Automation Conference Anniversary Awards
Congratulations to the award-winning faculty members and to the DAC for 50 years!
Researchers funded to develop a leap forward in Processor Architectures
The project proposes to produce a parallel heterogeneous 3D near-threshold computing system with unprecedented energy efficiency.
Dennis Sylvester receives U-M Faculty Recognition Award
He is a pioneer in the field of ultra-low power processor design, especially for the smallest computing devices in existence.
David Blaauw and Dennis Sylvester named Top Authors by ISSCC
Both research papers discuss ultra low-power chip design and millimeter-scale computing.
Wireless Integrated MicroSensing and Systems (WIMS2) in California
The technical topics ranged from wireless and low power circuits, to MEMS, to microfabricated gas chromatographs.
2012 EECS Outstanding Achievement Awards
Congratulations to these amazing faculty members!
Laura Freyman awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Freyman is studying Electrical Engineering and is a member of the Michigan Integrated Circuits Laboratory.
Powering breakthrough technologies
Ambiq Micro could revolutionize ubiquitous computing, with energy-efficient microcontrollers that are 10 times more energy efficient than conventional microprocessors.
Making smart dust a reality
This research is expected to have a fundamental and long term impact on a diverse set of applications ranging from energy conservation to health care.
AMD/Michigan Student Design Contest
Congratulations to the winning students!
CNET: February 22, 2011
Researchers unveil first mm-scale computing system
Researchers at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco demonstrate a prototype implantable eye pressure monitor and a tiny new radio.Toward computers that fit on a pen tip: New technologies usher in the millimeter-scale computing era
U-M faculty have developed what is believed to be the first complete millimeter-scale computing system, with applications in radio communication and wireless sensing.
Three EECS Teams are winners in 2011 DAC/ISSCC Student Design Contest
The contest is highly competitive and features the best student projects from the largest and most prestigious conferences in their respective fields.
Paving the way for ubiquitous computing
Until now, ubiquitous computing has been hampered by the size of necessary batteries—but Ambiq Micro is changing that, with their energy-efficient micro-controllers.
Dennis Sylvester elected Fellow of the IEEE
According to IEEE, “the grade of Fellow recognizes unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments.”
Ambiq Micro: Taking a startup to the next level
“Imagine a microprocessor so tiny and long lasting that it can be implanted in the eye of a glaucoma sufferer to measure the progress of the disease.”
Millimeter-scale, energy-harvesting sensor system developed
The system could enable new biomedical implants as well as home-, building- and bridge-monitoring devices.
2010 College of Engineering Awards
NBC: February 9, 2010
Tiny solar-powered sensor runs almost forever
A tiny solar-powered sensor, smaller than Abe Lincoln’s head on a penny, can supply almost perpetual energy, its creators say.EECS professors receive research grants from Google
The research funded by Google involves redesigning servers and data centers to improve their energy efficiency.
EECS researchers receive Best Paper Award at ISLPED
The paper explores logic and memory circuit topologies for a new type of transistor in development at IBM.
Matthew Fojtik awarded Intel Foundation/SRCEA Fellowship
The fellowship will support Fojtik’s work on a processor that can recover from timing errors and run without margining for worst case operating conditions.
2009 College of Engineering Awards
Smart bridges under development with new grant
The monitoring system will collect data from surface and penetrating sensors, then wirelessly relay the information to an inspector on site or miles away.