Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Matthew Guthaus, Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering in the Jack Baskin School of Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award. The CAREER award is the "most prestigious award in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research" according to the NSF.

Prof. Guthaus' CAREER proposal aims to improve the energy efficiency of computer chips by developing circuits and automated design tools to recycle the energy in the power-hungry clock network that synchronizes events on most computer chips. Much like a hybrid car stores the kinetic energy during breaking into a battery for later use, the proposed techniques recycle energy on-chip for later use. The proposed research will increase power efficiency in computer chips and enable designers to lower power in chips ranging from mobile phones to large commercial servers. The previously unattainable power gains can then be used to improve battery lifetimes in mobile systems, decrease operational costs in commercial data centers, provide green computing by lessening the energy burden on our environment and improve computing performance which will enable new applications of computer systems.

Prof. Guthaus holds a B.S.E. degree in Computer Engineering and M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from The University of Michigan. He has performed research at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and consulted for major Silicon Valley semiconductor companies. Prof. Guthaus joined the Computer Engineering department as part of its computer systems design faculty with an emphasis in the area of reliable, low-power computer chip design. He currently leads the VLSI Design and Automation Group. More information about the students, other related projects, and publications can be found on the web site.