Jack Kilby

He also had patents for seven other inventions.

Jack Kilby studied at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin–Madison. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is physics and electrical engineering. Employment is recorded with Texas Instruments. Works named in the authority record are integrated circuit. Distinctions recorded are IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award, National Medal of Technology and Innovation, Nobel Prize in Physics and Stuart Ballantine Medal.

• Name — Jack Kilby • Birth Name — Jack St. Clair Kilby • Born — 8 November 1923 • Birthplace — Jefferson City, Missouri, U.S. • Died — 20 June 2005 • Place of death — Dallas, Texas, U.S. • Education — * University of Illinois (grad. graduated 1947) • Milwaukee State Teachers College (grad. graduated 1950) • Known for — Invention of the integrated circuit • Children — 2 • Awards — * Stuart Ballantine Medal (1966) • IEEE David Sarnoff Award (1966) • National Medal of Science (1969) • IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award (1978) • Holley Medal (1982, 1989) • IEEE Medal of Honor (1986) • Charles Stark Draper Prize (1989) • National Medal of Technology and Innovation (1990) • ASME Thurston Lecture Award (1990) • Computer Pioneer Award (1993) • Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology (1993) • Washington Award (1999) • Nobel Prize in Physics (2000) • Harold Pender Award (2000) • Fields — Electrical engineering • Workplaces — Texas Instruments

Jack St. Clair Kilby was born on November 8, 1923, in Jefferson City, Missouri. He was raised in Great Bend, Kansas, where his father ran a small electric company that served customers in rural western Kansas. While in high school, a huge ice storm knocked down most of the poles that carried the telephone and electric power lines. His father's company had to use amateur radio operators for communication in the areas where customers had lost their power and phone service. This event sparked his interest in electronics. After serving in the U.S. Army as an electronics technician during World War II, Kilby began studying electrical engineering at the University of Illinois, graduating with a B.S. in 1947. He then joined the Centralab Division of Globe Union, Inc., an electronics manufacturer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While working in Milwaukee, Kilby continued his education at the Milwaukee State Teachers College (now the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee), where he obtained an M.S. in 1950.

• Illustration — Kilby's original integrated circuit, 1958. Kilby was vital to the invention of the integrated circuit. In mid-1958, as a newly employed engineer at Texas Instruments (TI), he did not yet have the right to a summer vacation. Kilby spent the summer working on the problem in circuit design that was commonly called the "tyranny of numbers," and he finally came to the conclusion that the manufacturing of circuit components en masse in a single piece of semiconductor material could provide a solution. On September 12, he presented his findings to company's management, which included Mark Shepherd. He showed them a piece of germanium with an oscilloscope attached, pressed a switch, and the oscilloscope showed a continuous sine wave, proving that his integrated circuit worked, and thus that he had solved the problem. U.S. Patent 3,138,743 for "Miniaturized electronic circuits," the first integrated circuit, was filed on February 6, 1959. It was notable for having different components (transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.) on one single substrate. Along with Robert Noyce (who independently made a similar circuit a few months later), Kilby is generally credited as co-inventor of the integrated circuit.

Kilby went on to pioneer military, industrial, and commercial applications of microchip technology. He headed teams that created the first military system and the first computer incorporating integrated circuits. He invented the handheld calculator (along with Jerry Merryman and James Van Tassel). In 1970, Kilby took a leave of absence from TI to work as an independent inventor. He explored, among other subjects, the use of silicon technology for generating electrical power from sunlight. From 1978 to 1984, he held the position of Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University. Kilby retired from Texas Instruments in 1983.

In 1948, Kilby married Barbara Annegers. They had two daughters, Ann and Janet.

The Kilby Award Foundation was founded in 1980 in his honor, and the IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal was created in 1995. The Kilby Labs, TI's research laboratory for silicon manufacturing and integrated circuit design, is named after him. The Jack Kilby Computer Centre at the Merchiston Campus of Edinburgh Napier University in Edinburgh is also named in his honor. A statue of Jack Kilby stands in Texas Instruments Plaza on the campus of The University of Texas at Dallas. Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kansas, holds an annual Jack Kilby STEM Day.

• Year — Organization — Award — Citation • 1966 — Franklin Institute — Stuart Ballantine Medal — "For the development of monolithic integrated circuits (microchips)." • 1966 — IEEE — IEEE David Sarnoff Award — "For his outstanding creative contribution in the field of monolithic integrated circuits, for his key inventions and for his team leadership in the application of integrated circuits to large scale systems." • 1978 — IEEE — IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award — "For contributions to miniaturization through inventions and the development of integrated circuits." • 1982 — ASME — Holley Medal — — • 1986 — IEEE — IEEE Medal of Honor — "For fundamental contributions to semiconductor integrated circuit technology." • 1989 — ASME — Holley Medal — — • 1989 — National Academy of Engineering — Charles Stark Draper Prize — "For their independent development of the monolithic integrated circuit." • 1990 — ASME — Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award — — • 1993 — IEEE Computer Society — Computer Pioneer Award — "For co-inventing the integrated circuit." • 1993 — Japan Inamori Foundation — Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology — "Creation of the Concept of the Monolithic Semiconductor Integrated Circuit and Its Demonstration." • 1999 — Western Society of Engineers — Washington Award — "For his distinguished electronics career, including the invention of the monolithic integrated circuit which was the foundation for modern electrics." • 2000 — Sweden Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences — Nobel Prize in Physics — "For his part in the invention of the integrated circuit." • 2000 — University of Pennsylvania — Harold Pender Award — "For his contribution to the invention of the integrated circuit, or microchip."

• Year — Organization — Type • 1967 — National Academy of Engineering — Member • 2001 — American Philosophical Society — Member

• Year — Head of state — Award — Citation • 1969 — Richard Nixon — National Medal of Science — "For original conceptions and valuable contributions in the production and application of integrated circuits." • 1990 — George H. W. Bush — National Medal of Technology and Innovation — "For original conceptions and valuable contributions in the production and application of integrated circuits."

• Year — University — Degree • 1988 — University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — — • 1990 — University of Wisconsin–Madison — Doctor of Science • 1995 — Southern Methodist University — Doctor of Science • 1996 — Yale University — Doctor of Science