Jack St. Clair Kilby

November 8, 1923, Jefferson City, MO, USA
June 20, 2005, Dallas, Texas, USA

Achievement

Jean Hoerni, Kurt Lehovec, Jack St. Clair Kilby and Robert N. Noyce all four take part in the development of the  Integrated Circuit - IC. This happens in the laboratoria of Fairchild Semiconductor and in 1959 they complete the project succesfully.

In 1958, September 12, the integrated circuit was developed by a young engineer at Texas Instruments named Jack St. Clair Kilby.

picture courtesy: www.at-mix.de

He put together a few transistors and capacitors, linking them with a thin layer of silicon, a semiconducting material. The silicon completed the circuit between the electronic components. All the building blocks of an electronic circuit -- transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors, etc. -- could be placed on a small board and linked. This type of "chip" would revolutionize an industry. Texas Instruments manufactured the first practical silicon chips in 1959.

original IC - source pictrure unknown

From Jack Kilby's first simple circuit has grown a worldwide integrated circuit market whose sales in 2006 totaled $210 billion. These components supported a 2006 worldwide electronic end-equipment market of $1,402 billion. Such is the power of one idea to change the world. (2)

Biography

Education
1947 - B.S. Electrical Engineer, University of Illinois
1950 - M.S. Electrical Engineer, University of Wisconsin

Memberships and Affiliations
National Academy of Engineering
IEEE Fellow

Patents
holds more than sixty U. S. patents.

Chronology

Professional Experience
1947-58
Centralab, Milwaukee, WI
Design and development ceramic-base silk screen circuits

1958-70
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX

5/58-1960
Responsible for development of modular and integrated circuit assemblies. During this period the integrated circuit concept became an invention and was developed as a commercial product.

1960-62
Manager of Engineering, Semiconductor Networks

1962-67
Manager, Semiconductor Networks.
In cooperation with Autonetics designed the first military system the Improved Minuteman--utilizing ICs.
Manager, Integrated Circuits Development
Deputy Director, Semiconductor Research & Development Laboratory

1967
Manager, Technology-Customer Centers

Oct. 1967
Manager, Customer Requirements Department, Components Group

1968
Assistant Vice President

Feb.1970
Director of Engineering and Technology, Components Group

Nov.1970
Leave of absence from TI; continued to serve TI as part-time consultant

1978-84
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering,

2005
Dies of cancer, leaves behind wife and 3 children

Honors and awards

1965 - Outstanding Achievement Award, Dallas Section Institute of Electronic and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

1966 - Stuart Ballantine Medal, Franklin Institute

1966 - David Sarnoff Award, IEEE

1969 - National Medal of Science

1971 - Alumni Honor Award, College of Engineering, University of Illinois

1973 - Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Illinois

1975 - Vladimir K. Zworykin Award, National Academy of Engineering

1978 - Cledo Brunetti Award, IEEE

1980 - Consumer Electronics Award, IEEE

1982 - Honorary Doctor of Engineering, University of Miami

1982 - Inducted into the National Inventors' Hall of Fame

1983 - Holley Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers

1986 - Medal of Honor, IEEE

1986 - Honorary Doctor of Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology

1987 - Patrick E. Haggerty Innovation Award, Texas Instruments Incorporated

1988 - Inducted into the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame, Dayton, OH

1988 - Honorary Doctor of Science, University of Illinois

1990 - National Medal of Technology

1993 - Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology

1994 - Honorary Doctor of Science, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX

1995 - Honorary Doctor of Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

2000 - Jack Kilby is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Bibliography