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UT-Austin professor lectures on the Semiconductor Revolution

Written by Johnathan Silver, The Shorthorn senior staff

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:01 PM

Ben Streetman, a University of Texas at Austin electrical and computer engineering professor, points out important characteristics of semiconductors during his lecture Wednesday in Nedderman Hall. Streetman was invited as part of the College of Engineering�s 50th Anniversary Speaker Series to speak about the history of semiconductors and how they affect our daily lives today. (The Shorthorn: Andrew Buckley)

The big screen in Cowboys Stadium and a USB flash drive share a common ancestor – the transistor.

A transistor is a compact electronic device that controls electric current flow. In other words, it’s that piece of equipment that’s responsible for long distance phone calls and computers that manage to get smaller and smaller each year, yet manage to hold more and more information.

Ben Streetman, a UT-Austin electrical and computer engineering professor, gave a guest lecture Wednesday titled “The Semiconductor Revolution.” He discussed how the semiconductor has affected all of modern life today.

He belongs to a small group of guests invited by the College of Engineering to speak as part of the College of Engineering’s 50th Anniversary Speaker Series.

Before about 100 attendees, Streetman recalled when transistors were valued in dollars. But today, and more than 60 years since its invention, they’re valued at under a penny. He said the value of transistors impacts the value of electronics that require them.

“It’s hard for [young people] to believe that when some of us were young, making a long distance phone call was a big event, and you wouldn’t do it unless you had to because it was incredibly expensive. And calling Europe was out of the question,” he said. “And now you talk on the cell phone and you can get anyone in the world and you don’t even think about it. And it’s all geared by this stuff.”

Next 50th Anniversary Speaker:

Former Astronaut Sally Ride
Time: 8 p.m.
Date: Feb. 15
Place: Texas Hall

Streetman went on to talk about which elements best serve as semiconductors and which ones help power small and large appliances that people see or talk about every day. Portions of a computer system have been transformed from feet long and wide to sizes that fit on the fingertips, the visiting professor said.

Lynn Peterson, a College of Engineering associate dean, signed papers for new electrical engineering students, so they could receive credit for attending the lecture.

“It’s lovely to have someone who is as well-known and as well versed in the details for electrical engineering students,” she said.

Aerospace engineering senior Wendy Okolo said she enjoyed the lecture.

“It was very scholarly and very detailed too,” she said. “I don’t regret coming.”
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