Watson Lecture: Carver Mead (BS '56, PhD '60) Shares a History of Transformative Caltech Innovations
How have Caltech researchers helped revolutionize modern society? On Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. PT in Caltech's Beckman Auditorium and online via livestream, microelectronics pioneer Carver Mead, the Gordon and Betty Moore Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, Emeritus, will draw on more than 70 years of research and perspective to highlight Institute breakthroughs.
In a public talk called "Historic Innovations by Caltech People that Transformed our Everyday Lives," which closes the 101st season of the Watson Lectures, Mead will illuminate the contributions of campus scientists and engineers who have worked to identify and eliminate Los Angeles smog; to engineer the semiconductors that ushered in Silicon Valley and the age of digital information; to create the lasers that made the World Wide Web possible; to bring GPS to the masses; and to make cars electronic. His discussion will span both his own work and that of colleagues, students, and fellow alumni who pursued excellence, defied convention, and made all our lives better.
As Mead has reflected, "It's wonderful when you can be a part of an evolution process that takes the society to another level. That's a thrilling thing. And I've been fortunate to be able to be, in one way or another, connected with that sort of thing."
Mead first arrived on campus in 1952 as an undergraduate. He has spent his career at Caltech, serving on the Caltech faculty for 40 years before retiring in 1999. Mead is a pathfinder in modern microelectronics and one of the fathers of modern computing. Among a long string of firsts, he helped create new fields of science, such as neuromorphic engineering and the physics of computation, and he revolutionized information science by pioneering VLSI (very-large-scale integration) circuit technology in the 1970s and 1980s—conceptualizing a notion of scalability that set technology on a trajectory of exponential growth. Mead holds more than 80 U.S. patents, and the practical applications of his innovations can be found everywhere. Today, as the Gordon and Betty Moore Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, Emeritus, he continues to conduct research in his lab and to engage in discussions with students, faculty, and alumni.
The Watson Lectures offer new opportunities each month to hear how Caltech's premier researchers are tackling society's most pressing challenges and inventing the technologies of the future. Starting at 6 p.m., join friends and neighbors outside Beckman Auditorium to enjoy food, drinks, and music together, and to explore interactive displays that will tell the story of Caltech's leading role in the creation of electric cars. Guests are also encouraged to stay for post-talk coffee and tea as well as the chance to converse with other attendees and researchers.
Learn more about the Earnest C. Watson Lecture Series and its history at Caltech.edu/Watson.
Watson Lectures are free and open to the public. Register to attend in person. The talk will also be livestreamed at Caltech.edu/Watson. A recording will be made available after the live event.
