Srimani Receives NSF CAREER Award

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Tathagata Srimani, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, a prestigious five-year grant given to junior faculty for research and education.

Srimani's research focuses on ultra-dense three-dimensional (3D) integration of computing systems, vertically stacking logic and memory layers with fine-grained connections to build faster, more energy-efficient chips. By bringing memory and processing closer together in 3D, his approach dramatically reduces the distance data must travel and the energy wasted moving it, while unlocking far greater bandwidth between logic and memory than conventional 2D chips can provide. Together, these gains in energy efficiency and bandwidth translate to substantial performance improvements - particularly for data-intensive workloads like artificial intelligence.

The CAREER project will develop new chip design frameworks for these three-dimensional integrated circuits, enabling engineers to rapidly model, test, and optimize different 3D configurations and accelerating the design process. The project will also build prototype 3D chips to validate these designs in practice.

"Today, a huge fraction of a chip's energy budget is spent just shuttling data between memory and processing," said Srimani. "By stacking these layers in 3D and co-designing the technology and architecture together, we can fundamentally change that equation. These new design frameworks will give engineers the tools to explore this vast design space efficiently. The project also includes education and training efforts to prepare students and workers for careers in the semiconductor industry."

The CAREER Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.