Federico Faggin has led what he calls four lives: as a physicist, engineer and inventor, entrepreneur, and author. He developed the MOS silicon gate technology at Fairchild (1968) and designed the world’s first microprocessor at Intel (1971). Faggin also founded and led Zilog, Synaptics, and other high-tech companies. The Zilog Z80 microprocessor (1976), and the Z8 microcontroller (1978) are still in volume production in 2021. At Synaptics he pioneered the Touchpad (1994) and the Touchscreen (1999), – solutions that have revolutionized the way we interface with mobile devices.
Federico has received many prizes and awards in the United States, Europe, and Japan. These include the Marconi Prize (1988), the Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology (1997), and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2009), from President Barack Obama. In 1996, Faggin was inducted in the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame. He has also received many honorary degrees in Computer Science and Electronic Engineering
Federico is currently president of the Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the scientific study of consciousness, an interest that has become a passionate full-time activity. In 2019, Federico published his autobiography SILICON, through Mondadori, Italy’s premier book publisher, where it has been a bestseller.
Imaginal Inspirations is hosted by David Lorimer, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and Chair of the Galileo Commission, an academic movement dedicated to expanding the evidence base of a science of consciousness.
Works and links mentioned:
Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation
Godel, Escher, Bach : An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter
