Father of the IC dies at 81

Jack Kilby, the Father of the Integrated Circuit, and therefore the Granddaddy of every CPU and memory chip that came after, has died at the age of 81:

MANHASSET, N.Y. — Jack St. Clair Kilby, retired TI engineer and acknowledged as the first inventor of the integrated circuit, passed away in Dallas Monday (June 20) after a brief battle with cancer.

He was 81.

Considered a pioneer of the microelectronics age, Kilby invented the first monolithic integrated circuit, laying the foundation for a wave of miniaturization and integration that continues at a rapid pace. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for his role in the invention of the integrated circuit.

"In my opinion, there are only a handful of people whose works have truly transformed the world and the way we live in it -- Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers and Jack Kilby," said Tom Engibous, chairman of Texas Instruments, in a statement. "If there was ever a seminal invention that transformed not only our industry but our world, it was Jack's invention of the first integrated circuit."

More on the Jack and the first IC over at EETimes.

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