Robert H. Dennard           

My career has been devoted to microelectronics research and development.

I am best known for two achievements:

• My invention of the DRAM cell (Dynamic Random Access Memory), which forms the basis for the main memory installed in virtually every computer, cellphone, tablet and other computer devices.
• My leadership in developing MOSFET scaling equations that describe how voltage, capacitance, power and other quantities change as lithographies shrink, i.e., as transistors become smaller. These "Dennard Scaling" equations provide the physical foundation that enabled the realization of Gordon Moore's observations about chip transistor capacity doubling every 18-24 months.

For these and other accomplishments, I was made an IBM Fellow in 1979. I joined IBM Research in 1958 after receiving my Ph.D. from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now CMU).

My B.S. and M.S. degrees are in electrical engineering from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

You can learn more about my work on these webpages and other sources:

My Wikipedia entry.

Thanks for the memory, Bob Dennard An IBM story about my 50th anniversary with IBM Research.

IBM scientist: Robert Dennard An overview of my work, especially DRAM, on YouTube.

IEEE Global History Network My bio and an IEEE video interview in 2009, when I received the IEEE Medal of Honor.

The Charles Stark Draper Prize (2009).

IEEE Edison Medal (2001).

Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering (2007).

National Medal of Technology (1988).