A celebration marking the 75^th anniversary of the invention of the transistor is set for Dec. 16 at Burton D. Morgan Hall. Purdue’s role in transistor history will be highlighted during the event.

Considered the basic building block of electronic systems, the transistor was invented on Dec. 16, 1947, at Bell Labs. It has been called one of the most important and transformative inventions of the 20^th century. Transistors are pervasive in modern technology and are the key component on billions of silicon chips, which are used in telecommunications, aviation, data communications, audio and video recording equipment, and much more. As the United States reshores and re-energizes semiconductor manufacturing and microelectronics design, transistors will have an even greater impact in the 21^st century.

Senator Todd Young, co-author of the CHIPS for America Act, will offer pre-recorded remarks at the event, scheduled for 3:30-5 p.m. The celebration will include facts about Purdue’s semiconductor history and anticipated contributions in this new era of electronics. A reception will follow.

Purdue faculty scheduled to speak:

• Mark Lundstrom, Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of electrical and computer Engineering and interim dean of the College of Engineering: Transistors in the 1950s

• Mike Manfra, the Bill and Dee O’Brien Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, professor in the Elmore School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and professor of materials engineering: Purdue’s development of germanium technology in the 1940s and the invention of the germanium transistor at Bell Labs in 1947

• Muhammad Ashraful Alam, the Jai N. Gupta Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Demonstration of the 1960 silicon MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor), the mainstay of today’s electronics, which was co-invented by Purdue alumnus Mohamed M. Atalla at Bell Labs

• Ekaterina Babintseva, assistant professor in the Department of History, who will discuss the role of transistors in the race to the moon

• President-elect Mung Chiang: Closing remarks

During the celebration, Purdue Engineering will announce a new book series, the New Era Electronics Lecture Notes Series, a 21^st century continuation of the Semiconductor Electronics Education Committee’s 1960s series that sparked the microelectronics revolution. The event will conclude with a presentation of Volume 1 in the series to Chiang. Titled Transistors! and authored by Lundstrom, it is a modern treatment of the device that makes today’s electronics possible.

Learn more about the event and RSVP.