Prof. de Micheli elected to the Academia Europaea

In September 2010, Prof Giovanni De Micheli was invited to join the 2'300 members of the Academy of Europe (Academia Europaea), an academic, non-governmental, association based in London.

The Academy of Europe (Academia Europaea) is a non-governmental association aiming at promoting human science such as social, physics and life, mathematics, engineering and medicine in Europe. Its 2'300 members come from the above domains and are spread across Europe and other continents, as part of a pan-european network.

Founded in 1988, the Academy of Europe's mission, among others, is to make recommendations to national governments and international agencies concerning matters affecting science, scholarship and academic life in Europe. It also proposes to encourage interdisciplinary and international research in all areas of learning, particularly in relation to European issues.

STI Professor Giovanni De Micheli is "thrilled about his election" and this nomination is a "nice surprise" for him. Members of the Academy of Europe are selected for their expertise in their domain, linked to those of the association. Prof. De Micheli joins a group that counts a number of Nobel prize Laureates amongst them, several of whom were elected before they received the prize.Prof. De Micheli is the Director of the Institute of Electrical Engineering in STI and of the Integrated Systems Centre. He is the Leader of the "Nano-Tera.ch" program at EPFL. This election to the Academy of Europe follows a list of many prizes and nominations received during his career.

Making small things work

His domain of research bridges the gap between Computer Science and Engineering. It covers the design of very small and complex integrated electronic circuits and systems, that are part of the many objects of our daily life (for example, laptops and mobile phones). The design of such microscopic systems poses tremendous challenges, because of their complexity, very large number of subcomponents and impossiblity to repair. Prof. De Micheli and his team work on the design tools and methods for achieving microelectronic circuits, that compete in terms of performance and reliability. This area is extremely challenging because of the continuous demands of the scientific and consumer market, requiring the perpetual renewal of microelectronic circuits and systems, offering newer options almost every year to their users.