AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su will have a nanotechnology research facility at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) named in her honor. Building 12 at MIT is the home of MIT.nano, and on May 14, there will be a special ceremony to officially name it the Lisa T. Su Building. Dr. Su is an MIT alumna, and the MIT News blog reminds us that she previously made a gift of the building to the prestigious educational institution.
The AMD CEO's history is closely intertwined with MIT. Su began attending MIT in 1986 and pursued a degree in electrical engineering. She subsequently continued her academic career at MIT, completing a Masters and a Ph.D. there. It is notable that while pursuing her doctorate, she was one of the first researchers to look into the [then] new and unproven field of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. Su's work career spanned appointments at Texas Instruments, IBM, and Freescale, before joining AMD in 2012. She became president and CEO of AMD just two years later.
For a woman who has enjoyed many firsts in the semiconductor industry, it seems fitting that the MIT.nano building, which opened in 2018, will bear her name. With the Lisa T. Su Building established, she will follow in the hallowed footsteps of other MIT alumna to have their names enshrined this way. Other semiconductor leaders with buildings named for them at MIT include Ray Strata (Analog Devices), Morris Chang (TSMC), and Cecil Green (TI).
Dr. Su said that she is honored to have Building 12 bear her name. "My hope is that MIT.nano will enable and develop the best and brightest technologists and innovators in the future," said the AMD CEO. Since graduating from MIT, Su has remained closely involved with the institute, has participated in several alumni committees, and is currently a member of the MIT President's CEO Advisory Board. Su established the Lisa Su Fellowship Fund, which supports promising female graduate students studying nanotechnology, showing further benevolence to MIT and its students.
The Lisa T. Su Building is located at the center of the MIT campus, which is quite apt given that nanoscience and nanotechnology are considered to be central to the work of MIT. The building has been designed with expansive glass facades and you can learn more about its facilities, capabilities, and the works going on within in the video embedded above.
