research guide - UTEP Magazine - University of Texas at El Paso

Materials and Manufacturing
A Million on One
Team designs record-breaking microchip
Researchers led by Assistant Professor
of Electrical and Computer Engineering Eric
MacDonald, Ph.D., produced a microchip
designed to prevent appliance fires by detecting
electrical faults.
About the size of a pencil eraser, the chip
is loaded with one million transistors, each 200
times thinner than a human hair. The number
of transistors is the most ever for a UTEP chip
design, and among the largest produced by a
Texas university, MacDonald says.
David Nemir, a former UTEP professor who
operates El Paso-based engineering company
X-L Synergy, approached MacDonald with the
concept for the chip. Nemir and former UTEP
computer engineering instructor Jan Beck
developed a complex mathematical algorithm
for detecting and shutting down electrical arc
faults.
“(Nemir) wanted to prove that the
algorithm worked, and the project gave me
an opportunity to offer a group of graduate
students some real industry experience,” says
MacDonald.
The unique chip performs the calculation
in real time, eliminating delays between the
discovery of the arc and shutdown of the unit.
Eric MacDonald, Ph.D.
"I'm looking forward to more
student success stories as
the college expands its chipdevelopment
capabilities."
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