The Technology Year in Stories: January 2024

December 21, 2024

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Dr Lisa Su, CEO of AMD

We look at the articles that made the news in technology in 2024. Today, it is January's turn, featuring AMD’s CEO & HPE’s computing developments in space

Lifetime of Achievement: Dr Lisa Su

Chief executive and Chair of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Dr Lisa Su has become a highly respected figure in the technology industry, known for her strategic vision and leadership in semiconductor engineering.

Since joining AMD in 2012, Lisa has led the company’s transformation into a high-performance and adaptive computing leader and one of the fastest-growing semiconductor companies in the world.

Born in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1969, Lisa emigrated to the US at a young age, exhibiting a strong aptitude for mathematics and science which led her to pursue a career in electrical engineering.

Lisa earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1990.

Following her undergraduate studies, Lisa continued at MIT to complete her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in the same subject.

Lisa's professional career began as a member of the technical staff at Texas Instruments, where she worked in its Semiconductor Process and Device Center.

She joined IBM in 1995, firstly as a staff researcher where – according to Forbes – she helped design chips that run 20% faster by using semiconductors with copper circuitry instead of the traditional aluminium.

During her time at IBM, Lisa held various engineering and business leadership positions, including Vice President of the Semiconductor Research and Development Center, responsible for the strategic direction of IBM’s silicon technologies, joint development alliances and semiconductor R&D operations.

In 2007, Lisa joined Freescale Semiconductor, serving as Chief Technology Officer. Her role involved overseeing the company's technology strategy and research and development efforts, further honing her leadership skills in the tech industry.

Lisa's experience at Freescale cemented her reputation as a leading figure in semiconductor technology and management.

How HPE is Advancing Computing at the Edge of Space

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has announced it has sent a third iteration of its Spaceborne Computer to the International Space Station (ISS), with the aim to provide the international scientific community access to an expanded scope of space-based edge computing, AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities.

HPE's Spaceborne 2 is Helping Advance Research on Earth and in Space

Built from commercial off-the-shelf servers, the goal of HPE Spaceborne Computer-2’s latest trip is to build upon the system’s previous success while expanding the scope and complexity of data centre-level processing and high performance computing (HPC) that can be done in space, including AI and machine learning (ML) workloads.

Edge computing, using the HPE Spaceborne Computer-2, has created a number of breakthroughs in space exploration, from monitoring astronaut health on long space missions to aiding weather predictions and response recovery efforts on Earth.

Satellites are essential to observing Earth from space to study science and climate, as well as support disaster response.

Using HPE Spaceborne Computer-2, researchers have been able to test several deep learning inference networks to automatically interpret remote sensed images from land and structures after a disaster.

These can include determining the extent of flooding, such as from a hurricane, and to determine urban building damage, such as from an earthquake.

These techniques could be used onboard future spacecraft to rapidly deliver actionable products to relevant authorities to assist in disaster recovery.