Binghamton University researchers awarded grant to cool
microchips Three Binghamton University faculty will work with
researchers from GE Research and a New Mexico firm on a $7.2
million, three-year project to solve a problem that has dogged
computer chip makers for decades — heat. For the electronics
industry, the University’s work may lead to great improvements
in how heat generated by microelectronic circuitry is conducted
by finding defects in current materials and creating new
materials that work better. Mechanical engineers Bahgat Sammakia
and Gary Lehmann, and chemist Wayne Jones and the other partners
will share in a $3.5 million grant from the Advanced Technology
Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
GE will contribute $3.7 million to the project. The group’s task
is to develop and test new nanoengineered materials that will
yield a 10-fold improvement in the thermal conductivity of
materials that play a critical role in the cooling of computer
chips. Binghamton University’s