The central theme of this first ChipTech Twente Lunch Lecture on 19 May is the Future of Compute. Today, compute touches on everything: the economy, geopolitics and energy. The choices we make in how we design chips and build systems will determine who sets the technological and economic agenda in the coming decades.

The scale of this is enormous. We are moving towards a market worth €1.6 to €2.6 trillion by 2035. At the same time, the reality is that Europe currently controls only a relatively small part of that global value chain. So the question is not just what we build, but also where and by whom.

And that brings us to the heart of this Lunch Lecture. For when we look ahead to the future of computing, we must first examine the foundation upon which everything is currently built. Virtually all the systems we design today are based on John von Neumann’s architecture. A model in which processing and memory are separated from one another. The processor retrieves data from memory, processes it, and moves on. That principle has taken us incredibly far.

But it also has a fundamental limitation: the processor is constantly dependent on data that must come from outside. That constant movement of data takes time and, above all, a great deal of energy. This is known as the Von Neumann bottleneck, and it is becoming increasingly apparent, particularly in modern applications such as AI.

And so we are at a tipping point. New approaches, such as neuromorphic computing, are attempting to move away from that model by bringing memory and processing closer together and designing systems that handle data and energy more efficiently.

This brings us to today’s central question: How will the Future of Compute look like and what may it mean for the Twente region?

Let’s explore this together during this Lunch Lecture on Tuesday 19 May from 12.00 to 13.30!

Programme

12:00 pm: Lunch
12:30 pm: Introduction to the Future of Compute &  Neuromorphic Computing, Hans Hilgenkamp
12:55/13:00 pm: Informal discussion
13:30 pm: End

Location: The Gallery, Erlenmeyer Room, Hengelosestraat 500, Enschede