Peter Byrley of UC Riverside wins Grad Slam
April 25, 2016 •
A UC Riverside Ph.D. student who is working to create smaller, more powerful microprocessors using graphene instead of silicon is UC’s newest Grad Slam champion.
Grad student Peter Byrley took home the “Slammy” on Friday, April 22, the culimination of a systemwide contest that recognizes and rewards the gift for gab – specifically, the ability to summarize complex research for a lay audience in a way that is concise, engaging and illuminating.
“Why should people give me money to do this research?” was the provocative question that Byrley asked himself to prepare his three-minute talk about research that could dramatically expand the power of electronics, while using a material that is one of the most abundant on earth.
The answer: Two-dimensional graphene is versatile and flexible, and just a tenth of the size of silicon. And best of all, it is one of the most abundant materials on earth. That means manufacturers can pack more power into smaller package – reaping savings in both money and efficiency.
Read the full article about the competition finale.
Photo credit: Robert Durrell
Cool! Never knew about graphene and it’s importance in semiconductors, but now I do!