Introduction

The objective of this Grand Challenge is to create microelectronic designs and architectures that deliver very high levels of performance for this area, and thereby help test hypotheses and explore the wider space of asynchronous event-coupled dynamic systems. Progress towards this Grand Challenge would create systems enabling much larger neural models to be simulated than is possible at present. This is likely to be a significant contribution to the higher-level GC of understanding the architecture of brain and mind, whose impact upon humanity would be dramatic.

An understanding of how biologically-inspired neural systems can be engineered should lead to breakthroughs in the robustness and power-efficiency of electronic systems. As further progress following Moore's Law will lead to declining reliability of the base technology, understanding how to build reliable systems on unreliable platforms is both timely and vital to the future progress of the technology.

Learn and Network

Delegates at this free event will not only have the benefit of learning about state-of-the-art academic research in the UK into the areas of high performance system architectures, neural networks, fault tolerant systems etc, but will also have the opportunity with a wide selection of academics, technologists from SMEs and large companies, investors and government.

Delegates will be invited to participate in joint industry/academic interactive workshops aimed at identifying potential academic research projects that could further the UK's expertise in the field.

Delegates need not necessarily have the resources to fund, or even participate directly in academic research, but should have at least a moderate interest in understanding and influencing the outcomes of such research.

Desired Outcomes

By bringing together a representation from UK academia with a similar representation from UK industry, the Electronics KTN hopes to stimulate the identification of further academic research projects that could be funded by EPSRC. We also hope that the events may stimulate some industry-academia collaborations. Building on the platform of these events we hope to establish a community of UK industry that has an interest in influencing the shape of research in this area and can ultimately provide a response to this project in the form of a set of “unmet needs” from an industry perspective. We will use these events to build that community and gather volunteers to participate in such a forum.

Find out more about the Grand Challenges programme and the other events in this event programme: http://www.electronics-ktn.com/pub/knowledge/themes/grand/Default.aspx