Learning electrical and computer engineering has always come with a unique challenge: many of its foundational concepts — electric fields, magnetic forces, semiconductor behavior — are invisible to the naked eye and difficult to visualize.
To make these invisible principles tangible, students in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering have long used specialized tools and software. Circuit simulators model voltage and current, electromagnetic tools visualize fields, and semiconductor design platforms reveal transistor behavior. These tools turn abstract theory into interactive experiences that prepare students for real-world engineering challenges.
Now, Apple Vision Pro is joining this ecosystem.
The technology introduces spatial computing to learning environments, blending digital content with the physical world.
At the Institute for Matter and Systems, infrastructure lead Alex Gallmon, is collaborating with students and industry partners to create immersive digital twins—virtual models that replicate real-world systems—of semiconductor cleanroom equipment.
“These machines are complex and costly, with parts that can run tens of thousands of dollars,” he said. “Even minor mistakes during operation can lead to expensive damage or downtime.”
Gallmon's team built a virtual replica of a cleanroom vacuum training system. The project serves as a prototype for a workforce development program aimed at high school and college students interested in careers in the semiconductor or vacuum technology fields.
Read the full story from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Spatial computing is transforming engineering education at Georgia Tech and opening new paths for entrepreneurship and technical training.
Gallmon showing how Apple Vision Pro can be utilized to train students and workers on sensitive and expensive technical equipment, in this case a cleanroom vacuum system.
The National Academy of Inventors is honoring two Georgia Tech faculty members for their contributions to technology and society: Deepakraj “Deepak” Divan and Arijit Raychowdhury. Both are in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Raychowdhury is a semiconductor pioneer whose patented circuit and system-on-chip designs have advanced computing efficiency and commercialization. Divan is a global leader in power electronics and grid modernization, whose innovations and ventures have transformed how electricity is delivered and managed worldwide.
“Congratulations to Deepakraj and Arijit on earning one of the most esteemed accolades in technology and discovery. Their groundbreaking work, with nearly 100 patents between them, advances solutions to global challenges,” said Raghupathy “Siva” Sivakumar, chief commercialization officer at Georgia Tech. “Their success exemplifies how research commercialization drives real-world impact, and we’re proud to see them honored as academy fellows.”
Election to NAI is the highest professional distinction specifically awarded to inventors. With this recognition, Georgia Tech’s roster of NAI Fellows grows to 24. Divan and Raychowdhury join a 2025 class of 169 new fellows representing university, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. They will be inducted at the NAI 15th Annual Conference on June 4, 2026, in Los Angeles.
Professor Emeritus (2004-2025)
Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Founder, Georgia Tech Center for Distributed Energy
Deepakraj “Deepak” Divan is a globally recognized innovator in power electronics and grid transformation. He was awarded the IEEE Medal in Power Engineering in 2024.
He holds over 85 U.S. and international patents and has authored 400 refereed publications. His pioneering work on soft‑switching converters—integral for efficient energy storage, EV charging, and industrial controls—has spurred a global $70 billion power electronics industry.
Divan laid the groundwork for grid‑forming inverter control, enabling high-renewables integration. He is the co-author of Energy 2040: Aligning Innovation, Economics and Decarbonization, named by Forbes as one of the “10 Essential Books and Podcasts Every Leader Needs in 2025”.
“Being named an NAI Fellow is a tremendous honor,” said Divan. “It reflects years of effort to rethink how electricity is delivered and managed to solve real problems and to drive practical innovations that matter.”
As the founder of Georgia Tech’s Center for Distributed Energy, he led research that transforms electricity delivery through analytics, monitoring, and optimization.
An entrepreneur, Divan co-founded Varentec (backed by Bill Gates and Khosla Ventures) and seeded ventures including GridBlock, Soft Switching Technologies, Innovolt, and Smart Wires—raising over $500 million. A National Academy of Engineering member and IEEE Fellow, he champions scalable energy-access solutions worldwide.
Professor and Steve W. Chaddick School Chair
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Director, Center for the Co-Design of Cognitive Systems
Arijit Raychowdhury has been the Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of ECE since 2021. He is a leading innovator in semiconductor technologies, holding more than 27 U.S. and international patents and authoring over 350 publications.
His work spans low-power circuits, specialized accelerators, and system-on-chip design, with breakthroughs widely adopted in industry.
“This recognition reflects the collective effort of students, colleagues, and partners who share a vision for advancing microelectronics,” said Raychowdhury. “I am honored that NAI champions the same mission to lead through research, education, and innovation."
At Texas Instruments, he developed the world’s first adaptive echo-cancellation network for integrated Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL)—a patented technology that enabled high-speed internet over traditional phone lines that received the EDN Innovation of the Year award. At Intel, he developed and incorporated foundational memory and logic technologies that shaped commercial products across global markets for more than a decade.
His research on fine-grain power management of systems-on-chip at Georgia Tech has been licensed and widely adopted by the semiconductor industry.
He directs Georgia Tech’s Center for the Co-Design of Cognitive Systems and leads initiatives to advance microelectronics design with applications to AI. Over the years, he has served as a founding advisor and board member to multiple startups in the areas of edge-computing and low power design.
Raychowdhury’s research bridges invention and real-world impact, earning him numerous honors, including IEEE Fellow, Semiconductor Research Corporation Technical Excellence Award, and multiple industry awards. Through pioneering designs and mentorship, he continues to drive innovation in computing systems, influencing both academic research and industrial commercialization.
As one of Georgia Tech’s 11 interdisciplinary research institutes, IMS is designed to break down silos between traditional academic units. By operating core user facilities and fostering collaborative research, IMS creates a unique ecosystem where device-level innovation meets systems-level design. This event personified that mission by connecting researchers who typically work on different ends of the stack.
“We’re looking for opportunities to bring people together to have discussions that are both informative and potentially create a little bit of friction in the best possible way around trending topics in science and engineering,” said Mike Filler, IMS deputy director, during opening remarks.
The panel was moderated by Divya Mahajan, assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and featured Moinuddin Qureshi, professor of computer science; Anand Iyer, assistant professor of computer science; and Asif Khan, associate professor in electrical and computer engineering.
The discussion explored the dynamics between compute abundance and energy constraints. As AI models scale up, power consumption has become a societal issue, driving up energy demands and even influencing political conversations. The panelists agreed that the bottleneck isn’t compute — a computer’s ability to process and execute tasks — but data movement. Moving data uses 100 to 1,000 times more energy than computation, making memory systems the critical frontier.
The conversation highlighted how breakthroughs in compute must occur at every layer — from individual devices to full computer systems. At the device level, Khan mentioned emerging memory technologies and “beyond CMOS” approaches such as embedding compute within memory and exploring bio-inspired architectures.
From a computer architecture level, Qureshi advocated rethinking interfaces and creating designs optimized for the future of computing. AI needs regular patterns to work optimally, and current patterns are not set up for that.
“If you want efficiency, design systems that make sense for AI,” Qureshi said. “Develop new interfaces, develop new modules, architectures, and organization that make for a specific pattern.”
At the systems level, Iyer stressed practical strategies like near-memory compute and energy-aware scheduling while acknowledging the need for co-design between hardware and software.
“Now in terms of brains or bio-inspired computing, my conjecture is that there is currently no hardware that is capable of doing it,” Khan said. He also noted that right now, there is no computer or algorithm that has the scale of computing comparable to human brain power.
The panelists didn’t shy away from provocative ideas — such as whether graphic processing units are the final solution for AI and whether matrix multiplication alone can lead to artificial general intelligence. While opinions varied, all agreed that organizations like IMS are key to bringing together diverse expertise to tackle these questions collaboratively.
The Boundaries and Breakthroughs series continues in January with a panel on bioelectronics and medical technologies, reinforcing IMS’s commitment to fostering dialogue that spans the full spectrum of innovation.
]]>The Institute for Matter and Systems
]]>The event marks the culmination of the semester-long I2P course, where undergraduate students develop functional prototypes aimed at solving real-world problems. Prototypes this semester include a smart military drone, a gentler device for cervical cancer screening, a rotating espresso station, tools to keep AI safe, compact data centers, systems that simulate cyberattacks to help companies strengthen their defenses, and many more.
The showcase is free and open to students, faculty, staff, and members of the local community.
Winning teams will receive prizes and a “golden ticket” into CREATE-X’s Startup Launch, a summer accelerator that provides optional seed funding, accounting and legal service credits, mentorship, and more to help students turn their prototypes into viable startups.
This is a free event, and refreshments will be provided. Register for the Fall 2025 I2P Showcase today!
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