IBM’s Austin Research Lab
Since its inception in 1995, the Austin
Research Lab (ARL) has focused its energies on a series of significant
topics which have contributed to IBM's business lines. A sampling
of these are: systems architectures, systems level power analysis,
high performance VLSI design and VLSI tools. In each of these areas
the research team at ARL has distinguished itself by innovation
and accomplishment.
As a partner in the larger IBM community, both on the Austin site,
and worldwide, researchers at ARL work cooperatively with colleagues
in many IBM divisions on projects which solve critical problems
and bring new solutions and techniques to IBM's portfolio of offerings.
In keeping with IBM's heritage as a dynamic research organization,
the ARL research team is active in many professional organizations,
conferences and has long-standing and deep relationships with many
top universities. ARL is a small lab with a big reach.
"I love it ... it's my dream job, " exclaims AJ KleinOsowski,
a former research summer student and Ph.D. Fellowship winner from
the University of Minnesota. KleinOsowski has joined the Austin
Research team as a full-time research staff member and now focuses
her efforts on fault-tolerant design. She is a shining example of
the exceptional technical talent being recruited into IBM.
"It has a very small company feel," says KleinOsowski
as she describes the atmosphere at the Austin Research Lab. "This
freedom allows a lot more creativity to be inspired...and more energetic
things can happen."
"It's very easy to talk to everyone and have intellectual
conversations," Jun Sawada, a formal verification researcher
explains. "I think that's the best thing about ARL, among other
things, is that there are lots of students who are fresh and have
great ideas, and the interaction with them is really intellectually
exciting..."
“I love the autonomy here ... and I like that the work is
really interesting," adds Chuck Alpert, a design automation
researcher specializing in physical design and synthesis.
It’s your job to become famous,” he says almost gleefully.
“My work is very involved in bottom-line activities -- there’s
a direct path from my work into IBM productivity. But I (also) publish
regularly. As long as you become famous, you’re helping IBM’s
reputation, so you’re doing your job.”
And the researchers at ARL are doing it very ... efficiently. The
lab produces more patents per person than the rest of IBM Research
by a factor of five – an accomplishment that speaks to their
contributions to IBM’s products, as well as its prestige."
Part of what fosters the creative energy is a lab design that allows
its 70+ research staff members to work in spacious cubicles, rather
than offices, to encourage a free-flowing exchange of ideas. And
the researchers say the lab’s small size means they don’t
have to wade through layers of bureaucracy to put ideas into action.
“The cubes are definitely something I like about ARL,”
says Ram Rajamony, and "the fact that we have good Starbucks
Columbian coffee is the best!"
Rajamony manages the Novel Systems Architecture group at the lab
-- one of many researching the very exciting and revolutionary PERCS
(Productive, Easy-to-use, Reliable Computing System) project. It
was a huge accomplishment for IBM to be awarded $53.3 million in
funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
to conduct this ground-breaking research, which is being managed
at the Austin Research Lab.
In addition to its own ongoing power-related research, ARL, as
part of IBM's Low Power Initiative, is helping to coordinate low
power and energy efficiency activities and bring people together
throughout IBM who are working in these important areas. The Energy
Efficiency Institute (EEI) works to focus development, technology
and research on energy efficient activities to accelerate today's
technology and help clarify a roadmap for the future.
"You can't just shrink things and make them go faster...you
have to think of more intelligent ways," explains Bruce Knaack,
EEI's program director.
To achieve such goals and showcase the progress, ARL hosts the
annual Austin Conference on Energy-Efficient Design (ACEED), which
provides a forum to exchange ideas on low-power techniques and methodologies
and to promote research on critical areas relating to energy-efficient
computing. The Austin Research Lab is ideal to host such an event
... the researchers are high-energy about low-power.
Outside of work, too, the energy is high for ARL researchers who
say they love Austin’s young, creative, and culturally-rich
population. "There's something for everybody," Rajamony
says.
With mild winters and hot summers, a population of about 1.1 million
in greater Austin live for the outdoors. There are parks and wilderness
preserves, lakes ideal for boating and water-skiing, and hike-and-bike
trails where devoted joggers, walkers and cyclists flock every hour
of the day.
Austin also provides a lively night-life and is known as the "Live
Music Capital of the World." A large concentration of live
music, bars and restaurant can found downtown in the Warehouse District
and along Sixth Street.
There is no place quite like Austin to innovate.
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