This $1,500,000 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) program supports research at the University of Pittsburgh to develop sustainable computing solutions by recycling and reintegrating decommissioned computer chips.
The project aims to minimize the environmental impact of computing systems across their lifecycle, including manufacturing, usage, and disposal. The key technical approaches involve creating "refresh" Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices by reusing retired FPGA chips and integrating them using 2.5-dimensional integration methods. This is expected to significantly reduce carbon emissions from new chip fabrication. The research consists of four main thrusts focused on FPGA architecture, hardware analysis and prototyping, sustainability analysis and optimization, and accelerating applications like machine learning and genomics. The project's broader impacts include engaging K-12 students in environmental science and sustainability topics related to computing.
Generated 6/18/24, 1:06 PM