Tuesday, September 3, 2019 | 6:30pm. Fugazi Hall, 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard, San Francisco, CA. Free Admission | RSVP Required. The Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in San Francisco invite you to the first American preview of the book Silicio (Mondadori 2019) by Federico Faggin. The event is moderated by Mauro Aprile Zanetti.

Federico Faggin, inventor and entrepreneur, was born in Vicenza, Italy, in 1941, and graduated in physics, summa cum laude, at the University of Padua in 1965. He has been a resident of the United States since 1968. In 1970-1971, Faggin was project leader and designer of the Intel 4004, the first microprocessor in the world. He also led all the early Intel microprocessors (8008, 4040, and 8080) and designed the Intel 2102A fast static RAM memory, introducing the depletion load technology to Intel.

Most importantly, he was the project leader and the developer of the original MOS silicon gate technology at Fairchild Semiconductor in 1968, the technology that allowed the design and manufacturing of microprocessors, non-volatile memories (EPROM, etc.), DRAM memories and CCD image sensors-the essential elements for the digitization of information.

In 1974 he founded Zilog, Inc., giving life to the famous Z80 microprocessor and Z8 micro-controller, still in volume production today. In 1986 he co-founded Synaptics, the company that developed the first Touchpad and Touchscreen that have revolutionized the way we interface with mobile computers.

On October 19, 2010, he received the 2009 National Medal for Technology and Innovation from President Obama for the invention of the microprocessor. In 2011 he founded the Federico & Elvia Faggin Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the scientific study of consciousness. The Foundation sponsors theoretical and experimental research at US universities and research institutes. It also helped establish a chair in the Physics of Information in 2015, at the University of Santa Cruz.

Mauro Aprile Zanetti is a San Francisco-based, multimedia brand strategist and published author. He is Chief Evangelist at Cloud4Wi.

The event is in English. Organized in collaboration with Italian Community Services, ISSNAF, and The Leonardo da Vinci Society.