Interview of Lynn Conway

A major feature in computing history is the evolving ability to “write on silicon” and thereby create novel computational structures in increasingly fast, compact and power-efficient hardware. In 1978, Xerox PARC researcher and MIT professor Lynn Conway, together with Caltech's Carver Mead, developed a simple and powerful method of designing and fabricating very large-scale integration (VLSI) integrated circuits. Their method, often referred to as “Mead-Conway,” began a revolution in IC design that continues to this day.