SRC 2024 Sustainable Future Award

Presented to:

Professor Chris Kim of the University of Minnesota has been honored with the prestigious SRC Sustainable Future Award for his groundbreaking contributions to energy efficiency and sustainability. This accolade recognizes his outstanding work on the SRC GRC Artificial Intelligence Hardware project "Quantum-Inspired CMOS Ising Accelerators" (3024.001), where he has developed a revolutionary quantum-inspired method to tackle complex NP-hard and NP-complete problems.

Professor Kim's innovative approach leverages CMOS ring oscillators to approximate solutions similar to quantum computers but with a remarkable difference in energy consumption. While current state-of-the-art quantum machines demand a staggering 25kW of power for cryogenic cooling, Professor Kim's solution operates on a mere 0.03W using standard CMOS technology—nearly one-millionth of the power required by conventional quantum systems.

This groundbreaking research was featured in a Nature article on August 31, 2023, highlighting its significant potential for sustainable technological advancements. Professor Kim's work not only promises to revolutionize computational efficiency but also aligns perfectly with the goals of the SRC Sustainable Future Award by promoting energy-efficient and sustainable solutions in technology.