Architecting the Next Computing Era
A 2014-2026 vision for trusted scientific AI, neuromorphic and analog computing, and energy-efficient systems

Robinson Pino, Ph.D., Senior Engineering Director, United Semiconductors

Abstract:
For more than a decade, computing has been approaching a convergence point: transistor scaling has slowed, data movement and energy have become first-order constraints, artificial intelligence has reshaped scientific discovery, and the boundary between sensing, communication, and computation has begun to disappear. This seminar traces a coherent body of work from 2014 through 2026 that anticipated this convergence and helped establish the intellectual groundwork for technologies now moving into the mainstream.

Beginning with cognition-augmented cybersecurity and trustworthy scientific computing, the talk follows a progression through machine learning for self-aware extreme-scale systems; neuromorphic computing from materials and devices to software and applications; a federal vision for post-Moore computing; application-driven microelectronics co-design; AI-enabled scientific discovery and self-driving laboratories; and a secure digital continuum linking sensors, edge computing, advanced wireless networks, and high-performance computing. It then connects these foundations to current research agendas in neuromorphic, analog, and energy-efficient computing.

Across this work, five principles recur: move computation closer to data; treat energy, trust, and resilience as design constraints; co-design materials, devices, architectures, algorithms, and applications; use learning and autonomy to manage complexity; and build shared testbeds that turn concepts into deployable systems. Together, these principles provide a practical architecture for future technology development - from compute-in-memory and heterogeneous chiplets to adaptive scientific instruments, brain-inspired systems, and analog-digital platforms that exploit physics itself for computation. The seminar closes with research questions and opportunities for the next generation of researchers, scientists, and engineers.

Bio: Dr. Robinson Pino, Ph.D., is a technology leader and Senior Engineering Director at United Semiconductors whose work spans advanced microelectronics, neuromorphic, quantum, and analog computing, scientific artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and energy-efficient computing. For well over a decade, Dr. Pino has helped shape our national multidisciplinary research agendas connecting materials, devices, architectures, software, and scientific applications. Dr. Pino earned his doctorate from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is an author, inventor, and advocate for cross-layer co-design approaches that continues to translate emerging research into today's and future computing technologies.