# Federico Faggin

> Federico Faggin is an Italian-American physicist, engineer, entrepreneur and author. He developed silicon-gate technology at Fairchild, led the design and development of Intel’s 4004 microprocessor, and co-founded Zilog and Synaptics. He now leads the Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation, supporting the study of consciousness.

- **Role:** President at Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation
- **Organizations:** Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation, Synaptics Incorporated, Zilog, Intel, Fairchild Semiconductor, SGS-Fairchild, Cygnet Technologies, Foveon, Olivetti
- **From:** Vicenza, Italy
- **Nationality:** Italian-American
- **Education:** Laurea in Physics, summa cum laude, University of Padua, Technical secondary education, I.T.I.S. Alessandro Rossi, Vicenza
- **Known for:** Developed practical MOS silicon-gate technology and the Fairchild 3708 integrated circuit., Led chip design and development of the Intel 4004 and its companion MCS-4 components., Conceived the Z80 architecture and directed its development at Zilog.

## Career timeline

- **1961** — Co-designed and built an experimental transistorized computer at Olivetti at age 19.
- **1965** — Graduated in physics from the University of Padua.
- **1968** — Moved to California; developed MOS silicon-gate technology at Fairchild.
- **1970** — Joined Intel and led design and development of the MCS-4 chip family.
- **1971** — Intel introduced the 4004 commercial microprocessor.
- **1974** — Co-founded Zilog with Ralph Ungermann.
- **1976** — Zilog introduced the Z80, whose architecture Faggin conceived and development he directed.
- **1982** — Founded Cygnet Technologies.
- **1986** — Co-founded Synaptics with Carver Mead; served as founding president and CEO.
- **1999** — Became Synaptics chairman after serving as CEO.
- **2003–2008** — Served as Foveon president and CEO.
- **2011** — Established the Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation with his wife Elvia.
- **2015** — Gift and matching funds established a $1 million endowed chair in physics of information at UC Santa Cruz.

## Achievements

- Developed practical MOS silicon-gate technology and the Fairchild 3708 integrated circuit.
- Led chip design and development of the Intel 4004 and its companion MCS-4 components.
- Conceived the Z80 architecture and directed its development at Zilog.
- Co-founded Synaptics, a developer of touchpads and touchscreen technology.
- Marconi Prize, 1988.
- National Inventors Hall of Fame induction, 1996.
- Shared Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology with Hoff, Mazor and Shima, 1997.
- 2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, presented in 2010.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Publisher lists the English edition of Beyond the Invisible: Where Science and Spirituality Merge for October 27, 2026.
- **2026-10** — The Pari Center scheduled Faggin with Donald Hoffman and Jonathan Allday for its October 16–19 workshop on consciousness as a fundamental aspect of reality.
- **2026-08** — European Academy of Engineering announced Faggin as a 2026 Full Member.

## Links

- Website: https://siliconthebook.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/federicofaggin/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/fedefaggin
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fedefaggin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fedefaggin

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/federico-faggin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-27