Dr. Philip Emma has his PhD in Electrical Engineering, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has recently retired from his position as Chief Scientist at IBM TJ Watson Research Center, in Yorktown Heights, NY.

 

I was hired into IBM Research by the man who had been the Chief Engineer on the wold's first Stored-Program Computer (a computer that can run a program), working with John von Neumann during World War Two. The goal of that machine was to do very complex calculations that couldn't be done by rooms full of people with pencils and paper. It's purpose was to design detonation for the atom bomb. Doing those calculations required that the computer could run a program that could react - change its' function - based on the answers that it was computing.

 

My main expertise is in Computer Architecture, which has to do with the organizations of the internal parts of a computer, and how those organizations effect the performance of the computer. Doing this requires knowing about lots of other things.

 

In addition to Architecture itself, I've worked in circuit design, transmission lines, electronic packaging, optics, silicon technology, and several other things. While each of these disciplines requires its specific expertise, "Architecture" requires a fairly deep understanding of all of them. Projecting Architecture into the future requires a grasp of how computers are used today, how that might evolve, and also of all of the processes and technologies required to make them. It's a strongly technical discipline that also takes an artistic flair.

 

I wrote parts of 6 books and 300 articles on technology and architecture, and I hold over 200 patents. My first book was never published because the legal team viewed it as too confidential. When I wrote it, no one in the field knew anything about the topic. It explained how to dissect the performance of a computer processor so that it could be predicted for various workloads. This allows you to tailor your designs, and optimize the processor for how it's used.

 

I've lectured and given keynote presentations at many computer conferences, and I've taught at several universities. Now that I'm retired from a large company, I work as an expert witness for patent litigation. My books on technology include:

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Quantum Mechanics for Dummies

by Philip Emma & Ferenc Bozso

(In Progress)

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3D Integration for VLSI Systems

(ISBN 9789814303811)

Editors: Chuan Seng Tan, Kuan-Neng Chen, Steven J. Koester;

A Systems Perspective on 3D Design: What is 3D? And What is 3D Good For?

by Philip Emma & Eren Kursun

(Published September 26, 2011 by CRC Press),

 

High-Performance Energy-Efficient Microprocessor Design

(ISBN 0387340475, 9780387340470)

Editors: Vojin G. Oklobdzija, Ram K. Krishnamurthy;

How Is Bandwidth Used in Computers? by Philip Emma

(Published August 9, 2006 by Springer Science & Business Media)

 

Speculative Execution in High Performance Computer Architectures

(ISBN 1420035150, 9781420035155),

Editors: David Kaeli, Pen-Chung Yew;

Branch Prediction by Philip G Emma
(Published May 26, 2005 by CRC Press)

 

Encyclopedia of Computer Science, Third Edition

(ISBN 0-442-27679-6)

Editors: Anthony Ralston & Edwin D. Reilly;

Chapter on Storage Hierarchies by Philip Emma

(Published 1993 by Van Nostrand Reinhold)

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Components of Uniprocessor Performance

Philip Emma

(Never Published - deemed "Confidential Restricted")

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While growing up, I first worked as a busboy, and then as a short-order cook in three different restaurants. I've always been interested in cuisine, and had always made it a point to read restaurant reviews, to go to highly rated restaurants to experience their food, and to do lots of my own cooking at home.

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Growing up, I also worked for several masonry contractors, so I know how to mix mortar and cement, and how to lay bricks and cinderblocks.

    

Now that I'm retired, I'm doing what I've always wanted to do: writing fiction. I've always been an avid reader. Somehow, I made it through college without ever taking an English class, so I didn't hate books, and I never assumed that all books had to do with Freud.

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While I enjoy all kinds of books, I was always drawn to some of the dry humor that some detective stories bring to bear. I'm trying to do that in these books. They don't contain gore or explicit sex. The goal is to amuse, to provoke thought, and perhaps to educate slightly.

 

Personally, I've always enjoyed writers like Raymond Chandler, Lawrence Block, and Janet Evanovich.

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