Moore to receive IEEE top honour

The IEEE is awarding its Medal of Honour to Gordon Moore

Intel co-founder and Silicon Valley icon Gordon Moore is to receive the IEEE's highest honour later this month.

The group said that Moore will receive the Medal of Honour for "pioneering technical roles in integrated circuit processing, and leadership in the development of MOS memory, the microprocessor computer and the semiconductor industry".

Moore founded Intel in 1968 with colleague Robert Noyce and served as chief executive and chairman from 1975 until 1987.

In that time, the chipmaker expanded its operations to become the world's top supplier of PC central processors.

Moore's greatest legacy, however, may be the rule he suggested in a 1965 issue of Electronics Magazine.

In the article, Moore suggested that the number of transistors which could be placed within an integrated circuit would double every two years as new manufacturing techniques and materials became available.

'Moore's Law' became the unofficial goal for chipmakers in later decades and continues to serve as a guideline for computer scientists and electronics manufacturers.

"Moore is being awarded the 2008 IEEE Medal of Honour for his contributions to the advancement of semiconductor technology, both as an engineer and entrepreneur, and for helping to shape the global electronics industry," said the organisation.

Also set to be honoured by the IEEE are BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and World Wide Web visionary Tim Berners-Lee.