We live in the age of information where electronics play a critical role in our daily life. Moore’s Law: performance over cost has inspired innovation in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology and enabled high performance, ultra-scaled CMOS electronics. Moving forward as Internet of Everything (IoE) with advanced energy harvesting technologies seamlessly connects people, process, device and data – can CMOS technology be expanded further to achieve new features in CMOS electronics while maintaining and/or strengthening existing attributes? Can the existing applications be further strengthened and/or diversified? What potential applications may emerge? What energy harvesting technology will be able to meet the power requirements? This talk addresses these questions through three main projects: 1) Nano-islands growth using an atomic layer deposition tool for application in low power non-volatile memory devices, 2) Multi-dimensional integration of heterogeneous materials and devices into a standalone system with a reduced area, high yield and low cost for IoT applications and 3) Flexing and stretching of inorganic solar cells with high efficiency for application in wearables, foldable electronics and solar drones. Finally, this talk proposes a new research direction that contributes to a world where more connectivity and more computations are possible at a reduced energy consumption. This will be addressed using an innovative, smart and multifunctional memory device (MEMSOR) which enables In-Memory Sensing.

Nazek El-Atab is an Assistant Professor ECE and the Principal investigator of the Smart, Advanced Memory devices and Applications lab (SAMA) at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia. Dr. Nazek El-Atab received her Ph.D. degree in Interdisciplinary Engineering from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE, in 2017, under a cooperative program with the MIT and funded by the US Office of Naval Research. Dr. El-Atab’s research interest focuses on the design and fabrication of smart memory and electronic devices and their applications, including in-memory computing and in-memory sensing. 

Dr. El-Atab has received several awards for her research, including the 2015 For Women in Science Middle East Fellowship by L’Oreal-UNESCO, the 2016 IEEE Nanotechnology Student Travel Award, the 2017 International Rising Talents Award by L’Oreal-UNESCO, the 2018 “Hariri Canadian University” Alumni Award, and was portrayed in the 2019 “Remarkable Women in Technology” by UNESCO. Dr. El-Atab was also selected to participate in the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany, was selected among the 2020 UC Berkeley EECS Rising Stars, among the 10 Innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review Arabia, 2020, and as a “NEOM Changemaker”, 2021. She has published over 40 papers in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference proceedings, 2 book chapters, 2 books and 9 filed U.S. patents. She is an IEEE Electron Devices Society Distinguished Lecturer. Her research has been highlighted extensively in international media including in IEEE Spectrum, National Geographic, BBC, MIT Technology Review, Sky News Arabia, MBC, etc.