“Our objective has been to make knowledge available to everyone and help them to build better computers”

After receiving the 13th BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in ICT, David Patterson addresses the impact of RISC architecture and redundant systems on the evolution of modern computing. He explains how design decisions based on simplicity, efficiency, and reliability transformed processor performance and set a new standard in computer engineering. His account demonstrates the power of experimentation and collaborative work.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Information and Communication Technologies has gone in this thirteenth edition to John L. Hennessy (Stanford University) and David A. Patterson (University of California, Berkeley) for taking computer architecture, the discipline behind the central processor or “brain” of every computer system, and launching it as a new scientific area.