PRISM Center Shines at Its First Annual Review

Jan 25, 2024
Tajana Šimunić-Rosing, with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering Department at the Jacobs School of Engineering, talks at the first-annual review of the PRISM center.

The new Processing with Intelligent Storage and Memory center, or PRISM, was awarded its second-year funding recently during a successful annual review by the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). The $50.5 million center, led by UC San Diego computer science professor Tajana Šimunić-Rosing, aims to make computing orders of magnitude faster and more efficient in an era where the amount of data and its complexity is growing exponentially. 

In its first year, PRISM established a tight collaboration with member companies and academic stakeholders, launched 11 SEED projects, and recruited 115 students as well as 17 interns and 9 full-time hires. With 20 awards, more than 40 speaking engagements and 30 news articles to date, PRISM members have cemented the center as a bright, forward-thinking force in the field, problem-solving for next-generation information and communications challenges.

A panel at the first-annual review of PRISM.
A panel of PRISM supporters at the center's first annual review. 

PRISM was established with a $35 million grant from the Semiconductor Research Corporation. The grant is part of the JUMP 2.0 program, which seeks to significantly improve performance, efficiency, and capabilities across a range of electronics systems.

Additionally, a group of 10 universities banded together to contribute additional funds to create the $50.5 million PRISM center. Partnering institutions in PRISM include Stanford University; Georgia Tech;  University of California at Los Angeles, Berkeley and Irvine; University of Wisconsin Madison; Penn State University; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; University of Texas at Austin; and University of Virginia.