The ECE Ph.D. graduate, who is completing a research fellowship at Stanford University, was recognized for her research into more efficient AI computing.
The unstoppable rise of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to demand a vast and growing amount of power resources. Power has become increasingly expensive and taxing on current AI infrastructure, while also contributing to climate change.
Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Ph.D. graduate and current Stanford University research fellow Fabia Farlin Athena has made it her goal to make AI computing more efficient, while addressing financial accessibility.
Forbes honored her efforts by naming her to its annual North American 30 Under 30 Energy and Green Tech list. She was included alongside tech entrepreneurs, scientists, and public servants, all working to power a more sustainable future.
“I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my advisors, Prof. Eric M. Vogel and Prof. H.-S. Philip Wong, for their unwavering support and guidance,” Athena said. “I would also like to thank my mentors and collaborators at Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford, IBM Research, and TSMC Corporate Research. Finally, I would like to thank Georgia Tech ECE for providing the platform to learn and grow during my Ph.D,”
Athena’s research focuses on developing emerging memory and logic technologies using oxide semiconductors and low dimensional materials for energy-efficient AI. Her current research focuses on high bandwidth oxide semiconductor gaincell memories.
She is in the midst of a prestigious three-year Stanford Energy Postdoctoral Fellowship sponsored by Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy and Doerr School of Sustainability, where she is working with electrical engineering professor H.-S. Philip Wong and materials science and engineering professor Alberto Salleo.
The fellowship aims to identify, develop, and connect the next generation of energy leaders — from science and engineering to policy and economics — to translate theoretical climate change solutions into tangible realities.
Athena is one of 14 Georgia Tech alumni, students, and faculty members named to the list, spanning nine categories.