Intel was founded in 1968 by Gordon E. Moore (a chemist and physicist) and Robert Noyce (a physicist and co-inventor of the integrated circuit) when they left Fairchild Semiconductor. A number of other Fairchild employees also went on to participate in other Silicon Valley companies. Intel's third employee [6] was Andy Grove, (a chemical engineer), who ran the company through much of the 1980s and the high-growth 1990s. Grove is now remembered as the company's key business and strategic leader. By the end of the 1990s, Intel was one of the largest and most successful businesses in the world.

Origin of the name

At its founding, Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce wanted to name their new company "Moore Noyce". This name, however, sounded remarkably similar to "more noise" — an ill-suited name for an electronics company, since noise is typically associated with bad interference. They then used the name NM Electronics for almost a year, before deciding to call their company INTegrated ELectronics or "Intel" for short. However, Intel was already trademarked by a hotel chain, so they had to buy the rights for that name at the beginning.

Robert Noyce, Ph.D.

Born:  December 12, 1927(1927-12-12) Burlington, Iowa

Died:  June 3, 1990 (aged 62)

Occupation:  Co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel

Biography

Noyce was born in Burlington, Iowa to Ralf and Harriet Noyce. He graduated with a BA in physics from Grinnell College in 1949 and a Ph.D. in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953.

While a student at Grinnell College, Noyce stole a pig from a nearby farmer for a college luau and then slaughtered it in Clark Hall. Confessing to the prank and offering to pay for the pig nearly earned him expulsion, if not for the intervention of Grant O. Gale, a physics professor at the time.

He joined William Shockley at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory division of Beckman Instruments, but left with the "Traitorous Eight" to create the influential Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation.

Robert Noyce and Gordon E. Moore (a chemist and physicist) founded Intel in 1968 when they left Fairchild Semiconductor. It is widely known that Noyce was disliked by one-time Intel CEO Andy Grove, who became the company's president in 1979. Grove is notorious for his directness in finding fault. He thought Noyce's "nice guy" attitude irritating and felt it was ineffectual.

Intel's headquarters building, the Robert Noyce Building, in Santa Clara, California is named in his honor, as is the Robert N. Noyce '49 Science Center, which houses the science division of Grinnell College, as is the conference room of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico.

Noyce was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1978 "for his contributions to the silicon integrated circuit, a cornerstone of modern electronics."

In his last interview , Noyce was asked what he would do if he were "emperor" of the United States. He said that he would, among other things, "make sure we are preparing our next generation to flourish in a high-tech age. And that means education of the lowest and the poorest, as well as at the graduate school level."

Noyce died from heart failure in 1990, aged 62.

By Asbin Bayshal