Professor
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
The American University in Cairo
Egypt
Professor Khaled El-Ayat is a professor of practice in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at The American University in Cairo (AUC). He joined AUC as faculty in September 2003. Dr. El-Ayat received his PhD in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1977, his MASc EE/CS from the University of Toronto in 1971, and his BSc EE from Cairo University in 1968. Starting in 1977, prior to joining AUC, Dr. El-Ayat worked as an Adjunct Professor at Santa Clara University, also becoming a founder and vice president of Actel Corporation (IPO 93) and an Intel Microprocessor Designer. As an Actel Founder, Dr. El-Ayat developed the first anti-fuse Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA); Actel's customers have landed 60 Actel FPGAs on Mars using this technology. Actel is now a public company with $200M annual revenues and 600 employees. Prior to founding Actel, Dr. El-Ayat developed Intel’s first 32-bit microprocessor [80386]. This processor is on display in the Smithonian Institute Chip Collection, Washington D.C. with Dr. El-Ayat's initials engraved on the chip. Dr. El-Ayat also served as a general partner at America Pacific Venture Capital Fund, which specializes in early stage high-technology companies.