Look Who it Was Random video

Oral History of Steve Trimberger

855 views · Published 23 July 2018 · 2:41:01 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: Computer History Museum · 2018 · Science & Technology

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Interviewed by Doug Fairbairn and Jesse Jenkins, on 2017-10-16 in Mountain View, CA  X8370.2018
© Computer History Museum

Steve grew up in California, attending mainly Catholic schools. He entered Caltech in the mid-1970’s with the goal of becoming an engineer. He had a philosophy of exploring all the opportunities which surfaced while in college, so spent some time at Palomar observatory and Jet Propulsion Lab. Upon graduation he went to UC Irvine for a year to earn a Masters degree, but found his way back to Caltech for a degree in Computer Science. 

Upon graduation, Steve joined VLSI Technology in 1983 to work on software for Electronic Design Automation.  Five years later he moved on to Xilinx where he spent 30 years in an incredibly rich and productive career helping to guide all aspects of Xilinx’s work in FPGAs (Field Programmable Logic Arrays), including architecture, design, and software. While there, he authored several hundred patents covering a variety of topics and technologies.
 
He is now retired and “paying it forward”, spending significant chunks of his time and money in helping people in the area of amateur athletics and also helping to increase the appreciation and understanding of science and technology.

* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview.  However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterwards.  This may result in discrepancies between the transcript text and the video recording. Please see the transcript for further information: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102740229

Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.

Catalog Number: 102740230
Lot Number: X8370.2018

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