AMERICAN electronic engineer Jack Kilby, who won the Nobel Prize for his work in developing the microchip, died last week, aged 81.
But the idea was first raised by researchers in Malvern in 1957, seven years before Kilby patented the concept.
Geoffrey Dummer and his team at RRE (now QinetiQ) came up with the idea of putting complete circuits in tiny bits of silicon.
Dummer, who died a few years ago, and his team failed to interest investors and the baton passed to the other side of the Atlantic. The microchip is now a multi-billion dollar industry and is seen as a symbol of Britain's failure to cash in on scientific developments.
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