Ioannis Vourkas
Dr. Ioannis Vourkas was born in Kozani, Greece, in 1985. He received the M. Eng. (Diploma) and the Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Eng. (ECE) from the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTh), Greece, in 2008 and 2014, respectively. In 2015 he became a postdoctoral researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC). Currently he is Associate Professor with Tenure in the Dept. of Electronic Eng. of Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM) in Valparaíso, Chile. Ever since 2018, he also holds an associate researcher appointment with the AC3E Research Center of UTFSM in the AI Research group. His current research focuses on ReRAM characterization, modeling, and simulation, and on novel circuits and architectures for ReRAM-centric computing. His research interests include unconventional and in-memory computing, as well as software and hardware aspects of parallel bio-inspired computational circuits and systems. He is the main author of one book, four (4) book chapters, of more than thirty (30) international journal articles and more than fifty (50) papers included in peer-reviewed conference proceedings. He has given eight (8) invited talks in national and international conferences/workshops on topics related to ReRAM technology, and two (2) extended tutorial talks in international IEEE conferences. in He is IEEE CASS and NanoGiga TC member, and serves in the Editorial Board of IEEE Trans. on Nanotechnology (since 2021) and Elsevier Microelectronics Journal (since 2017). He has been a scholar of the Greek BODOSSAKI Foundation (2011 to 2014) and of the Santander Universities Program (2018/2019).
The Rise of ReRAM Technology & Instrumentation Solutions to Boost R&D Efforts in Academia
The technology of resistive switching devices (ReRAM devices or just "memristors") is continuously maturing and has already attracted a wide interest from the industrial sector. Several companies around the world are putting efforts towards ReRAM nanofabrication and commercialization of innovative products exploiting such emerging technology. Promising applications range from nonvolatile resistive memories (ReRAM memories) to neuromorphic and memory-centric computing. Comprehension of memristor fundamental behavior through simulation-based learning, is the key substrate before further experimentation can take place with true device characterization. Even though it is the practical laboratory work which certainly motivates the students & researchers to implement and test their application ideas in hardware, their initiation in practical experiments with real resistive switching electronic devices is still lacking enough attention from academia. The lack of knowledge of the necessary experiments and strategies to follow for the adequate operation of such devices, is a limiting factor in this direction. In this context, this talk will first present the fundamental operations of resistive memory cells and the opportunities given by such technology in different application fields. Next, the talk will highlight the relevant challenges owing to the functional imperfections of the devices. Finally, the talk will conclude with results from the development of the "RevI-Ve Project", an ad-hoc instrumentation solution for ReRAM devices which enables the quick realization of a variety of complex, yet fully-customizable, laboratory experiments with real ReRAM devices, and is suitable both for educational and for research purposes. The RevI-Ve tool concerns a comprehensive graphical user interface (GUI), compatible with the Digilent Analog Discovery instrument series, and supports different voltage-/current-based circuit topologies to access the ReRAM devices, which are readily-available in a printed circuit board (PCB) designed to directly connect to the Digilent AD2 instrument. The audience will learn about the current status of the RevI-Ve project and the principal advantages it offers for laboratory work, the variety of experiments it facilitates, and see results with data collected from measurements on commercial ReRAM devices sold by Knowm Inc. Both the RevI-Ve Project itself and the circuit topologies that will be shown, which facilitate laboratory experiments with ReRAM devices, are expected to motivate the audience to dare bring to the laboratory and test their application ideas for memristor technology.
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