Arizona State University computer scientist Carole-Jean Wu is gaining attention for her work to improve the energy efficiency of both large- and small-scale computing nodes, encompassing everything from desktop processors, smartphones and other mobile devices to business-scale data centers.

Wu's research focuses on designs for chip-multiprocessors and heterogeneous computing systems, energy-efficient smartphone architecture and architectural energy harvesting techniques for modern computing nodes. Rather than allowing superfluous heat generated by devices to reduce performance speed, Wu decided to harvest it with a thermoelectric generator, which converts heat to electricity using a phenomenon called the Seebeck effect.

Wu’s paper, “Architectural Thermal Energy Harvesting Opportunities for Sustainable Computing,” recently received the Best of Computer Architecture Letters (CAL) award.