ECE Seminar: Advanced Packaging as the Engine of the AI Systems Era
Presenter: Tolga Acikalin, System and Package Architect, Lumilens
Description: The rapid rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning—most notably recent breakthroughs in large language models—is reshaping the trajectory of the semiconductor industry and ushering in a new era of system innovation. As performance scaling at the device level slows, heterogeneous integration (HI) has emerged as a foundational technology to sustain advances in computing and communication. By integrating separately manufactured components with diverse functions into a single system, HI enables new levels of functionality, performance, and efficiency that are no longer achievable through traditional scaling alone.
Realizing the full potential of heterogeneous systems demands a shift toward holistic system-level co-design, with advanced packaging assuming a central and strategic role. This talk will briefly review the evolution of packaging technologies and then focus on advanced packaging architectures that enable heterogeneous integration.Topics will include advances in 2D and 3D interconnect technologies, the introduction of novel packaging materials such as glass substrates, and the growing role of photonic links, including co-packaged optics enabled by silicon photonics. The talk will conclude with a discussion of power delivery and thermal management as system-level challenges and opportunities that will shape the next generation of high-performance, energy-efficient systems.
Bio: Tolga Acikalin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, and his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
He joined Intel in 2007 as a Research and Development Engineer, working on assembly and test pathfinding projects within the Technology and Manufacturing Group in Chandler, Arizona. From 2013 to 2025, he was a Principal Engineer at Intel Labs in Santa Clara, California, where he led and influenced innovative strategies for heterogeneous system integration, spanning package- to wafer-scale solutions, with a strong emphasis on next-generation interconnect technologies. Tolga is currently a System and Package Architect at Lumilens, where he focuses on next-generation photonic interconnect solutions, ranging from near-packaged optics to co-packaged optics.
His technical interests include co-packaged optics and silicon photonics, optical and sub-THz to THz RF high-speed interconnects and the associated advanced package architectures, novel advanced packaging solutions such as glass substrates, and optical computing. Tolga has authored or co-authored more than 15 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications in leading APS, ASME, and IEEE venues, including best paper awards at IEEE RFIC and JSCC. He holds nine issued patents and more than 27 additional patent filings.
Hosted by: Professor Soumya Bose, ECE Department
Zoom Link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97975378707?pwd=ljcgaCfhMmhZ88Vt5dqQUBVQRjehOx.1
