Ashawna Hailey created the HSPICE

SPICE

SPICE is a general-purpose, open source analog electronic circuit simulator.It is a powerful program that is used in integrated circuit and board-level design to check the integrity of circuit designs and to predict circuit behavior.- Introduction :Unlike board-level designs composed of discrete...

 program which large parts of the worldwide semiconductor industry use to simulate and design silicon chips. Her company, Meta-Software, produced compound annual growth rate in excess of 25-30 percent every year for 18 years, and eventually became part of Synopsys

Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. is one of the largest companies in the Electronic Design Automation industry. Synopsys' first and best-known product is Design Compiler, a logic-synthesis tool. Synopsys offers a wide range of other products used in the design of an application-specific integrated circuit...

, which calls HSPICE "the 'gold standard' for accurate circuit simulation". In 1973 she created Advanced Micro Devices

Advanced Micro Devices

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. or AMD is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for commercial and consumer markets...

' first microprocessor, the Am9080

AMD Am9080

Am9080 is a CPU manufactured by AMD. It was originally produced without license as a clone of the Intel 8080, reverse-engineered by Shawn and Kim Hailey by photographing an early Intel chip and developing a schematic and logic diagrams from the images...

, a clone of the Intel 8080

Intel 8080

The Intel 8080 was the second 8-bit microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel and was released in April 1974. It was an extended and enhanced variant of the earlier 8008 design, although without binary compatibility...

, and in 1974, AMD's first nonvolatile memory, the 2702 2048-bit EPROM

EPROM

An EPROM , or erasable programmable read only memory, is a type of memory chip that retains its data when its power supply is switched off. In other words, it is non-volatile. It is an array of floating-gate transistors individually programmed by an electronic device that supplies higher voltages...

. Earlier, she built the launch sequencer for the Sprint Anti-Ballistic Missile System

Safeguard Program

The Safeguard Program was a United States Army anti-ballistic missile system developed during the late 1960s. Safeguard was designed to protect U.S. ICBM missile sites from counterforce attack, thus preserving the option of an unimpeded retaliatory strike. Safeguard used much of the same technology...

 for Martin Marietta

Martin Marietta

Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of The Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. The combined company became a leader in chemicals, aerospace, and electronics. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. The...

.

She attended Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...

 along with her twin brother Kim, starting her first company while still in college.

Shawn was born a man, but changed her gender to female and her name to Ashawna after retiring from her career in technology.

As a philanthropist, Ashawna sought to reform government policies on recreational drugs. She donated to the ACLU Foundation

American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...

, Code Pink

Code Pink

Code Pink: Women for Peace is an anti-war group that is mainly composed of women. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and many more chapters in the U.S. as well as several in other countries...

, the Drug Policy Alliance

Drug Policy Alliance

The Drug Policy Alliance is a New York City-based non-profit organization, led by executive director Ethan Nadelmann, with the principal goal of ending the American "War on Drugs"...

, Feeding America, Rainforest Action Network

Rainforest Action Network

Rainforest Action Network is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, USA. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, with the financial help of Fund for Wild Nature....

, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is a non-profit, international, educational organization comprising former and current police officers, government agents and other law enforcement agents who oppose the current War on Drugs. LEAP was founded on March 16, 2002...

, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies is a membership-based 501 non-profit research and educational organization working to develop psychedelics and marijuana into legal prescription drugs...

(MAPS), and served
on the board of MAPS.