Bob Colwell
Encyclopedia
IA-32
IA-32 , also known as x86-32, i386 or x86, is the CISC instruction-set architecture of Intel's most commercially successful microprocessors, and was first implemented in the Intel 80386 as a 32-bit extension of x86 architecture...
architect on the Pentium Pro
Pentium Pro
The Pentium Pro is a sixth-generation x86 microprocessor developed and manufactured by Intel introduced in November 1, 1995 . It introduced the P6 microarchitecture and was originally intended to replace the original Pentium in a full range of applications...
, Pentium II
Pentium II
The Pentium II brand refers to Intel's sixth-generation microarchitecture and x86-compatible microprocessors introduced on May 7, 1997. Containing 7.5 million transistors, the Pentium II featured an improved version of the first P6-generation core of the Pentium Pro, which contained 5.5 million...
, Pentium III
Pentium III
The Pentium III brand refers to Intel's 32-bit x86 desktop and mobile microprocessors based on the sixth-generation P6 microarchitecture introduced on February 26, 1999. The brand's initial processors were very similar to the earlier Pentium II-branded microprocessors...
, and Pentium 4
Pentium 4
Pentium 4 was a line of single-core desktop and laptop central processing units , introduced by Intel on November 20, 2000 and shipped through August 8, 2008. They had a 7th-generation x86 microarchitecture, called NetBurst, which was the company's first all-new design since the introduction of the...
microprocessors. Bob retired from Intel in 2000. He was an Intel Fellow from 1995 to 2000.
Colwell earned the ACM
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
Eckert-Mauchly Award in 2005, and wrote the "At Random" column for Computer
Computer (magazine)
Computer is an IEEE Computer Society practitioner-oriented magazine issued to all members of the society. It contains peer-reviewed articles, regular columns and interviews on current computing-related issues. The magazine can be categorized somewhere between a trade magazine and a research...
, a journal published by the IEEE Computer Society
IEEE Computer Society
The IEEE Computer Society is a professional society of IEEE. Its purpose and scope is “to advance the theory, practice, and application of computer and information processing science and technology” and the “professional standing of its members.” The CS is the largest of 38 technical societies...
.
Colwell is the author of several papers in addition to the book The Pentium Chronicles: The People, Passion, and Politics Behind Intel's Landmark Chips, ISBN 0-471-73617-1.
Besides being a prolific computer architect, Colwell is known to be a charismatic speaker and is highly respected as an engineer both inside and outside Intel. He has spoken at universities on the numerous challenges in chip design and management principles needed to tackle them.
Colwell grew up in a small blue collar town in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and was born into a family of six children. His father was a milkman for 35 years and his parents worked hard to provide for their children. Colwell was raised with strong family values and an emphasis on education. He attended the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
to get an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering. He later attended Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
to get a PhD in Electrical Engineering. Colwell worked at a company called Multiflow
Multiflow
Multiflow Computer, Inc. , founded in April, 1984 near New Haven, Connecticut, USA, was a manufacturer and seller of minisupercomputer hardware and software embodying the VLIW design style...
in the late 1980s as a design engineer. In 1990 he joined Intel as a senior architect and was involved in the development of the P6 "core"
P6 (microarchitecture)
The P6 microarchitecture is the sixth generation Intel x86 microarchitecture, implemented by the Pentium Pro microprocessor that was introduced in November 1995. It is sometimes referred to as i686. It was succeeded by the NetBurst microarchitecture in 2000, but eventually revived in the Pentium M...
. The P6 core was used in the Pentium Pro, Pentium II, and Pentium III microprocessors, and designs derived from it are used in the Pentium M
Pentium M
The Pentium M brand refers to a family of mobile single-core x86 microprocessors introduced in March 2003 , and forming a part of the Intel Carmel notebook platform under the then new Centrino brand...
, Core Duo and Core Solo, and Core 2 microprocessors sold by Intel.
Colwell is a devout family man, and is married to the woman he met in college. As of 2006, he was married to her for 28 years. He has 3 children.