Anna Topol loves her job. As a distinguished engineer and chief technology officer for IBM Research, she has been on the leading edge of technological change for more than two decades. A native of Poland, Topol marvels at how computers have developed from the unremarkable machine of her youth to the unprecedented power of today’s quantum computing. Topol took UAlbany Magazine on a tour of her workplace, the Thomas J. Watson Research Center — the headquarters of IBM Research.
IBM Research conducts a Global Technology Outlook (GTO) annually to identify significant technology trends and disruptions that hold the greatest potential to transform business and society over the next decade. Anna has been involved in the GTO work several times, which is an honor within the company.
Anna reviews a presentation with a colleague in her Yorktown Heights, New York, office — a location referred to as the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. Other IBM Research USA locations include facilities in Cambridge (Massachusetts), Almaden (California), and on the campus of the University at Albany.
Analysis of microelectronic chips at various steps of their fabrication is critical. It can include optical and electrical systems to test the performance of devices on the chip in different environmental conditions.
As an IBM distinguished engineer, Anna has authored or contributed to more than 100 research papers and holds nearly as many patents, ranging from high-density chip carriers and three-dimensional integrated circuit (3DIC) technologies to bio sample and nanoparticle devices.
This sign is emblazoned just inside the entrance to the facility; it is a rallying call for the scientists, engineers and other employees who collaborate with businesses, governments, nonprofits and academic institutions to address global challenges and explore opportunities to “co-create the future.”
Anna traverses a long window-lined corridor within the research headquarters building designed by architect Eero Saarinen, who also designed Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., the TWA Flight Center (now TWA Hotel) at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
The research and development of the world’s most advanced semiconductor wafers, like the one Anna holds in this photo, happens within the walls of the Yorktown Heights research center and at University at Albany’s Nano Tech Complex. Together, these facilities are answering the urgent global need for the computer chips essential to our daily lives.
Anna speaks with a young staff member in the research center’s library. Anna’s personal mission is mentoring the next generation of engineers and scientists. She credits her success to the people who guided and counseled her throughout her life and career.
Today’s most advanced classical computers are limited in their abilities to solve some of the world’s most complex problems. Quantum computers — like this one at IBM — have the potential to solve those complex problems but these powerful systems require an ultra-low temperature (around minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit) and isolated physical environments.
Anna is in the microelectronics test lab with a colleague. It takes a multi-disciplinary team to successfully design, build, test and deploy new microelectronic technologies.
Microelectronics research laboratories, like this one, use a process called photolithography to etch the circuitry onto the silicon wafers, and require specific lighting (hence, the orange/yellow glow) to prevent the light-sensitive chemicals used in this process from reacting and damaging the computer chips.
Anna grew up in Poland on the shores of the Baltic Sea near the border with Germany. Today, she commutes more than 100 miles from her home outside Albany to IBM’s research headquarters. When she’s not working, this mother of two teenage boys enjoys archery and yoga.
