Ashawna Hailey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ashawna Hailey
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Born | Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
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October 8, 1949
Died | October 14, 2011 San Jose, California, U.S.
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(aged 62)
Alma mater | Texas Tech University |
Occupation | Technologist, philanthropist |
Children | 2 |
Ashawna Hailey (born October 8, 1949 – died October 14, 2011) was a brilliant American computer scientist. She was also a kind person who gave money to help others. She was one of the people who helped create a very important computer program called HSPICE.
This program is used by many companies around the world. It helps them design and test electronic circuits, like the ones inside your phone or computer. Her company, Meta-Software, helped make HSPICE very popular. This company grew incredibly fast for 18 years! Later, it became part of a larger company called Synopsys. Synopsys still calls HSPICE the "gold standard" for checking how circuits work.
About Ashawna Hailey's Life
Early Years and Learning
Ashawna Hailey was born in 1949. She went to Texas Tech University with her twin brother, Kim Hailey. She even started her first company while she was still in college!
Her Amazing Career
In 1973, Ashawna Hailey was part of a team at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). This team created AMD's very first microprocessor, called the Am9080. They did this by carefully studying and understanding how the Intel 8080 chip worked.
A year later, in 1974, she also helped create AMD's first type of non-volatile memory. This is a special kind of memory that remembers information even when the power is turned off. It was called the 2702 EPROM.
Before working at AMD, Ashawna Hailey also helped build something very important for the Safeguard Program. She worked on the launch sequencer for the Sprint Anti-Ballistic Missile System for Martin Marietta. This system was designed to protect against missiles.