Intel wishes Stephen Hawking a microscopic “Happy Birthday”

This is a very special gift for a very extraordinary scientist and an extraordinary man" - —Professor Martin Curley At a ceremony at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology where Hawking is Director of Research, Professor Martin Curley, Intel Vice-President and Director of Intel Labs Europe, paid tribute to the 71 year old scientist and his "heroic career" as he presented him with the gift. The result of a competition for Intel employees to come up with a suitable gift for the Professor, it featured a silicon 'wafer', normally used for the manufacture of Intel chips, with the wording Happy Birthday Stephen Hawking inscribed hundreds of time in nano-scale copper lines. Each letter measures about 10 microns, which is approximately ten times smaller than the width of a human hair. "This is a very special gift for a very extraordinary scientist and an extraordinary man," said Curley. "Professor Hawking's ground breaking scientific contributions and his remarkable resilience are an inspiration to us all." In reply Hawking thanked Intel for the gift but remarked that he might need to get a new prescription for his glasses in order to read it. The silicon wafer was presented to Hawking as a follow-up to the State of the Universe symposium celebrating his 70^th birthday last year which was sponsored by Intel. "We have a long-standing  relationship with Hawking," said Justin Rattner, Intel Chief Technology Officer and Director of Intel Labs.