Stephen Brown

Stephen Brown is a Professor at the University of Toronto within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering under the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. He earned his B.A.Sc and M.A.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto and New Brunswick, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto (1992). His career spans over two decades in academia and industry collaboration.

• Education:
  • B.A.Sc, University of New Brunswick
  • M.A.Sc, University of Toronto
  • Ph.D, University of Toronto

Professor Brown’s research focuses on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), CAD algorithms, and computer architecture, with applications in machine learning and high-level synthesis. He is a principal investigator in the LegUp project, an open-source high-level synthesis framework that bridges software and hardware design. His work also extends to optimizing FPGA interconnect delays, physical synthesis, and logic block architectures.

Key trends in his publications include advancements in high-level synthesis tools, FPGA architecture evaluation, and timing-driven design methodologies. His contributions often intersect with design automation, resource sharing, and embedded systems.

• Scientific Awards:
  • NSERC 1992 Doctoral Prize
  • Hart Professorship for Innovation in Teaching (2017)
  • Multiple teaching excellence awards
  • Best Paper Award at ICCAD 1990
  • Best Paper Award nomination at Canadian Conference on VLSI (1989)

As Director of the FPGA University Program at Intel Corporation, he leads industry-academia initiatives. His teaching portfolio includes courses like ECE253 (Digital Logic) and ECE1733F (Switching Theory).