Yu [Kevin] Cao

Yu [Kevin] Cao is the Louis John Schnell Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on microelectronics co-design for energy-efficient computing, spanning integrated circuit design, semiconductor physics, and machine learning methodologies. He leads the Microelectronics Co-design Research Group and actively collaborates with institutions like Georgia Institute of Technology, Sandia National Laboratories, and Notre Dame.

His research interests include AI hardware acceleration, in-memory computing, cryogenic CMOS design, and 3D integration of heterogeneous chiplets. Current initiatives explore reconfigurable on-package systems for AI, spiking neural networks on neuromorphic hardware, and low-temperature logic technologies.

Recent publications and projects highlight advancements in AI accelerators, RRAM-based compute-in-memory, graph convolutional networks, and 3D integration. His group develops tools like MN-SIM 2.0 for memristor modeling and investigates novel materials for neuromorphic systems.

Grants include collaborative NSF funding for chiplet-based AI systems, CoCoSys center funding from SRC, and DOE/Sandia projects on neuromorphic hardware. Future work emphasizes scalable co-design frameworks for intelligent systems and heterogeneous integration challenges.