About Us

SMART (Spintronic Materials for Advanced InfoRmation Technologies) is a world-leading research center that brings together experts from across the nation to develop technologies for spin-based computing and memory systems.

The central goal of SMART is to investigate ground-breaking technologies that will enable computer systems that operate using the spin of an electron, as opposed to its charge, the basis of today’s computers.

Spin-based logic and memory systems have the potential to overcome many of the limitations of conventional charge-based computer systems, which are reaching their fundamental limits.  Therefore, spin-based computers have the potential to be faster, smaller and more energy-efficient.

The center is divided into 3 themes that address the numerous technological challenges involved in realizing such a revolutionary technology, and that range from basic materials and devices to systems and architectures.

SMART is led by Prof. Jian-Ping Wang and is headquartered in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. The center brings together leading experts from five different universities working in a range of scientific disciplines. More information about SMART Center sponsors can be found here.