SEMINAR: Ising Model and Ising Solvers – From Spins to Optimization Hardware

Guest:  Selçuk Köse, University of Rochester

Title: Ising Model and Ising Solvers – From Spins to Optimization Hardware (CS, EE)

Date/Time: 12 November 2025, 13:40

Location: FENS G032

Abstract: Recent advances in hardware-based optimization have ignited interest in Ising machines—circuits that exploit the physics of coupled nonlinear elements to efficiently solve combinatorial problems. In this talk, two recently fabricated Ising machine chips will be presented: one designed to solve quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problems and the other to handle Boolean satisfiability (SAT) problems. After introducing the unique working principles of these hardware solvers and their novel perturbation mechanisms, experimental results will be presented, demonstrating promising time-to-solution and energy-to-solution metrics. In addition to this work, ongoing research in our lab will also be briefly highlighted, including efforts in cryogenic computing for energy-efficient high-performance systems, hardware security in quantum computing platforms, and CPU/GPU security for AI and data-intensive workloads. Together, these research directions aim to enable secure and energy-efficient computing across emerging technology domains.
 

Bio: Selçuk Köse received his PhD degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Rochester in 2012. After spending nearly seven years at the University of South Florida (USF), he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Rochester where he is currently a Professor. He previously worked at TÜBİTAK, NXP semiconductor, Intel corporation, and Eastman Kodak. Dr. Köse is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award (2014), USF College of Engineering Outstanding Junior Research Achievement Award (2014), USF Outstanding Faculty Award (2016), Cisco Research Award (2015, 2016, and 2017) and USF Outstanding Research Achievement Award (2017). His research interests include VLSI circuit design, hardware security, cryogenic electronics, and quantum computing. His research has been funded by NSF, DARPA, Department of Energy, SRC, Cisco, Intel, and TSMC.