By Melanie Yeager
Tallahassee Democrat
Published: March 15, 1999
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Dan Zuras admits he never thought he'd be alive when a scientist discovered the microscopic Road Runner image he engraved on a computer chip 16 years ago.
But then again, at the time, who knew the minute circuitry of microprocessors would grace the pages of wall calendars in the 1990s?
Wee pictures of everything from animals -- including longhorn steers -- to license plates have become the signatures of chip creators. But knowledge of this practice generally stayed within industry circles -- until Florida State University researcher Michael Davidson discovered the imprints left by engineers under his high-power microscope.
Davidson, director of FSU's optical microscopy program, has generated publicity and revenue for FSU's National High Magnetic Laboratory by selling brightly colored photographs of his microscopic discoveries. His depictions of everything from beer to vitamins have become designs for products ranging from neckties to bedroom comforters.
Four years ago, while shooting the criss-cross circuitry of computer chips, Davidson zoomed in on a smiling face. The discovery gave him a jolt.
It was Waldo of the popular children's book that asks the question "Where's Waldo?" and presents a maze of faces in which to find him. Upon further study, Davidson found Daffy Duck of Warner Bros. cartoon fame. Both images were left by the chip's creator.
He's also found the longhorn, a Lone Star flag and other Texas-related depictions on Advanced Micro Devices Inc. chips.
The longhorn was the code name for an AMD project, said Larry Monks, a computer-aided design section manager who's been with the company for 13 years.
"It's kind of a fun thing you do near the end of a project," he said. "It represents the project and the location where it was done."
Projects of that sort take nine to 18 months and the images give the team a sense of pride and ownership in it, he said. "It ties the team to the project."
Monks said AMD engineers are still putting images on some chips. Other images include the outline of the state of Texas, oil derricks and flowers.
If Intel Corp. and Motorola Inc. engineers personalize their chip designs, Davidson hasn't found it. An Intel spokesman says its engineers may sign a chip only with their their initials.
"Very often management doesn't approve of this kind of thing," said Zuras, who put the Road Runner on a Hewlett-Packard math processor. "It can grate on their nerves."
In the end, however, management may not have to worry. As microprocessors become more complex, so has the software used to design them. As a result, it's getting harder and harder to include cartoons.
But dedicated chip artists promise to carry on the tradition.
Zuras says he spent nearly two weeks tattooing the Road Runner into a sliver of silicon. The year was 1982, and this was his first solo design. At the time, the chip was the fastest of its kind -- hence his decision to stamp it with the Road Runner.
"I spent two years of my life on that chip!" Zuras said. "It's like a painter. When you're proud of your work, you sign it."
He squeezed the cartoon into an unused corner of his masterpiece, employing the same techniques he used to lay out the chip's transistors and streetlike circuit patterns.
With a children's coloring book as his guide, Zuras traced the Road Runner into the design on his workstation. Later, the complete blueprint -- including the famous bird -- was used to create each thumbnail-sized microchip.
"When I first saw Waldo, I didn't know why he was there," Davidson, 48, said. "I was wondering if he was there to perform a special function on the chip."
Davidson included the Waldo chip on a 1996 calendar, "Chip Shots, a Calendar of Microprocessors."
The chip's designer -- Kevin Kuhn -- contacted Davidson after seeing the calendar to say he was the artist. Once Davidson realized the treasure-trove of minuscule drawings existed, he actively began to search them out and place them in the Silicon Zoo, which may be accessed at http://micro.
magnet.fsu.edu/creatures.
Davidson said since he started the Web site late last year, the interest has grown exponentially. He continually is answering e-mails and phone calls about the gallery of 60 images.
"I did not expect it to get anywhere near the response it's getting," Davidson said.
The creators of the microscopic images also are amazed at their new fame.
"It's really kind of just something for fun," said Kuhn, 40, who designs chips at Silicon Graphics in Santa Cruz, Calif. He said it's like viewing an empty wall in your house that cries out for art.
Davidson said he continues to scour the surfaces of computer chips looking for new signature art to showcase.
With 250 more, he believes he'll have enough to produce a coffee table book.
Since 1993, work by Davidson and his staff has generated more than $1 million in royalty money that goes to FSU's research budget.
American-Statesman staff writer Tim Green contributed to this article, which also contains information from the Baltimore Sun.
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Researcher uncovers hidden works of engineers turned high-tech artists
