David (or Dave) House is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

engineer and computer designer. He was an executive at

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...

, where he led the division that produced the company’s

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...

product line. He was one of the key architects of the company’s marketing and was credited for coining the slogan “Intel Inside”, which was used in the advertising campaign that made Intel a household name.

Biography

House completed a BSEE at

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

in 1965. He then obtained an MSEE in 1969 from

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North C ...

Career

House began his career as a computer designer. He worked for

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliz ...

’s Computer and Communications Division. Because the company was situated in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, he was able to complete his masters at Northeastern University. At Raytheon, he designed data acquisition and computer communications systems. House became part of Honeywell Computer Control Division beginning in 1968. His work involved the design of mini computers. In 1972, he became the director of Microdata’s computer development division. Two years later, he joined Intel. His first job title was “manager of applications”. He took on greater responsibilities and eventually rose to the position of general manager of the company’s Microcomputer Components Division. Under his tenure, Intel developed the world’s first commercial processor, the 4004. Two other microprocessors followed, the 8008 and 8080, until Intel’s leadership in the market began to be challenged by

Zilog Zilog, Inc. is an American manufacturer of microprocessors and 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers. It is also a supplier of application-specific embedded system-on-chip (SoC) products. Its most famous product is the Z80 series of 8-bit microp ...

’s 16-bit microprocessor,

Z8000 The Z8000 ("''zee-'' or ''zed-eight-thousand''") is a 16-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog in early 1979. The architecture was designed by Bernard Peuto while the logic and physical implementation was done by Masatoshi Shima, assisted by a ...

. House addressed the problem by leading the shift in Intel’s corporate culture from purely engineering focused toward marketing. In his 22 years at Intel, House was credited for growing the microprocessor division of the company from $40 million to $4 billion annually. He launched the company’s Server Product’s Division, establishing the company’s foothold in the service business market. Today, Intel has over 85 percent market share. House also led the team that developed the “Intel Inside” campaign. He was credited for coining “Intel Inside”, an ingredient marketing slogan that helped launch Intel as one of the most recognized brands in the world. After more than two decades, House left Intel and was tapped as the President and CEO of Bay Systems, which was then a struggling company fresh from a merger. He is credited for improving the company’s profitability through reorganization, better marketing efforts, new acquisitions, and the creation of new product divisions. In 2001, he became the CEO of the

startup A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

company, Allegro. He is currently the chairman of the House Family Foundation and also serves as the chair of the Board at the Computer History Museum.

Moore’s law

House is also noted for his theory related to

Moore’s law Moore's law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore's law is an observation and projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empi ...

, which holds that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. This period is often identified as 18 months, a period that is part of House’s own take on the growth of chip performance.

References

{{Authority control Living people Intel people Michigan Technological University alumni Northeastern University alumni RTX Corporation people Computer engineers American computer specialists Year of birth missing (living people)