PBS documentary features Iowa native

Iowa native and 1949 Grinnell College graduate Robert Noyce, co-inventor of the integrated circuit, will be profiled in a documentary premiering on Public Broadcast Service TV?s American Experience tonight.

The program, ?Silicon Valley,? will focus on the important role that Noyce played in the early days of the high-tech industry, as co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel in 1968.

Noyce is one of two people credited with inventing the integrated circuit, which became an essential component of modern electronics, including computers, motor vehicles, cell phones, and household appliances.

Director Randall MacLowery says that ?Silicon Valley? focuses on Noyce?s time at Shockley Semiconductor, Fairchild Semiconductor and his early years at Intel, ?taking viewers on a journey that shares the story of the pioneering scientists who helped transform rural Santa Clara County into the hub of technological ingenuity we now know as Silicon Valley.?

The program also will provide viewers with background on Noyce?s time in Iowa, including his time at Grinnell College, where he first encountered the transistor, thanks to physics professor Grant Gale.

More information about ?Silicon Valley? can be found at www.pbs.org.