"La revolució silenciosa" returns to Barcelona, it will be available at the Lleialtat Santsenca until November 25

The exhibition "La revolució silenciosa", which proposes a journey through the history of microelectronics on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the transistor, can be seen throughout the month of November at the Lleialtat Santsenca space (C/ d'Olzinelles 31, 08014) in Barcelona for the Semana de la Ciencia (Science Week). The exhibition is coordinated by the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM, CSIC) with the collaboration of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology - Ministry of Science and Innovation (FECYT).

The exhibition is a journey that begins in 1947 and the development of the first point contact transistor at Bell Labs in the United States. Today's digital and hyperconnected society cannot be understood without this small invention: the transistor is at the heart of all electronic devices, it has allowed the miniaturization of devices and the creation of digital circuits.

In parallel to the exhibition, the IMB-CNM offers guided tours in its facilities for Science Week (between November 13 and 17). On November 13 there will also be a microelectronics workshop ("Viatja al fascinant món del transistor!") for 4th ESO students of the Institut Escola Arts de Sants, with the Clean Room technicians Nuria Torres and Marta Duch.

The exhibition is free access and is the second stop in the neighborhood of Sants, after the exhibition last summer at the public facility FAB Casa del Mig - Punt Multimèdia, and it will be open to the public until November 25. In January it will move to the Can Rajoler Library in Parets del Vallès.

Un microchip muy grande

The project "Un microchip muy grande" / "Un microxip molt gran" (FCT-21-16975) was organized by the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) with the collaboration of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science and Innovation (FECYT). It ran from summer 2022 to September 2023 with the aim of improving education and generating scientific vocations among schoolchildren and young pre-university students, increasing their learning and interest in electronics and microelectronics.

The initiative included several complementary activities: the contest for students "Un microchip muy grande", the main action; a cycle of conferences on the history and future of the technology, with invited and in-house speakers; and the exhibition "La revolució silenciosa", which has been exhibited in venues in Barcelona and Vallès.

The initiative celebrates the 75th anniversary of the transistor, a semiconductor electronic device that replaced the bulky and inefficient vacuum valves of the early 20th century. Initially conceived as an analog amplifier device; over time it was enhanced and its technology was adapted as a digital switch, it is thus the physical embodiment of the '1' and '0' of binary logic.