Andrew Rubio
Electrical engineering
Hometown: Yuma, Arizona, United States
Graduation date: Spring 2026
Additional details: First-generation college student, Honors student
FURI | Spring 2025
Conductive Filament Modeling and Reliability Prediction in Pt/SiOx/TiN
Many modern computing designs utilize the von Neumann architecture, where data and program instructions share the same memory bus. This leads to the “von Neumann bottleneck,” reducing efficiency due to the inability to transfer data and instructions simultaneously. A proposed solution lies in resistive random access memory (RRAM), an emerging memory device type that allows multiple data transfer pathways, bypassing the sequential transfer issue. This project aims to model and study the mechanisms and reliability of a CMOS-compatible, oxide-based RRAM device (Pt/SiOx/TiN), with successful results leading to the advancement of the integration of these devices into computing architectures.
Mentor: Ying-Chen Chen
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Featured project | Spring 2025
After gaining research experience and learning about semiconductor devices throughout his time at ASU, electrical engineering undergraduate student Andrew Rubio decided he wanted to participate in FURI to push the boundaries of what’s possible with microelectronics. Rubio works under Ying-Chen “Daphne” Chen, a Fulton Schools assistant professor of electrical engineering, to further understanding of how a type of memory device known as resistive random access memory, or RRAM, works to unlock new applications for its use.
What made you want to get involved in this program? Why did you choose the project you’re working on?
Through my involvement in the Semiconductors and Device Research Lab as well as my studies of physical electronics, I’ve had the great opportunity to learn from professors and students who ignited my own passions through theirs. I’ve had the opportunity to explore the work of other researchers and witness what discoveries they have been able to achieve. Though unconfident at first, I began to ask questions that allowed me to apply what I had learned in my studies. With each question I had asked, my mentor as well as fellow students began to encourage me to consider research as a path. Their encouragement gave me a whole new sense of confidence in my abilities as an engineer, which led me to join FURI.
How will your engineering research project impact the world?
My project aims to understand how RRAM, an emerging memory device type, operates. In increasing our knowledge of RRAM, we are able to find new and amazing ways to implement it into the future of integrated circuits, also known as semiconductors or microelectronics. I believe my research project has the potential to consider a whole new way of making computing cost-efficient and sustainable.
How do you see this experience helping with your career and advanced degree goals?
This experience with FURI means a lot to my future in electrical engineering. I’ve found that with each test, discovery and new understandings of my topic have contributed heavily toward my goal to continue research in my professional life. With these experiences, I feel much more ready to tackle additional research that I plan to conduct for my graduate degree.
What is the best advice you’ve gotten from your faculty mentor?
The best advice I’ve received from my faculty mentor is that research is a giant elephant that we can’t see. We see the bigger picture, though we don’t know exactly what the picture of the elephant looks like. It’s okay to feel like we don’t understand everything about the problems we aim to solve. Our job as researchers is to take what we comprehend and share these experiences to create new and innovative understandings of the bigger picture.
Why should other students get involved in this program?
I believe other students should get involved in this program, as it can lead to experiences they never thought would be tangible. It truly allows them to apply what they know while understanding what it’s like to discover something new and exciting. Aside from how intimidating it may appear at first, this program truly has the potential to instill a confidence that all engineers need to succeed.
