Dr. Zick is the Research Director of Transformational Computing at USC ISI, leading efforts to solve problems of national importance using breakthrough computer hardware. He brings experience developing commercial microprocessors and ASICs (IBM/Cyrix x86, Motorola) and addressing government needs with advanced ASIC- and FPGA-based solutions. He has led key government-funded research programs such as Northrop Grumman's IARPA QEO and DARPA QAFS efforts in superconducting quantum annealing. Dr. Zick studied complex adaptive systems with pioneer John H. Holland and was awarded a NASA Fellowship covering his Ph.D. work in Physically Adaptive Computing. He has been awarded five patents for novel microarchitectures and circuits.

Dr. Zick's current R&D directions are in the areas of game-changing computer architectures, systems-on-chip and processing solutions for critical government problems. For instance, hardware accelerators for dramatically improved efficiency, agility or security; rapid development of ASIC prototypes; novel combinations of CMOS and/or non-CMOS chiplets; novel uses and wizardry with FPGAs; harnessing emergent behavior for computation (e.g., with coupled oscillator systems); inspiration from nature. He welcomes inquiries from interested researchers as well as technology leaders looking to create multi-institution collaborations.