About this ebook
Engineering the Comeback follows Lisa Su’s journey from her early childhood in Taiwan and Queens, New York, to her education at the Bronx High School of Science and MIT, where she developed the technical foundation that would shape her career. It traces her work at Texas Instruments, IBM, and Freescale Semiconductor, showing how research, engineering leadership, and strategic responsibility prepared her for the defining challenge of her public life: leading AMD through a period of renewal.
This independent biography examines the major turning points of Su’s career, including AMD’s move beyond the traditional PC market, its console partnerships with Sony and Microsoft, the development of Zen and Ryzen, the rise of EPYC in data centers, the acquisition of Xilinx, and AMD’s role in the AI computing race. It presents the company’s transformation with balance, recognizing both Su’s leadership and the wider contributions of engineers, employees, partners, customers, and market conditions.
Readers will gain a clear, accessible understanding of how semiconductors shape modern life and why leadership in this industry matters. Su’s story offers insight into innovation, long-term execution, competition with Intel and Nvidia, the responsibilities of technology executives, and the significance of women in engineering and corporate leadership.
Written for thoughtful nonfiction readers, Engineering the Comeback is a grounded account of an engineer-CEO whose career helps explain one of the most important industries of the twenty-first century. It invites readers to explore Lisa Su’s life, leadership, and legacy within the larger story of chips, competition, and the future of computing.
