Some 12 years ago, Intel, a multibillion-dollar global company that increased its operating revenue by some 45 percent in 2007 alone, became such a fan of Virginia Tech's Fred Lee and his power electronics center that it asked his help in developing the next generation computer processor. By 2000, every Intel processor used a revolutionary power supply source, known technically as a multi-phased voltage regulator module (VRM) that Virginia Tech helped to develop.