In 1959, Jean A. Hoerni (Fairchild Semiconductor) invented the planar process, a manufacturing technique that allows complete integrated circuits to be built on a single layer of silicon (wafer), protecting and isolating circuit elements with an oxide layer. Building on that technology, Robert N. Noyce designed the planar integrated circuit, solved differently from the germanium IC Jack Kilby had demonstrated at Texas Instruments in 1958: while Kilby's was a proof of concept with wired connections, Noyce's used the planar process itself to fabricate and interconnect all elements on the wafer, making it industrially scalable. This pair of inventions catapulted the semiconductor industry into the silicon IC era and laid the foundation for today's integrated circuit industry.