Federal officials, senior industry representatives and national science figures
gathered today for the first meeting of a new group to help guide research and
development in semiconductors.
This group, the Congressionally established Semiconductor Technology Council,
is an outgrowth of the success of SEMATECH, the ground-breaking
government-private sector cooperative effort that contributed greatly to the
comeback of the American semiconductor industry.
Deputy Secretary of Defense John Deutch opened the meeting saying efforts such
as SEMATECH provided clear evidence that government has a constructive role to
play.
"With bipartisan support, government and industry succeeded in resurrecting an
industry in dire straits, provided high-paying and skilled jobs to Americans,
and ensured that American electronics and semiconductor manufacturers regained
their preeminent position in the world marketplace," continued Deutch.
Deutch charged the Council "to build on past success to help guide the future
public-private partnership in semiconductor research and development."
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology Paul Kaminski and
Chief Operating Officer of Intel Corp. Craig R. Barrett chaired the first
meeting of the Council.
Members were briefed on the Semiconductor Industry Association's technology
roadmap, SEMATECH, university research, Federal efforts in electronics, the
Advanced Research Projects Agency microelectronics program, and advanced
lithography.
During the meeting, Co-Chairmen Kaminiski and Barrett set up member task forces
to identify critical semiconductor technology roadblocks and estimate the cost
of overcoming these obstacles to progress and to conduct an inventory of the
nation's public and private funding of semiconductor research and development.
The Council will consider the output of these two task forces at its meeting
next spring as part of its role of assessing and making recommendations
regarding semiconductor technology research and development efforts that should
be supported by Federal agencies and industry.
Membership of the Council consists of six statutory representatives from the
Federal government and ten members appointed by the President. The latter
consist of four members preeminent in the semiconductor industry, two from the
semiconductor equipment and materials industry, three in the semiconductor user
community (including both telecommunications and computer users), and one
member from academia. Members are:
Charles Curtis, Undersecretary of Energy
Mary L. Good, Undersecretary of Commerce for Technology
John H. Gibbons, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy
Robert Rubin, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
Neal Lane, Director, National Science Foundation
Steven R. Appleton, Chairman and CEO, Micron Semiconductor, Inc.
Michael J. Attardo, IBM Senior Vice President and General Manager for
Technology Products
Jack S. Kilby, J.S. Kilby Co.
James Bagley, Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Applied Materials
Kenneth Levy, Chairman and CEO, KLA Instruments Corp.
John S. Mayo, President, AT&T Bell Laboratories
T.C. McGill, Fletcher Jones Professor of Applied Physics, California Institute
of Technology
Two additional industry members yet to be determined
The Semiconductor Technology Council was established by Congress under the
National Defense Authorization Act of FY1994 to foster continued government and
industry cooperation in research and development for electronics and the
semiconductor industry. The Council's mission is to link assessment by the
semiconductor industry and national security needs for cooperative investments;
foster cooperation among industry, government and academia; and align industry
and government contributions for new semiconductor research and development
efforts.
Previous public-private cooperation commenced in 1987 with the establishment of
SEMATECH, a government-industry effort to revive the semiconductor industry
through sharing of talent, funding and risks.
