Intel's Barrett, educators want competitiveness bills
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(InfoWorld) - U.S. industry and education leaders, including Intel chairman Craig Barrett, called on Congress to pass bills that would provide scholarships for math and science teachers and increase federal funding for research. Barrett, testifying before the House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee Tuesday, said the two bills would be a "good first start" toward improving the competitiveness of U.S. workers and industry. Improved kindergarten-to-12th-grade education and increased funding for research were the top two priorities in a National Academies of Science report on U.S. competitiveness, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, released in late 2006. Executives and educators sounding the alarm about U.S. competitiveness aren't saying the "sky is falling," he said. The rest of the world is "copying what we did well for the last several decades," he said. "Our challenge is to do what is necessary to be successful for the next several decades." Congress has been slow to step up with policies that promote competitiveness, added Neal Lane, a physics professor at Rice University in Houston and former assistant to President Bill Clinton in the White House Office of Science and Technology. "In recent years, the U.S. has been reluctant to make the kind of long-term investments necessary to secure a bright future for Americans," Lane said. "We seem to have other priorities. My grandchildren and their generation will inherit a different America, and they think perhaps a used-up or worn-out America." Rep. Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat and chairman of the committee, promised to push competitiveness bills through Congress this session, even though similar bills stalled during the last session. "There is a bipartisan consensus that investing in education and research...is necessary," he said. The first bill, the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act, sets a goal of training 10,000 new math and science teachers per year for U.S. schools. The bill would provide scholarships for college students who want to be math and science teachers, with $70 million going into the scholarship program in 2008, rising to $196 million in 2012. The second bill, called the Sowing the Seeds Through Science and Engineering Research Act, would authorize a 10 percent funding increase in the research budgets at five U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. Gordon introduced both bills in January. In addition to the two bills, Barrett called for Congress to relax restrictions on the number of skilled foreign workers U.S. companies could hire per year. The current cap for the H-1B program is 65,000 workers per year, not counting an exemption for 20,000 workers per year who leave U.S. universities with graduate degrees. Barrett called on Congress to not put any hiring limits on the number of foreign workers who graduate from U.S. colleges. Congress should "staple a green card [worker visa] to every foreign student graduating with a degree in science and engineering," he said. Barrett's comments echoed comments from MicrosoftÂ chairman Bill Gates during testimony before a congressional committee last week. But Rep. Brian Baird, a Democrat from Washington state, questioned the need to expand the H-1B visa program without linking it to programs that require businesses to help train U.S. workers. "There are freeloaders," he said. "They pay [the H-1B fee], but if you ask them to do anything with the local school district to help out, they're AWOL."
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Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Craig Barrett wanted to go out in glory like his old boss, Andy Grove. Instead, he&#39;ll retire to slumping sales growth, restless investors and repeated product delays.
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The CEO of the world's largest chipmaker wants hardware developers thinking about graphics, low-power applications, and Intel's determination not to let AMD get the best of it again.
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Advanced Micro Devices is counting on a new high-performance computer chip to hold on to hard-fought market share it has won from its principal rival, Intel.
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Intel Corp.&#39;s board of directors on Thursday tapped Paul Otellini, who has been with the company for 30 years, to replace Craig Barrett as chief executive officer in May.
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Intel's plain-spoken CEO  has a message for the nation: If you want to stay on top, it's time to rev up your competitive metabolism.
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After a busy two years reorganizing LSI Corp., the new leadership of the company, which includes several former Intel Corp. executives, is ready to do battle in the competitive markets for storage and networking chips.
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(InfoWorld) - A group of U.S. senators has introduced legislation that aims to improve how U.S. workers and industries compete against the rest of the world by pumping more money into math and science programs. The bill, introduced Monday by Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, combines the efforts of several Senate committees working to address U.S. competitiveness. The bill would double the $5.6 billion annual funding for the U.S. NSF (National Science Foundation), a major backer of scientific research in the United States, and it would create a grant programs to help students struggling with mathematics. Many U.S. tech firms have called on Congress to address U.S. competitiveness by pumping more money into math and science programs. Some tech vendors, including Microsoft, have also called on Congress to increase the annual cap on foreign skilled worker visas, although tech worker groups have opposed such a move. "When it comes to innovation, America's entrepreneurs have led the way," Ensign said in a statement. "To keep our competitive edge, we need to embrace technology and ensure that our children receive a stronger education in the core subjects of mathematics and science." The legislation, with cosponsors including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, comes as two congressional committees host hearings on U.S. competitiveness. On Wednesday, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates will testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on U.S. competitiveness, and on the same day, leaders of six tech trade groups will testify before the House Small Business Committee. The bill, called the American Competes Act, would:  -- Increase the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science budget from $3.6 billion in the U.S. government's 2006 fiscal year to $5.2 billion in 2011. -- Create the Innovation Acceleration Research Program, directing federal agencies that fund research in science and technology to set goals of spending about 8 percent of their research and development budgets on high-risk research. -- Establish training programs for math and science teachers at the NSF. -- Expand math and science programs at the NSF and other agencies. Electronic Industries Alliance, a trade group, applauded the bill. The legislation "clearly offers the tech industry a great deal to cheer about," Charlie Robinson, the group's interim president and CEO, said in a statement. If Congress passes the bill, "American companies and workers will be more competitive and prosperous for years to come," he added.
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Intel hopes to stay profitable by producing new chip designs faster than its competitors, according to the company's president.
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BANGALORE, INDIA - Peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing would never have gathered momentum if the music industry had adopted models for distribution over the Internet, said Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Craig Barrett, addressing IT executives in India Friday.
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It will be a busy week for leading semiconductor chip manufacturer Intel. According to Justin Rattner, Intel's chief technology officer and head of Intel Labs, the company will present 14 papers at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco.
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Craig Barrett, Intel Corp.&#39;s 6-foot-3- inch chief executive, walked onto a stage during a industry conference in Florida last week, got down on his knees in front of more than 6,000 technology managers, and begged forgiveness.
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Intel is hoping its investments in WiMax and Clearwire will ultimately pay off. The more demand for wireless computers, the more demand for Intel&#39;s microprocessors.
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It's time for Congress to fix problems with the patent system, Intel's general counsel says.
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By JORDAN ROBERTSON SAN JOSE, Calif. - Intel Corp. plans to spend between $1 billion and $1.5 billion to overhaul its semiconductor production facility in New Mexico to manufacture computer chips with next-generation technology.
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By Tony Glover, The Business, London  Dec. 7--American chipmaker Intel is using British schoolchildren and  students in secret trials of a prototype laptop. The company hopes this will  help conquer the world's education IT market.
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Intel Corp  said on  Tuesday it would be able to mass-produce computer processors  with features one-third smaller than the current cutting edge  within two years, placing it well at the front of the  semiconductor industry.