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selinz
The essense of graduate school research is for grad students to perform research ...
kinnar
Somewhat new planned effort to be in touch with academia for the industries, the ...
Intel pumps $100M into new research model
Rick Merritt
1/26/2011 1:51 PM EST
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Intel Corp. will invest $100 million in U.S. university research over the next five years, but there's a hitch. Other companies may or may not be allowed to participate in the focused centers it aims to create.
The investments represent as much as a five-fold increase in Intel's university spending. It will fund targeted research centers only in the U.S., typically at $2.5 million per year for five years, the first focusing on a visual computing center at Stanford.
Intel plans about six Science and Technology Centers on topics including mobility, security and embedded systems, inviting proposals from universities interested in what it calls a new lab model. Unlike past Intel Labs centers, the new investments will be for centers in which Intel provides about four full time staff, has a say in the center's research agenda and a voice in what other companies, if any, participate.
In addition, Intel business units can request to send staff researchers to the centers to work on specific projects.
For Intel the model provides an opportunity to engage a wider net of top university thinkers in ways that enhance the chance it will gain useful outputs. The universities get a significant injection of research dollars, but risk getting too tightly allied to a single company's agenda.
"We had a lot of discussion about this," said Pat Hanrahan, a Stanford professor who will co-lead the new visual computing center with an Intel counterpart.
"Intel wanted the research to be open and address what we thought were the fundamental issues, so there has never been any pressure to not do what we think is the best research," Hanrahan said.
He noted that the group convened a workshop of Intel and academic researchers that defined the new center's four broad themes and several specific projects under them. The topics include real time simulation, exploring ways to more easily create visual content, image recognition, immersive worlds, augmented reality, smart cameras and programmable graphics.
"Most of the industry funding we get is for our most wild high impact, high risk research," said Hanrahan. By contrast, "government funding has become somewhat more short term," he said.
"These are not closed labs," said Justin Rattner, Intel's chief technology officer. "We are already in discussions with industry partners, but we are not at the point we can go public with their participation—we are open to other companies and state and federal government groups," he said.
"If we can act as the seed and attract more support we won't object to that," Rattner said. "We want to encourage out-of-the-box thinking, and we don’t want to over-specify the mission of these centers," he added.
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Dr DSP
1/26/2011 2:16 PM EST
It would seem like having 4 full time people in the lab would be enough. The need to keep possible competitors out just seems like it's not research any more...
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rick.merritt
1/26/2011 5:18 PM EST
I'd love to hear what people in research think of this new model. Chime in!
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wilber_xbox
1/26/2011 6:15 PM EST
if i calculate the funding per graduate student in Stanford center then it comes to 50,000 USD per student per year (not including the full time Intel researcher and supervisors). If i assume that the money includes the scholarship or assistantship money then how much money will there be actually available to research?! Am i missing something here?
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kari
1/26/2011 7:24 PM EST
It seems like, we are beginning to create a model of power centers within our own great nation and ignoring the fundamentals of models and processes that encouraged, created and allowed the execution of innovative ideas of the individuals, a real competitive spirit. For example, IBM Common Platform and Intel's current model, I think, will hinder and harm the demand and supply equation of talent that we badly need to create jobs at home. From my personal experience in advanced processes, technology and automated manufacturing system development and execution, I can say with a highest level of confidence that innovation starts when you provide more individuals the opportunity to practice and observe the real processes being introduced and run under advanced manufacturing mode at home not abroad, by out sourcing manufacturing off shore, just to take advantage of the cheap labor factor only. Innovation and advanced developments are Jewels and real strength of the nation to be worn first at home to shine and show, as an example, our real strength to the World to follow our lead. So please create an innovative model of real change that produces more talent at home as well as keep our real competitive spirit alive. Please for God sake don't strangulate it. We are capable of better thinking for the common good. If anyone has difficulty in thinking and creating such a competitive model meeting the needs of the times and innovation, please contact me. I will lead you in the spirit of real service. In this regards I will be willing to allow EE-Times to use my privacy rights carefully only for serious party. Thanks.
Respectfully Submitted.
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goafrit
1/26/2011 8:05 PM EST
Good riddance and I hope they help public schools when govts are cutting. Intel has a strong relationship with selected schools. Hope this will help them to expand this project. But closing it to competitors? I will not work on such projects if I am a grad student because it offers no publication incentives.
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kinnar
1/27/2011 7:13 AM EST
Somewhat new planned effort to be in touch with academia for the industries, the model being used by Intel is somewhat different then being used by other industries, if we do not stick to the numbers this will be giving good results in terms of research outcomes.
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selinz
1/27/2011 4:12 PM EST
The essense of graduate school research is for grad students to perform research in an area that someone cares about, whether it's public or private. It sounds like researchers will have every opportunity to publish whatever work they do, but not patent it. That seems fair to me.. Often times graduate students are spoon fed a commercially viable technology to work on; it's reasonable that the entity doing the funding at a minimum will not be excluded from using it.
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