TI applauds increased federal funding of advanced research efforts
Texas Instruments and other members of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) enthusiastically supported recent U.S. House passage of H.R. 1868, the Technology Innovation and Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007. Introduced by Congressman David Wu, D-Ore., chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, the resolution authorizes appropriations for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for fiscal years 2008–2010. The same day, H.R. 1867 authorized favorable budget appropriations for the National Science Foundation (NSF), also for 2008–2010.
The NIST and NSF‘s partnership with the semiconductor industry on nanoelectronics research helps keep U.S. chip firms on the cutting edge of innovation.
"Innovation leadership drives economic growth and builds a foundation for the future," said TI President and CEO and SIA Chairman Rich Templeton. "Supporting basic research at NIST will help maintain U.S. leadership, as well as create new jobs and new opportunities. House passage of H.R. 1868 is an important step forward, and we hope Congress will provide the funding necessary for this bill to make a difference."
NSF also announced, along with the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI) (of which TI is a member), $2 million in grants from the existing NSF budget for nanoelectronics research at six major NSF centers across 10 U.S. universities.
"Without a breakthrough, the phenomenal advances in semiconductor capabilities will slow drastically as we reach the fundamental limits of current technology in the next decade or so," said a statement from Jeff Welser, NRI director. "The government and universities have quickly supported the NRI program in order to pursue discovery of the next logic switch and continued leadership in the new nanoelectronics era."
The NSF centers will contribute directly to one of the NRI’s primary goals: the development of an information element that can replace the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (CMOS FET) by the year 2020 or beyond, as well as the necessary technology to integrate the new information element with CMOS. CMOS is currently the most widely used integrated circuit manufacturing technology.
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