Saudi Arabia and Intel Plan R&D Center
Intel will help establish a center for nano-manufacturing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, located at the King Abdul-Aziz City of Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh. Intel researchers will join with technologists and graduate students recruited from the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region (META) to work on processing and fabrication challenges.
Staff -- Semiconductor International, 4/29/2009
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With a goal of building the Middle East’s technical talent base, Intel Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.) will help set up a nanoelectronics research center in Saudi Arabia at the King Abdul-Aziz City of Science and Technology (KACST, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). The Center of Excellence in Nano-Manufacturing (CENA) will focus its research activities on three nanotech areas: MEMS/NEMS research focusing on CMOS-MEMS integration, sensor fabrication and networking of interest to local industries such as the oil sector, and nanotech synthesis and deposition. Plans call for the center to employ 50-60 graduate students drawn from universities in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) region.
KACST is building a cleanroom, and the new center will be “equipped with the latest state-of-the-art technologies and tools,” the partners said. Intel will send a founding group of researchers to CENA, to conduct research and guide the graduate students and other researchers drawn from the META region. The goal is to foster the region’s talent in multiple disciplines, including computer science, physics, chemistry and material sciences, among others. CENA plans to begin R&D activities in October 2010.
KACST leads teams from 42 governmental agencies with a budget of >8 billion Saudi riyals ($2.13B) to develop the national science and technology plan to facilitate the transformation of Saudi Arabia into a top-rated knowledge society.
The partners said engineering graduate students hailing from the region are encouraged “to make CENA their preferred center to conduct research in nano-manufacturing.” The partners said they expect to attract top-flight applicants by offering “generous financial support for the student and his home institution advisor.”
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| An agreement to set up the CENA research center was signed by Makarem Hussein, director of CENA, Aziz Al-Noghaither, Intel country manager for Saudi Arabia, Prince Turki of KACST, and Justin Rattner, Intel CTO. |
Makarem Hussein, a senior principle with Intel and founding director of CENA, pointed to the center’s potential impact in preparing the region to attract future investments, also noting, “Intel believes that public-private partnerships are vital for expanding the reach of technology to benefit the Saudi people, and the relationship between Intel and KACST that has spanned many years and resulted in multiple joint initiatives is a great example.”
“This agreement with Intel will pave the way to creating a rich environment in which researchers and talented scientists, not only from the Kingdom but from the Arab and Islamic region at large, to do their research in this field and leverage the capabilities CENA is set to provide,” said Prince Turki bin Saud bon Mohammed Al-Saud, vice president of KACST.
“Another strategic objective of CENA is to become a major source of intellectual property, and to become an integral part of a system that will leverage the venture capital and technology incubation programs available in Saudi Arabia to help establish startups,” Hussein said.
Other participants in the signing ceremony included Aziz Al-noghaither, Intel’s Saudi Arabia country manager; and Justin Rattner, Intel vice president and director of the corporate technology group.
The scholarships will be awarded by KACST as well as from cultural organizations in the Arab World “who share the belief in the vital need to bring an end to the brain drain phenomena from the region, to secure future growth and economic development.” The partners said CENA will not grant academic degrees itself, but is intended to provide a venue for students to conduct research toward graduate degrees from their home institutions. Masters and doctorate students across META countries will be conducting research at CENA with Intel co-advisors on-site.
“While KACST is finishing the construction and facilitization of the cleanroom, the next step is to establish the joint academic research agreements with the region’s universities and to recruit students for the startup in October 2010,” Hussein said. “Internally to Intel, we have to move quickly to identify the founding research team who will take the responsibility for the planning and execution of the research plans and student advising.”
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I was dreaming for this to happened for long time. It is a great move. If anybody wondered for loosing jobs overseas that should worry about China not Saudi Arabia.
Mehmet Delikanlioglu - 5/15/2009 8:46:00 PM CDT -
One has to wonder how many Intel corporate bonds or other investments the King agreed to buy in exchange for this little project? Intel's (now-former) CEO for years went around the country complaining loudly about the US educational system while at the same time seeking local and state property tax credits for US Intel facilities; and now they put a nano-technology center in Saudi Arabia!
If Intel doesn't want to really be a "US company" any more, we should begin to change all the tax rules for them and like-actioned others.
Tom Mintner - 4/29/2009 5:14:00 PM CDT -
With all the lost jobs in the US, what are the executives of Indel thinking when they decided to expand technology development out side the US borders.
This is foolish management, and short sited planning. So the Saudi's will own the oil and now the new technology. This works FOR Intel management because the Saudi's have money, remember, from our dependence on oil. Next thing, we will be paying them for technology dependence. Sure it looks good on the bottom line, but what about our country. We need jobs in this country, NOW, Again and Again, profits will go the forien countries. The US government better do something to stop this, It's already too late for the working class.
gary duhaime - 4/29/2009 2:43:00 PM CDT
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