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August 17, 1998
Returning the favor
After years of successfully avoiding my college alumni association, it finally caught
up with me. But, this time, rather than asking for dollars, the association asked for
something that was a bit more dear to me--my time. Susan Stafford, the director of
advancement at State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook's College of Engineering
and Applied Science, made the smooth, professional pitch. She asked me if, as the editor
of an important technology journal, I would be interested in seeing if there were ways the
members of the alumni association and I could mutually benefit from renewing our
acquaintance. She struck me out on one pitch. It was therefore a sense of community
spirit--and, yes, a little guilt--that led me to take time during a recent visit to New
York to stop by my old stomping grounds--for the first time since graduating 15 years ago.
During that visit, I met with the current dean, Yacov Shamash, and the professor most
influential in developing my interest in microprocessors, Ken Short. Short's course
"Microprocessors and Programmed Logic" laid the foundation for my desire to
design processors--later satisfied when I went to work designing PICs at General
Instruments' Microelectronics, bit-slice processor cores for Marconi's ASIC group, and in
a Hands-On project at EDN. The discussion centered on Long Island's aim to develop a
stronger technology base. As the educators saw it, the biggest obstacle to fulfilling that
mission was the dearth of technical people the school could feed into the employment pool.
They were trying to increase state funding for the university, which would allow them to
expand SUNY Stony Brook's facilities, faculty, and enrollment. They hoped I might help
them by raising awareness and increasing the demand for engineers.
Having received a solid foundation in electronics from the school, it was now my turn
to educate. Beyond the issues of the engineering shortage and EDN's not serving the
audience that needed to hear their message, I explained that my experience suggested that
the problem was far more complex than simply the lack of entrepreneurial people with
strong technical skills. If it were that simple, Silicon Valley wouldn't surpass every
other region of the world--save perhaps Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan--in its role as an
incubator for technological development and economic growth. The success of Silicon Valley
and Hsinchu Science Park and the parallels between the regions, together with an
understanding of technology investing, hold many lessons.
In building Hsinchu Science Park, the Taiwanese encouraged foreign-based, technically
trained natives to return home by establishing the Science Park close to universities and
government-subsidized research institutes and by offering tax breaks, tax holidays, and
investment credits to entrepreneurs and venture-capital firms. As Silicon Valley and
Hsinchu demonstrate, technological entrepreneurialism needs a mass of several vital
elements to succeed. Those elements certainly include a strong base of engineers, but
available capital, reasonable costs, and favorable governmental policy are equally
important elements that you can't ignore. Like a chair, a burgeoning technology industry
demands four strong infrastructural legs to stand without falling. And, although having a
ready supply of technically trained professionals is a prerequisite to passing the strong
technology-base course, it isn't enough to earn you a grade as high as that earned by
Silicon Valley or Hsinchu Science Park. In this course, the only way to ace the class is
to get government, academia, and the private sector studying together.
You can reach Worldwide Editorial Director Michael Markowitz at 1-617-558-4214, fax
1-617-558-4470, or mmarkowitz@cahners.com.
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