The Weekly Newsletter of Ucsd Connect
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TUESDAY MARCH 31,1998 ISSUE 8-12 HTTP://WWW.CONNECT.ORG/CONNECT [email protected] connectTHE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OF UCSD CONNECT GEORGE GILDER TO PEEK INTO COMMQUEST/IBM TO CREATE NEW FUTURE AT MAY 27 TELCOM EVENT GENERATION OF MOBILE APPLIANCES By Debbie Andersen, QUALCOMM ([email protected]) By Ann Marsh ([email protected]) George Gilder has spoken at the Vatican, testified before United On February 11 of this year, IBM announced a $180 million States Senate sub-committees on Science and Technology, and buyout merger agreement with CommQuest Technologies, Inc., a Commerce, Science and Transportation, been quoted by Ronald privately held company based in Encinitas, California, which designs Reagan more than any other living author, written speeches for Ri- and markets advanced semiconductors for wireless and digital com- chard Nixon and Nelson Rockefeller, studied under Henry munications applications such as cellular phones and satellite com- Kissinger at Harvard and been interviewed in Playboy. One of his munications. Once the merger is completed, CommQuest will be- books, "The Spirit of Enterprise", is credited with sparking the entre- come part of IBM's Microelectronics Division, speeding development preneurial growth of technology investment and of Silicon Valley. His book "Microcosm" \s a history of that growth and his next book, of a new generation of multifunction, low-cost, mobile "information "Telecosm" is the eagerly awaited look into the future of the appliances," such as single chip, watch-size cellular phones and prod- communication's industry. On May 27,1998, George Gilder will be ucts that combine cell phone, e-mail and Internet access functions giving San Diego a peek into that future, as the luncheon speaker at in a single, hand-held package. UCSD Connect's annual Evolving Markets and Marketplaces in Tele- The merging of these two companies appears to be a perfect fit, communications Conference. combining IBM's semiconductor technology and manufacturing with CommQuest's chip design and system skills for wireless communi- George Gilder is President of Gilder Technology Group, In- cations products. jorporated, located in Housatonic, Massachusetts. He is also a In January of this year, CommQuest which was founded in 1991, Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute of Seattle, Washington, where unveiled their breakthrough solution for the wireless communications he directs Discovery's program on high technology and public policy. market, the Tri-Band GSM Chipset. The Chipset allows, for the first Mr. Gilder is a founder of and contributor to Forbes ASAP, and a time, manufacturers to produce single cellular phones that can oper- contributing editor of Forbes magazine. He is a frequent writer for ate in virtually all of the world's major cities. Dr. Hussein EI-Ghoroury, The Economist, the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Jour- founder and CEO of CommQuest, stated at that time, "As our global nal, and other publications. society continues to evolve, people need a single wireless phone they can use everywhere they go...furthermore, by the leveraging of More than a writer, he is a writer that other writers quote. Over the past several years, he has embraced innovative technologies our Total System Solution offering, manufacturers can take a prod- that include: All-optical networks, smart radios, QUALCOMM digital uct from concept to market for a fraction of the cost and in a fraction wireless, Stratacom frame relay, mediaprocessors, Netscape brows- of the time that is typically required when working with multiple ven- ers, and Sun's Java programming language. One article even named dors." (Monday, January 26 8:18 AM ET (BUSINESS WIRE)) him the "21st Century Java Man". While he embraced some, he Commenting about the merger, Dr. Mike Attardo, IBM's Gen- dismissed many of the most touted new technologies — from HDTV eral Manager, Microelectronics Division, said, "We believe joining and interactive television to 3DO game machines and CD-I multime- with CommQuest to design high-speed communications devices dia, from TDMA wireless and Nextel cellular compression to perva- using silicon germanium and copper will provide significantly lower sive ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) networks. He travels over cost chip solutions for manufacturers of communications products." 300,000 air miles a year preaching a technology Utopia, and con- The merger, he said "is a key element of IBM's strategy to bring fronting the controversy that he effects. innovative leadership technology products quickly to customers." Joint product development will include IBM's copper chip tech- Born in 1939 in New York City, Mr. Gilder attended Exeter Acad- nology along with their unique cost efficient method for manufactur- emy and Harvard University and later returned to Harvard as a fel- ing silicon germanium chips, which allow the integration of many low at the Kennedy Institute of Politics. Mr. Gilder pioneered the thousands of transistors onto a single chip so that fewer chips are Please see GILDER on Page 2 Please see COMMQUEST on Page 3 UCSD CONNECT • (619) 534-6114 • FAX (619) 552-O649 • [email protected] FROM THE DIRECTOR By William W. Otterson ([email protected]) T, ,E FOLLOWING COMMENTARY IS THE OPINION OF THE WRITER, AND DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINION OF CONNECT AND/OR OUR SPONSORS & MEMBERS. PENNI CRABTREE ARTICLE Kudos to Penni Crabtree for her excellent series in the San Di- on student visas. Upon graduation, they return to their countries - ego Union-Tribune explaining the problem of engineering shortages some would say carrying their taxpayer-paid knowledge with them '"i San Diego, including her article, "Laid-off engineers question talk of (Truth be known, they, or their governments pay much higher enroll- jrtage," on Saturday, March 28. ment fees - but that is a different argument, for a later day.) So, lets "find" these students, who will graduate in June, interview them and It is true that there is a shortage of engineers in San Diego. In tell their story. How many would stay in this country, if they could get fact, UCSD CONNECT's continuing study of recruiting needs of San a work visa? Where are they from? What do they look like? To what Diego's high-tech companies shows that the companies fell 35% short degree have they already assimilated into the American (Californian) of their hiring needs last quarter. culture? Are they the "exploited foreigners" that the opponents are conjuring up, or are they simply intelligent, hard-working students that How serious is this? could benefit our economy and provide jobs for other? COMMQUEST (CONTINUED) Engineers are to high-tech companies what scientists are to required to carry out the same set of functions. The silicon germa- biotech companies. They are the "top of the food chain". They design new products and services and are what make a company grow. Com- nium chip is an ideal technology for wireless communications appli- cations because it can operate at extremely high speeds with low panies only hire engineers when their corporate business plans show power requirements - enabling the transmission and reception of high there is a need for new products in their market place. At the same frequency signals while extending the battery life of hand-held devices. time, in many respects, a company and its products are only as good "Our respective technologies and core competencies are so as their engineers. That is why companies don't want just any engi- complementary that, together, they stand to vault both companies neer - they want the best and brightest available anywhere on earth! into leading positions in the wireless and digital industries," said El- Ghoroury. The companies predict that silicon germanium will be- Qualcomm: A case in point. Qualcomm competes globally with come the core chip technology that will enable a wide variety of hand- its wireless telephones. Its major competitors are Motorola in the U.S., held communications and computing devices connected to voice and Ericsson in Sweden, and Nokia in Finland. Finland is reputed to be data networks. By leveraging the power of networks, these devices *he "most wired" country in the world, with the highest per capita own- will allow individuals and organizations to increase productivity, boost jhip of PC's. Their engineers are well educated, diligent and moti- collaboration and develop new ways of doing business. vated. Sweden also has top flight engineering schools. Wouldn't we Semiconductors used in digital wireless communications appli- like to have the "best and brightest" from Finland or Sweden working cations today represent a rapidly growing opportunity. Analysts ex- for our companies here? pect chip industry revenues derived from these applications to grow more than 20 percent annually over the next four years. Further, we just came back from a tour of South America, where The final merger is contingent upon successful attainment of we saw the beginnings of the Chilean-led economic revolution that is certain closing conditions and governmental approval. sweeping that continent. We also just read the Union-Tribune's edito- rial comment on what President Clinton is finding in Africa - notably in GILDER (CONTINUED) Uganda, Ghana, and Botswana, including the advice of Jesse Jack- formulation of supply-side economics when he served as Chairman son, "If we can see the real Africa, the promise is great (500 million of the Lehman Institute's Economic Roundtable, as Program Direc- potential customers for American products.)" So, we ask, "Do we want tor for the Manhattan Institute, and as a frequent contributor to A. B. these (new) products to come from San Diego?" If we do, we need to Laffer's economic reports and the editorial page of The Wall Street help our companies recruit the best engineers, wherever they may be, Journal. In 1986, President Reagan gave George Gilder the White while, at the same time, trying to retrain talent we already have here.