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Intel Ending Science Talent Search: I Just Found Some

Paul McLellan

Moderator
As reported last week in the forum, Intel is (short sightedly in my mind) stopping their sponsorship of science talent search.

But here are two girls aged 10 and 8 sending a balloon to the edge of space with two GoPRo cameras (that seem to have been provided by GoPro so at least someone is still supported kids doing science), GPS (so they can find the craft when it comes down, it was 50 miles away), and on-board monitoring of temperature and altitude. Of course I suspect their Dad had quite a lot to do with this.

[video=youtube;QCP5jZXoOhI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCP5jZXoOhI[/video]
 
Here is another balloon project did by five Stanford students two years ago. It's a small but amazing project. It seems not extremely difficult but they can have this idea before anyone else and use many technologies available at that time is in itself a great achievement. The story behind the lost and found is quite interesting too.


Story:
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/3khrwc/i_sent_gopro_attached_to_a_weather_balloon_above/

vedphoto | HiMARC High-altitude Balloon Launch!

Lost GoPro Experiment Found Again, Reveals Stunning Photos of the Earth From Space | Pioneer News


Video:
https://youtu.be/EABQ5psUz70
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This is the same attitude I experienced at the local Hayward school board meeting last year and why I gave up going. Diversity became the goal and not education.
 
I hate to bring politics into the conversation here, but the whole article was more like a far right conservative fantasy than anything else.
I hope the Breitbart article author is on his proper medications.
I honest think reading that Breitbart article is really a waste of one's time.
I have been inside Intel HQ for a SERDES digital verification contract position interview 2 years ago, and based on what I saw there, I honestly doubt Intel will really do anything about employee diversity.
If there is anything, one can pretty much predict who does what work based on racial / ethnic background of the employee.
This is fairly true in many SV corporations, however.
Perhaps, someone needs to publicize this since I consider this SV's dirtiest secret people in the mass media (i.e., average journalists) does not seem to know.
 
If there is anything, one can pretty much predict who does what work based on racial / ethnic background of the employee.
This is fairly true in many SV corporations, however.
Perhaps, someone needs to publicize this since I consider this SV's dirtiest secret people in the mass media (i.e., average journalists) does not seem to know.
I'm not sure it is a secret. Even the mass media know that engineers are all white and Asian (Indian, Vietnamese and Chinese mostly). But the problem starts much earlier. If you don't study math seriously when you are age 12 (or don't have good math teachers) then you will not get a masters in CS or EE which is the bar to even get an interview at somewhere like Intel. I don't think even Intel and a lot of money can fix that problem at age 25.
 
I'm not sure it is a secret. Even the mass media know that engineers are all white and Asian (Indian, Vietnamese and Chinese mostly). But the problem starts much earlier. If you don't study math seriously when you are age 12 (or don't have good math teachers) then you will not get a masters in CS or EE which is the bar to even get an interview at somewhere like Intel. I don't think even Intel and a lot of money can fix that problem at age 25.

Hi Paul,

I think your "perception" of the industry is dated.
Just to let you know, there are very few white Americans left in the semiconductor industry, especially the younger generation (i.e., 20 to 30 age group).
Many of white Americans left are in marketing, management, (i.e., middle, senior, or executive) or principle / senior level engineers nearing retirement / forced termination.
I come to this conclusion based on what I see at trade shows and what I have seen at various tier-1 / tier-2 SV semiconductor / electronics companies during on-site interview.
If there is a lack of diversity, I think the industry lack in hiring Americans of any ethnicity (This will include Asian Americans, in addition to various other Americans like white Americans.) since I have seen some semiconductor companies have almost no American engineering staff.
Many media journalists still hold the old view that white Americans are holding up well in "STEM" jobs.
Perhaps, this might be true in Internet related industries (i.e., Google, Facebook), but as far as semiconductor industry is concerned, this is not the case (only for senior positions).
Another myth you seem to believe is the capabilities of master's degree students.
I have had multiple opportunities to take a look at the capabilities of M.S.E.E. students at one public university in California (not considered a top tier university).
Personally, they have very little knowledge or technologies used in the industry (i.e., sat in their SoC design class several times) nor they really know much beyond what an entry level person will know about Verilog, and this is for those who specialized in ASIC / FPGA design.
Please note that this university's M.S.E.E. program is 97% foreign students.
Also, some of the instructors who teach the classes know that many, if not all students there engage in academic dishonesty (i.e., copying someone else's Verilog code or forming groups with someone who knows how to do the Verilog project and do nothing), yet are obtaining M.S.E.E. from this university.
Based on this, I no longer believe master's degree mean much these days.
Maybe this master's degree worship needs to end in the industry.
 
kevinbrace, I feel the standard educational model around the world is largely obsolete for tech is moving far faster than the world's educational institutions. Most of the real education at high levels is OJT. No one can keep up with the speed of change and new models are going to have to be built. This is one reason the foundry model is so successful and not just in electrical/computational areas. The foundry model is becoming key in more and more industries and especially pharma where I have a significant investment. In the foundry model, the company essentially becomes an educational/research institution in it's own right. Right now pharma and semis have the most sophisticated foundry systems. Next, much education and skill is becoming embedded in EDA tools and not just in electronics, just look at the product range produced by Autodesk. As strange as it may seem the next area of a foundry type model will be in construction where the Chinese set up a central plant to build a building out of panels of all types and literally produce/build high rises in as little as a month. They have also produced buildings as high as five stories with a 3D printer. AI in the cloud is going to change the structure of society, education and companies in ways most can't even imagine. An example of a Chinese construction foundy is in the link with video bellow. Bare in mind this is three years old and they have advanced since then. This will give them a huge edge in almost everything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU7kplHtC98
 
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Speaking of education, did you happen to catch this story on CNN the other day? About 5:40 into the story is a segment on a school in Reno, NV, called The Davidson Academy. This a small public school that has strayed away from the assembly line model of our traditional schools with some remarkable results. Among the hundred or so graduates include a Thiel Fellow, an Intel ISEF winner, and a Presidential Scholar.

[URL]http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/09/18/spc-vital-signs-genius-and-creativity-a.cnn

[/URL]
 
I'm not sure it is a secret. Even the mass media know that engineers are all white and Asian (Indian, Vietnamese and Chinese mostly). But the problem starts much earlier. If you don't study math seriously when you are age 12 (or don't have good math teachers) then you will not get a masters in CS or EE which is the bar to even get an interview at somewhere like Intel. I don't think even Intel and a lot of money can fix that problem at age 25.
Totally agree, and its a very short sighted approach Intel is taking here, quite surprising to be honest. I am all for diversity, but, the moment they cut on merit based hiring they loose talented people. These people will probably gradually shift to the app/social-media scene. The semiconductor industry needs a boost of vision driven generation like the Fairchild Semi. founding generation, not a bunch of political activists. That's just wrong.
 
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