Intel to End Sponsorship of Science Talent Search

[EDAGuy]

From the NY Times:

The contest, called the Science Talent Search, brings 40 finalists to Washington for meetings with leaders in government and industry and counts among its past competitors eight Nobel Prize winners, along with chief executives, university professors and award-winning scientists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/09/t...-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well

Intel is spending $300M on a stupid diversity program and they cut this $6m educational piece???????? This certainly is the end of an era for Intel.

 

[Daniel Payne]

When I worked at Intel they had a concept called meritocracy, where those people who produced the most for the company were promoted. It had nothing to do with your skin color, gender or orientation. My have times changed.

What if Intel becomes diverse yet non-competitive? That would be a shame.

 

[hist78]

I hope some people out there can kindly explain it to me:

1. Talking about the diversity in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), please take a look of that photo (Obama with 2012 Intel Science Talent Search finalists) in NY Times news link. Those people shown in that picture are exactly the "diversity" many companies (including Intel) are looking for. But Intel walked away from the sponsorship to save $6 million which is only %0.01 of Intel 2014 revenue! Is Intel really in such dire situation and needs to conserve cash? Or something else?

2. Back in January at CES, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announced a $300 million initiate to promote diversity at Intel. It's admirable and important for Intel to do so. But I noticed that there is a group of people at Intel who probably also hit glass ceiling. The group I'm talking about are those Intel employee with master or Ph.D. degree in engineering. By looking at Intel Corporate Officers' bios on Intel's web page:

Intel Executive Biographies

In the Intel's Corporate Officers rank there are four categories and I will list the number of people in each category and the number of them achieved advanced degrees with master or Ph.D. in engineering:

Corporate Vice President x27
Master in engineering: 1
Ph.D. in engineering: 5

Senior Vice President x12
Master in engineering: 2
Ph.D. in engineering: 0

Executive Vice President x4
Master in engineering: 1
Ph.D. in engineering: 0

Executive Office X3
Master in engineering: 0
Ph.D. in engineering: 0

Summary for all Intel Corporate Officers:
Total Officers: 46
Master in engineering: 4
Ph.D. in engineering: 5
Percentage with Master or Ph.D. degrees in engineering among Intel Corporate Officers: 19.56%

To me it's a reality that an Intel employee with master or Ph.D. degrees in engineering will have limited potential to achieve a senior leadership position.

Intel started by engineers and is so proud of its technology leadership but why people with advanced engineering degrees have such dismal representation in the senior management rank?

If Intel can't answer this question honestly then I won't take Intel's $300 million diversity initiate seriously and I won't expect a meaningful and logical reason behind this termination of sponsorship for Intel Science Talent Search.

 

[Arthur Hanson]

hist78, Our educational system has become horribly expensive, time consuming, inefficient and ineffective and the structure with a set up designed when knowledge moved at a snails pace. Much of our education could be automated freeing up valuable resources for where they are really needed. Education should be one to two years for a foundation, then a lifetime subscription to keep one up to date. Special interests and the government rule education and set educational standards. The problem is government no longer serves the people, the government wants the people to serve the government. The government structure is now more about taking care of a static structure that is fixed in a slow moving past. The second problem is this isolates government farther and farther from a world and technology that is advancing at an accelerating rate.

 

[hist78]

hist78, Our educational system has become horribly expensive, time consuming, inefficient and ineffective and the structure with a set up designed when knowledge moved at a snails pace. Much of our education could be automated freeing up valuable resources for where they are really needed. Education should be one to two years for a foundation, then a lifetime subscription to keep one up to date. Special interests and the government rule education and set educational standards. The problem is government no longer serves the people, the government wants the people to serve the government. The government structure is now more about taking care of a static structure that is fixed in a slow moving past. The second problem is this isolates government farther and farther from a world and technology that is advancing at an accelerating rate.

Higher education cost are totally out of control. While Ivy League schools increase the scholarship amount and coverage, many public universities are increasing tuition and expense significantly every year and cut back scholarship offered. In several cases I personally know the kids will save a lot money by attending an Ivy League university than going to a State University. How can such wonderful American Dream became such expensive and exotic?

 

[Arthur Hanson]

hist78, Even the state colleges in California are very expensive, even the JCs have gone way up. With technology moving so fast and many taking five or even six years to get the classes they need to graduate, obsolescence of early courses is a real problem. We need an entirely new education structure that delivers the right knowledge, at the right time, in an efficient, effective, cost efficient manner. Human capital is a nations greatest asset and maximizing the value of each and every individual in the very best way possible should be the number one priority of any nation. An intelligent, educated (self, on the job, informal, formal) population makes a country a better place for they make better choices in everything from health, work and politics. This is why it's so important to get education right.

 

[Daniel Nenni]

hist78, Even the state colleges in California are very expensive, even the JCs have gone way up. With technology moving so fast and many taking five or even six years to get the classes they need to graduate, obsolescence of early courses is a real problem. We need an entirely new education structure that delivers the right knowledge, at the right time, in an efficient, effective, cost efficient manner. Human capital is a nations greatest asset and maximizing the value of each and every individual in the very best way possible should be the number one priority of any nation. An intelligent, educated (self, on the job, informal, formal) population makes a country a better place for they make better choices in everything from health, work and politics. This is why it's so important to get education right.

My daughter attended a University of California (UC). They did tell us that it can take five years to get a "4 year degree". My daughter finished her math degree in 3. She is as stubborn and outspoken as her father.

 

[hist78]

My daughter attended a University of California (UC). They did tell us that it can take five years to get a "4 year degree". My daughter finished her math degree in 3. She is as stubborn and outspoken as her father.

Great achievement! What does she do now?

 

[hist78]

They thought they arrested a 14-year-old terrorist!

Standing with Ahmed: How Silicon Valley helped make teen clockmaker a folk hero - San Jose Mercury News

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/u...olice-investigation-for-building-a-clock.html

View attachment 15353

It's a sad story with some happy twists. But it shows to build a true STEM education environment is not that simple and diversity (genders, races, etc.) are so important in the building process.

Another sad part is so far the teacher, principal, mayor, and police chief still playing BS without making any apology to this kid (or nerd). For school safety, they might have some justification to do what they did on this kid. But the problem is that after finding out this is a mistake, they still say no words to apologize or to comfort this poor kid. How can they be a role model for our future scientists and engineers? This is a very bad demonstration!

 

[Pawan Fangaria]

From the NY Times:
Intel is spending $300M on a stupid diversity program and they cut this $6m educational piece???????? This certainly is the end of an era for Intel.

I don't understand the logic here when we have seen Intel as the topmost R&D spender in the world. I would consider 'science talent search' as a part of R&D. Also, Intel is promoting IoT related start-ups to do their innovation in India. I guess, sometimes bookish bureaucracy spoils the whole game.

 

[hist78]

I don't understand the logic here when we have seen Intel as the topmost R&D spender in the world. I would consider 'science talent search' as a part of R&D. Also, Intel is promoting IoT related start-ups to do their innovation in India. I guess, sometimes bookish bureaucracy spoils the whole game.

You use the magic word "logic". Unfortunately if you can read the story links I posted before your comment, you will be amazed the "logic" is probably a hard to find quality among some people. It doesn't matter he/she is a teacher, a principal, a police chief, or a corporate executive.