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Semis have become the foundation of the greatest change in social structure. Unions, professional organizations, business and governments will have the choice of embracing or not the coming changes. Those that don't embrace and adapt to this will collapse the very structures that support them. We now have more opportunities and options coming at an accelerating rate than ever before and those that can adapt to vastly accelerating change will have a bright future. Those that don't adapt can only maintain their position by making others pay for their inaction and will either be swept away or part of a collapsing system. The speed to adapt will become the most critical skill set of all on a personal and institutional level. All this is uniting the world towards challenges and opportunities is a way unimaginable just fifty years ago, literally a blink of an eye in the history of man. Comments welcome and solicited
We have really just scratched the surface. During a DARPA presentation last month I saw things that were startling and astonishing. By the way, not only did DARPA invent the internet, they also invented FinFETs (2000), 193nm Litho (1995), MEMs (1990), GaAS (1985), and are now working on InP/GaN/MEMs on silicon (2015).
The presentation was by Dr William Chappell. He said DARPA looks 20 years out:
DARPA’s original mission, established in 1958, was to prevent technological surprise like the launch of Sputnik, which signaled that the Soviets had beaten the U.S. into space. The mission statement has evolved over time. Today, DARPA’s mission is still to prevent technological surprise to the US, but also to create technological surprise for our enemies.
Darpa has seven program offices, he talked about these four:
The Biological Technologies Office (BTO) fosters, demonstrates, and transitions breakthrough fundamental research, discoveries, and applications that integrate biology, engineering, and computer science for national security. He used Ebola as an example..
The Tactical Technology Office (TTO) engages in high-risk, high-payoff advanced military research, emphasizing the "system" and "subsystem" approach to the development of aeronautic, space, and land systems as well as embedded processors and control systems. This research includes an effort within the TTO to develop a small satellite launch vehicle. He showed robotics clips..
The Information Innovation Office (I2O) aims to ensure U.S. technological superiority in all areas where information can provide a decisive military advantage. This is IoE, all things internet.
The Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) mission focuses on the heterogeneous microchip-scale integration of electronics, photonics, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Their high risk/high payoff technology is aimed at solving the national level problems of protection from biological, chemical and information attack and to provide operational dominance for mobile distributed command and control, combined manned/unmanned warfare, and dynamic, adaptive military planning and execution.
The most startling example was an implanted chip in the brain that gave movement back to a limb of a quadriplegic... Social disruption? Absolutely. For the greater good? Of course, but it will all depend on how the different Governments invest in semiconductors and regulate the outcomes. Drones, autonomous cars, health and wellness, etc... DARPA sure does have their job cut out for them...
Dan, Almost all research is done by researchers (we have more women entering the fields in many where there were none) standing on the shoulders of others, many not recognized or credited. Serious research is now well dispersed around the world and becoming more so. Like I have said before, more educated (formally, informally, alternative and even self educated), with far more tools, computer power, collaboration power than ever before. There are now even research foundries that will do raw research on a contract basis. I feel this is the next great area of growth is where you develop an idea or concept, then have a CRO (contract research organization) carry out the actual experiment. I am heavily invested in a CRO in the biological sciences that can even put you experiment on app so you can follow and direct the progress. They can take something from raw idea to finished product with you choosing what you can do what you delegate to them. Research is now and has been so dispersed it is many times very difficult to really determine who originated it.
