grants to support pilot programs at the University of California-Riverside, University of the Pacific, North Carolina A & T, Rochester (NY) Institute of Technology, and Boise State University.


SIA launches a major campaign to address American competitiveness. The “three pillars” of this initiative include (1) doubling federal funding for basic research at U.S. universities; (2) strengthening our future workforce with improved math and science education in grades K-12 and immigration reform to allow the best and brightest engineers and scientists educated in America to remain here and contribute to our economy; and (3) encouraging investment in the U.S. with competitive tax policies .


2006 SIA representatives met with Vice President Dick Cheney and Chief of Staff Andy Card to discuss its competitiveness agenda. As a direct result of this meeting, President Bush announced in his State of the Union address the American Competitiveness Initiative, which incorporated all of the key elements of the SIA’s agenda. Two days later, House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a response supporting these initiatives.


The China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA) applies for membership in World Semiconductor Council (WSC) at the urging of the SIA and other trade organizations. SIA holds first-ever board meeting in Beijing.


2007


Congress passed and the President signed the America COMPETES act which strengthens scientific education and research.


SIA created an anti-counterfeiting task force initiated a multi-faceted plan involving cooperation with law enforcement agencies, publishing a directory of authorized distributors, and working with SEMI to develop a standard that will facilitate the work of authentication service providers.


The National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST) entered into a five-year partnership agreement with the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI) to support scientific research on a successor to CMOS technology.


Congress provided $18 million to continue the Focus Center Research Program (FCRP).


SIA persuaded the U.S. government to revise the threshold level that determines when a chip is considered “Rad Hard” and thus subject to stringent export controls.


Semiconductor Research Corporation celebrates its 25th Anniversary and receives the National Medal of Technology in a White House ceremony. Since its inception, the SRC has funded more than $1B in semiconductor research.


2008


R&D credit extended retroactively back to January 2008 and forward to the end of 2009. Equally important, the Alternative Simplified Credit rate was increased from 12% to 14%. Congress approved $20 million to continue the Focus Center Research Program (FCRP).


SIA supported USTR efforts calling for WTO dispute panel to investigate EU tariffs on high-technology products covered by the Information Technology Agreement (ITA).


SIA support for Science Debate 2008 helps put the Presidential candidates on record on important technology issues.


U.S. Customs and Border Protection made two announcements of enforcement actions that together resulted in the seizure of 780,000 counterfeit semiconductors. SIA’s Anticounterfeit Task Force had


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