SIA and its coalition partners successfully lobby for legislation designating more than $2 billion over three years for nanotechnology research and development programs with passage in the House and approval by the Senate Commerce Committee.


2004 China agreed to delay indefinitely plans to implement a proprietary encryption standard for wireless LANs (known as “WAPI”) and to work with international standards bodies on wireless encryption protocols.


China also took action to settle a WTO complaint concerning its implementation of a value-added tax (VAT) regime that discriminated against imported semiconductors.


SIA launched the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI), an ambitious program to assure U.S. leadership in information technology in the era beyond CMOS, where we expect to reach physical limits by 2020. Initially, we will focus our efforts on securing funding for basic research both at the national laboratories and at leading universities and on linking the ongoing nanoelectronics research activities so that gaps and redundancies are minimized. The NRI is a collaborative effort between the U.S. government, industry, and academia. Given the long lead times between basic research and commercialization, we must work together now to ensure that we have a successor to CMOS technology by 2020.


SIA played a major role in a broad industry coalition that was successful in persuading Congress to exempt up to 20,000 foreign students with Masters or higher degrees from U.S. universities from the H1-B visa cap. While U.S. semiconductor manufacturers use only a very small percentage of the total quota of H1-B visas, the ability to hire foreign-born students who are educated in America is critically important.


Following receipt of a feasibility study report conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins University, SIA moved forward with plans for one of the largest industry-sponsored epidemiologic studies ever conducted. We expect to enter into an agreement with a research institution in the first half of 2005, launching a study that will take three to five years to complete.


SIA hosted the 12th annual International Semiconductor Environment, Safety and Health (ISESH) conference in Portland, Oregon, this June. This annual conference is one of the major activities of the World Semiconductor Council.


2005 40th anniversary of Moore’s Law.


The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI), a consortium of members of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), have agreed to jointly fund a national university-based research program focused on long-term nanoelectronics exploration. NRI will be administered on behalf


of the industrial participants by the Nanoelectronics Research Corporation (NERC) a subsidiary of the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC).


SIA signed a contract with Vanderbilt University to conduct a retrospective epidemiological study to determine if there is an increased cancer risk among wafer fabrication workers compared to other semiconductor industry workers and the general population. The multimillion-dollar study will review records of approximately 85,000 workers who worked in wafer fabrication facilities of member companies during the past 30 years. SIA member companies are funding the study, which will be one of the largest privately sponsored epidemiological studies ever conducted. The study will be conducted by researchers at the Vanderbilt University-Ingram Cancer Center. Results of the study are expected to be reported to the SIA in the spring of 2009.


SIA lead an effort to secure an agreement to eliminate duties on multi-chip package (MCP) integrated circuits among government representatives from United States, Korea, Japan, Chinese Taipei and the European Commission.


The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has awarded grants to five leading engineering schools to support innovative programs to address a high drop-out rate among engineering students. SIA awarded


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