November 9, 2009 – In a significant shift, the SIA has announced that president George Scalise is retiring at the end of 2010, after 15 years in the position, and that the group is moving its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Washington DC.

Studying the domestic semiconductor industry’s industry’s needs and increasing impact of public policies on competitiveness (and challenges therein) drove the decision to march east, according to John Daane, newly elected chairman of the SIA (also chair/president/CEO of Altera Corp.). Government policies ranging from workforce issues to taxation, university research, and global trade influence capital investment decisions for manufacturing and R&D, he explained in a statement. "We must redouble our efforts to support public policies that encourage capital formation, support investment in both R&D and basic research, and enhance the climate for investment in manufacturing in the US." And to have a greater and more effective voice toward those ends, he said, "we must have a greater presence in Washington."

Meanwhile, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has named this year’s recipient of its Robert N. Noyce Award: John E. Kelly III, SVP and research director at IBM, in recognition of "outstanding contributions" and leadership supporting the US semiconductor industry (and more broadly microelectronics in general).

Kelly, a nearly 30-year employee at IBM, has held numerous management and technical positions related to advanced semiconductor R&D, including heading IBM’s systems and technology group; he has held his current title since 2007, in which he oversees ~3000 employees in eight labs across six countries, and also IBM’s worldwide IP business. He is also a 10-year director and former chair of the SIA. "Dr. Kelly has been an effective advocate for increased federal and corporate support for the basic scientific research essential to continued progress in microelectronics," noted Daane.

The SIA’s Noyce award was created in 1990 to honor the memory of Intel co-founder Robert Noyce; TSMC’s Morris Chang won in 2008. (The IEEE has its own version of a Noyce award for broader microelectronics contributions; Sandisk’s Eli Harari took it home this year.)