The Business Council is co-sponsoring a symposium on how the semiconductor industry can compete globally in an era of rapid technological advances in semiconductor design.

The "Albany Symposium on Global Semiconductor Issues" is scheduled for Sept. 10-12 at the Sagamore in Bolton Landing, Warren County. Juri Matisoo, vice president for technology for Semiconductor Industry Association, is the symposium chair.

The symposium has several purposes:

• To update industry leaders, academic researchers interested in semiconductor technologies, and government officials on technological changes in the global semiconductor industry.
  
  
• To generate broad discussions of how economic changes and technological advances will alter competitive strategies in the semiconductor industry.
  
  
• To focus, in particular, on the likely effects of technological advances in chip fabrication and nanotechnology. Advances in the size of wafers upon which semiconductor chips are fabricated - a central focus of nanotechnology research at University at Albany - may produce radical changes in the economic underpinnings of the semiconductor industry.

"The Council is co-sponsoring this event because we believe chip fabrication and related technologies are a critical part of New York's economic future," said Ed Reinfurt, vice president of The Business Council.

"By bringing together industry, academic, and government researchers to explore shared concerns and opportunities in this area, The Council hopes to sow the seeds of collaborations that can significantly enrich New York's prosperity in the years ahead," he added.

This symposium will continue discussions that The Business Council has been sponsoring for more than a year on the role of R&D in economic growth. The Council has brought together research leaders from universities and corporate and government research and development labs for these discussions.

The Council is also urging lawmakers in Albany to make a five-year, $1 billion state investment in R&D in three strategic areas in which New York already has existing research strengths: micro/nanotechnology, photonics and information technology, and genomics and biotechnology.

The symposium is being hosted and co-sponsored by Albany Nanotech, a research center devoted to nanotechnology at the University at Albany, and the Center for Economic Growth. Other co-sponsors are: the Arsenal Business & Technology Partnership; the Cahners Electronics Group; Camp Dresser & McKee; Empire State Development; FabNewYork.com; Glimmerglass Ltd.; Leica Microsystems; Leybold Semiconductor Vacuum Solutions; M+W Zander; Matrix Intermedia Corporation; Mohawk Valley Economic Development Growth Enterprises; Niagara Mohawk; Praxair Semiconductor Materials; the University at Albany; Welliver McGuire; and Zone 5 Graphic Services.