IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Fall 2017 - 70

"Over the past decade, an increasing number
of studies have documented the benefits
associated with diverse work teams, with some
of these studies being specific to start-ups."
the creation of more AI companies.
They understand that their GPUs are
powering a large number of these
companies, and it is in their interest
to support the ecosystem. Additionally, the Nvidia GPU Ventures Program is providing financial support
to start-ups that build their business
around GPU-based platforms.
Intel has recognized the importance of investing capital in start-ups
aligned with Intel's mission. Last year, Intel Capital switched its investment
philosophy from focusing
solely on financial returns
to investing in start-ups
that align with its mission.
In late 2016, Intel Capital
committed US$250 million
to auto tech investments
and created a new Autonomous Driving Group internally. Intel has also been
acquiring start-ups at a
fast pace; 2016 was their
m o s t a cq u i s it i v e y e a r
ever, with nine significant
acquisitions [5].
Q: How do you see universities fueling the innovation economy?
Mar: Over the last five
years, there has been a significant increase in activity
by and investment from universities in innovation programs targeted at fostering
a stronger entrepreneurial
community and facilitating
the creation of new startups. This increased activity
can be seen in a variety of
initiatives.
Some of them are creating their own incubators,
which typically include

FA L L 2 0 17

access to free working space, a network of alumni, and access to investors. For example, there are the
Skydeck incubator at the University
of California, Berkeley (2014), Delta V
accelerator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2012), Venture
Studio at Stanford University (2013),
Viterbi Startup Garage at the University of Southern California (2013), and
many others.

Universities are also recognizing the importance of partnerships
and collaboration across disciplines.
For example, Harvard University
is planning to open a state-of-theart engineering and applied sciences building right across from
the Harvard Business School and
Harvard Innovation Labs in 2020.
Prior to this initiative, the business
school campus and the college campus were physically separated. At
Stanford, the biodesign program
puts special emphasis on recruiting
multidisciplinary teams that include
members with clinical, engineering,
computer science, design, and/or
business backgrounds.
There has been a proliferation of
classes targeted at students starting companies.
For e x a mple, St a nford
offers over 100 courses
geared at entrepreneurship within the business
schools, law school, and
engineering school. These
classes are often taught by
or cotaught with industry
experts, bringing direct
practical knowledge to
the students.
There are many other
signs of interest from the
academic community such
as specific efforts at easing university technology
transfer to students, business plan competitions
with significant monetary
prices, campus hackathons,
and so on.

FIGURE 4: A graphic showing the positive outcomes for companies
with diverse teams. (Source: https://www.ncwit.org/resources/women-it-facts-infographic-2015-update, © NCWIT, used with permission.)

IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE

Q: Diversity in start-up
companies and VC firms
has become a very visible issue in the last couple of years. We often hear
the mantra that diversity benefits the bottom
line, but what does the
research specifically
tell us?
Catherine and Lucy:
Over the past decade, an increasing number of studies

https://www.ncwit.org/resources/wom

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine - Fall 2017