[Editors] MIT & Quanta announce 5 yr, $20M research collaboration

[MIT News Office]

MIT News Office
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room 11-400
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA  02139-4307
Phone: 617-253-2700
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www

======================================
MIT CSAIL and Quanta Computer 
partner on next major computing platform
======================================

For Immediate Release
FRIDAY, APR. 8, 2005
Contacts: 
Patti Richards, Sr. Communications Officer
MIT News Office
Phone: 617-253-8923, Email: prichards at mit.edu

Jason Lin, Quanta Group Deputy Spokesperson
Quanta Group Finance Department
Phone: +886-3-327-2345 ext. 1609, Email: jason_lin at quantatw.com


Taipei, Taiwan and Cambridge, Massachusetts--Quanta Computer, Inc. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today announced a five-year, $20M joint research collaboration project ("TParty") aimed at developing the next generation of platforms for computing and communication beyond personal computers.

TParty will address one of the most frustrating aspects of today's computing landscape: More than three decades after the emergence of personal computers, we are increasingly relying on "smart" portable devices to deliver much of the information and services that we need in our daily lives. Unfortunately, in the current device-centric world, each one of us is responsible for integrating these new devices into our personal information environment. As a result, users are forced to manage information transfers, configurations, security, maintenance, upgrades, backups, and more. 

The goal of TParty is to create new systems for the development and seamless delivery of information services in a world of smart devices and sensors. This will require reengineering and an extension of the underlying technical infrastructure, the creation of new interfaces, and exploring new ways of managing and accessing information.

Mr. Barry Lam, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quanta, said at the signing ceremony in Taipei:  "We are very pleased to team up with the renowned research institution, MIT, to embark on a new IT trendsetting endeavor.  Combining the exceptional research resources of MIT with the world-leading innovative design and manufacturing engine of Quanta, we are excited about the prospects of bringing brand-new products and services to the world that will improve all of our lives and cultures."

MIT President Susan Hockfield commented: "I am delighted that MIT and Quanta are collaborating in this ambitious initiative, which has tremendous implications for the future of personal computing.  This partnership builds on MIT's long traditions of technological innovation and creative interaction with industry to address issues that are increasingly important to all of us in the digital age."

Prof. Rodney Brooks, Director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the MIT laboratory that will house TParty, commented:  "We strongly believe that the best value for our research partners is achieved when we work together.  Quanta is the world's leading supplier of notebook computers complementing CSAIL's tradition of world-leading research. Together, Quanta and CSAIL will establish a team and work toward a new world of self-organizing devices which make our lives more pleasant and productive."


ABOUT QUANTA

Quanta Computer Inc., founded in 1988 in Taiwan, with annual turnover over US$10BN, is a leading provider of technology products and solutions to Fortune 500 companies such as Dell, HP, IBM, and others. Quanta holds the distinction as the world's largest manufacturer of laptop PCs- Quanta makes 1 in every 4 laptop PCs globally. Quanta also provides a full array of mobile phones, LCD TVs and servers and storage products. Quanta's success is made possible by the company's ability to provide customers with high value added services from innovative product development, flexible manufacturing, real-time supply chain management to after sales service and support.

With the dedication to technological innovation and education, Chairman Barry Lam launched a new US$150MN R&D center project, Quanta R&D Complex (QRDC), in Taiwan. With floor space of 2.2MN square feet and a capacity to house up to 7,000 engineers, QRDC is being touted as the "Dreamland of R&D Engineers." QRDC is scheduled to begin operations in Q3 of 2005.

For more information about Quanta, please visit http://www.quanta.com.tw


ABOUT MIT

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- a coeducational, privately endowed research university -- is dedicated to advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. The Institute has more than 900 faculty and 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It is organized into five Schools -- Architecture and Urban Planning; Engineering; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Sloan School of Management; and Science.
 
MIT's commitment to innovation has led to a host of scientific breakthroughs and technological advances. Achievements of the Institute's faculty and graduates have included the first chemical synthesis of penicillin and vitamin A, the development of inertial guidance systems, modern technologies for artificial limbs, and the magnetic core memory that made possible the development of digital computers.  Forty-seven alumni, faculty, researchers and staff have won Nobel Prizes.

Current areas of research and education include neuroscience and the study of the brain and mind, bioengineering, the environment and sustainable development, information sciences and technology, new media, financial technology, and entrepreneurship.  

For more information about MIT, please visit: http://web.mit.edu

ABOUT CSAIL

The MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) was formed on July 1st, 2003 by the merger of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AI Lab) and the Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS).  It is an interdepartmental laboratory that includes faculty from Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mathematics, Brain and Cognitive Science, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Ocean Engineering, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, the Biological Engineering Division and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. CSAIL is also the home of the World Wide Web Consortium.  With more than 90 Principal Investigators and 800 members, CSAIL is the largest laboratory on the MIT campus.

The primary mission of CSAIL is research in many aspects of computation and artificial intelligence. It is organized into four broad research directorates: 1) Architecture, systems, and networks, 2) Theory, 3) Language, learning, vision, and graphics, and 4) Physical, biological, and computational systems. 

Over the past four decades, members of CSAIL and its predecessors have been responsible for many of the innovations in computer science and information technology, including time sharing, public key encryption, bit-mapped displays, TCP/IP, personal workstations, Web standards, computer vision, speech, and robotics.  CSAIL members have distinguished themselves as members of the US Academy of Sciences and Engineering (16), recipients of the MacArthur Foundation Genius Award (6), Turing Award (4), Japan Prize (2), and Millennium Technology Award.  Technology transfer from CSAIL is often accomplished through start-ups; some of them include Akamai, Cognex, iRobot, OpenMarket, RSA Data Security, Silicon Spice, and SpeechWorks.  

For more information about CSAIL, please visit http://www.csail.mit.edu

                                            --END--